1823: The erstwhile French India established the Ecole de Medicine de Pondichery to train French citizens in Pondichéry. It was one of the earliest institutions of tropical medicine and the teaching staff consisted of surgeons and doctors of the French navy and "troupes colones". Students who were trained here were granted a diploma called "Médicin Locale" that allowed them to practice medicine in the colonial territories. The college then was located in the heart of the Pondicherry, opposite "Le place de Gaulle", which is now the Legislative Assembly Hall.