History of Chennai
Encyclopedia
Chennai formerly known as Madras, is the capital of the state
of Tamil Nadu
and is India
's fourth largest city
. It is located on the Coromandel Coast
of the Bay of Bengal
. With an estimated population of 7.60 million (2006), the 400-year-old city is the 36th largest metropolitan area
in the world.
Chennai boasts of a long history from the English East India Company, through the British Raj to its evolution in the late 20th century as a services and manufacturing hub for India. Additionally, the pre-city area of Chennai has a long history within the records of South Indian Empires.
, originally known as "Madraspatnam" was located in the province of Tondaimandalam, an area lying between Pennar river of Nellore and the Pennar river of Cuddalore
. The capital of the province was Kancheepuram. Tondaimandalam was ruled in the 2nd century by Tondaiman Ilam Tiraiyan, who was a representative of the Chola family at Kanchipuram. It is believed that Ilam Tiraiyan must have subdued the Kurumbas, the original inhabitants of the region and established his rule over Tondaimandalam. The modern city of "Chennai" arose from the British
settlement of Fort St. George and its subsequent expansion through merging numerous native villages and European settlements around Fort St. George into the city of Madras. While most of the original city of Madras was built and settled by Europeans, the surrounding area which was later incorporated included the native temples of Thiruvanmiyur, Thiruvotriyur, Thiruvallikeni (Triplicane), Thirumayilai (Mylapore) which have existed for more than 1000 years. Thiruvanmiyur, Thiruvotriyur and Thirumyilai are mentioned in the Thevarams of the Moovar (of the Nayanmars) while Thiruvallikeni in the Nalayira Divya Prabhandhams (of the Alwars)
Subsequent to Ilam Tiraiyan, the region was ruled by the Chola Prince Ilam Killi. The Chola occupation of Tondaimandalam was put to an end by the Andhra Satavahana
incursions from the north under their King Pulumayi II. They appointed chieftains to look after the Kanchipuram region. Bappaswami, who is considered as the first Pallava to rule from Kanchipuram
, was himself a chieftain (of the tract around) at Kanchipuram under the Satavahana empire in the beginning of the 3rd century. The Pallavas who had so far been merely viceroys, then became independent rulers of Kancheepuram and its surrounding areas.
The Pallavas held sway over this region from the beginning of the 3rd century to the closing years of the 9th century, except for the interval of some decades when the region was under the Kalabhras
. The Pallavas were defeated by the Cholas under Aditya I
by about 879 and the region was brought under the Chola rule. The Pandyas under Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan
rose to power and the region was brought under the Pandya rule by putting an end to Chola supremacy in 1264. Pandya's rule over this region lasted a little over half a century followed by the Bahmini kingdom
with the extension of Delhi Sultanate
under Khilji
dynasty especially under the rule of Alauddin Khilji. During 1361, Kumara Kampana II, the son of Vijayanagar Emperor, Bukka I conquered and established Vijayanagar rule in Tondaimandalam.
who ruled over the different regions of the province almost independently. Damarla Venkatadri Nayakudu, who was a Telugu King, and an influential Padma Velama
Nayak chieftain under the Vijayanagara King Peda Venkata Rayalu based in Chandragiri
-Vellore Fort
, was in-charge of the area of present Chennai city when the English East India Company arrived to establish a factory
in the area. It was Darmala who gave the East India Company in 1639 a grant of a piece of land lying between the river Cooum almost at the point it enters the sea and another river known as the Egmore river. On this piece of waste land was founded Fort St. George, a fortified settlement of British merchants, factory workers, and other colonial settlers. Upon this settlement the English expanded their colony to include a number of other European communities, new British settlements, and various native villages, one of which was named Madraspatnam. It in honor of the later village upon which the British named the entire colony and the combined city Madras. Controversially, in an attempt to revise history and justify renaming the city as Chennai, the ruling party has purged the history of the early English Madras settlements. According to the new party history, instead of being named Madras, it was named Chennai, after a village called Chennapattanam, in honour of Damerla Chennappa Nayakudu, father of Venkatadri Nayakudu, who controlled the entire coastal country from Pulicat in the north to the Portuguese
settlement of Santhome
. However, it is widely recorded that while the official centre of the present settlement was designated Fort St. George, the British applied the name Madras to a new large city which had grown up around the Fort including the "White Town" consisting principally of British settlers, and "Black Town" consisting of principally Catholic Europeans and allied Indian minorities.
city and its initial growth was closely tied to its importance as an artificial harbour and trading centre. When the Portuguese arrived in 1522, they built a port and named it São Tomé, after the Christian
apostle St. Thomas, who is believed to have preached there between the years 52 and 70. The region then passed into the hands of the Dutch
, who established themselves near Pulicat
just north of the city in 1612. Both groups strived to grow their colonial populations and although their populations reached into 10,000 persons when the British arrived, they remained substantially outnumbered by the local Indian population.
By 1612, the Dutch
established themselves in Pulicat to the north.
In the seventeenth century when the English East India Company
decided to build a factory on the east coast and in 1626 selected as its site Armagon (Dugarazpatnam), a village some 35 miles north of Pulicat. The calico cloth from the local area, which was in high demand, was of poor quality and not suitable for export to Europe. The English soon realized that as a port Armagon was unsuitable for trade purposes. Francis Day, one of the officers of the company, who was then a Member of the Masulipatam Council and the Chief of the Armagon Factory, made a voyage of exploration in 1637 down the coast as far as Pondicherry with a view to choosing a site for a new settlement.
, Rajah of Chandragiri
-Vellore
, who was a descendant of the famous Rajas of Vijayanagar. Under the Rajah, local chiefs or governors known as Nayaks ruled over each district.
Damarla Venkatadri Nayakudu, local governor of the Vijayanagar Empire and Nayak of Wandiwash (Vandavasi), ruled the coastal part of the region, from Pulicat to the Portuguese settlement of San Thome. He had his head-quarters at Wandiwash, and his brother Ayyappa Nayakudu resided at Poonamallee
, a few miles to the west of Madras, where he looked after the affairs of the coast. Beri Thimmappa, Francis Day's dubash (interpreter), was a close friend of Damarla Ayyappa Nayakudu. In the early 17th century Beri Thimmappa of the Puragiri Kshatriya (Perike
) caste migrated to the locality from Palacole, near Machilipatnam
in Andhra Pradesh
. Ayyappa Nayakudu persuaded his brother to lease the sandy strip to Francis Day and promised him trade benefits, army protection, and Persian horses in return. Francis Day wrote to his Headquarters at Masulipatam for permission to inspect the proposed site at Madraspatnam and to examine the possibilities of trade there. Madraspatnam seemed favourable during the inspection, and the calicoes woven there were much cheaper than those at Armagon (Durgarazpatam).
On 22 August 1639, Francis Day secured the Grant
by the Damarla Venkatadri Nayakudu, Nayak of Wandiwash, giving over to the East India Company a three-mile long strip of land, a fishing village called Madraspatnam, copies of which were endorsed by Andrew Cogan, the Chief of the Masulipatam Factory, and are even now preserved. The Grant was for a period of two years and empowered the Company to build a fort and castle on about five square kilometres of its strip of land.
The English Factors at Masulipatam were satisfied with Francis Day's work. They requested Day and the Damarla Venkatadri Nayakudu to wait until the sanction of the superior English Presidency of Bantam
in Java could be obtained for their action. The main difficulty, among the English those days, was lack of money. In February 1640, Day and Cogan, accompanied by a few factors and writers, a garrison of about twenty-five European soldiers and a few other European artificers, besides a Hindu powder-maker named Naga Battan, proceeded to the land which had been granted and started a new English factory there. They reached Madraspatnam on February 20, 1640; and this date is important because it marks the first actual settlement of the English at the place.
between the colonists and the other European, Muslim, and Hindu nationalities. Furthermore, it expanded the Company property by attaching an additional piece of land known as the Narimedu (or 'Jackal-ground') which lay to the west of the village of Madraspatnam. This new grant laid the foundation for the expansion of Madras into its present form. All three grants are said to have been engraved on gold plates which were later reported to have been plundered, disappearing during one of the genocides of the English colony. However, there are city records of their existence long afterwards, and it has been suggested that the present government may still hold them.
According to the treaty, only Europeans, principally Protestant British settlers were allowed to live in this area as outside of this confine, non-Indians were not allowed to own property. However, other national groups, chiefly FrenchPortuguese, and other Catholic merchants had separate agreements with the Nayak which allowed them in turn to establish trading posts, factories, and warehouses. As the East India Company controlled the trade in the area, these non-British merchants established agreements with the Company for settling on Company land near "White Town" per agreements with the Nayak. Over time, Indians also arrived in ever greater numbers and soon, the Portuguese and other non-Protestant Christian Europeans were outnumbered. Following several outbreaks of violence by various Hindu and Muslim Indian communities against the Christian Europeans, White Town's defenses and its territorial charter was expanded to incorporate most of the area which had grown up around its walls thereby incorporating most of its Catholic European settlements. In turn they resettled the non-European merchants and their families and workers, almost entirely Muslim or of various Hindu nationalities outside of the newly expanded "White Town". This was also surrounded by a wall. To differentiate these non-European and non-Christian area from "White Town", the new settlement was termed "Black Town. Collectively, the original Fort St. George settlement, "White Town", and "Black Town" were called Madras.
During the course of the late 17th century, both plague and genocidal warfare reduced the population of the colony dramatically. Each time, the survivors fell back upon the safety of the Fort St George
. As a result, oweing to the frequency of outbursts of racial and national violence against the Europeans and especially the English, Fort St George
with its impressive fortifications became the nucleus around which the city grew and rebuilt itself. Several times throughout the life of the colony, the Fort became the last refuge of Europeans and their allied Indian communities from various savage pograms initiated by several Indian rulers and powers, which resulted in the almost total destruction of the town. Each time the town and later city was rebuilt and repopulated with new English and European settlers. The Fort still stands today, and a part of it is used to house the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
and the Office of the Chief Minister
. Elihu Yale, after whom Yale University
is named, was British governor of Madras for five years. Part of the fortune that he amassed in Madras as part of the colonial administration became the financial foundation for Yale University.
The city has changed its boundaries as well as the geographic limits of its quarters several times, principally as a result from destructions of the town by surrounding Hindu and Moslem powers. For instance, Golkonda forces under General Mir Jumla conquered Madras in 1646, massacred or sold into slavery much of the Christian European inhabitants and their allied Indian communities, and brought Madras and its immediate surroundings under his control. Nonetheless, the Fort and its surrounding walls remained under British control who slowly rebuilt their colony with additional colonists despite another mass murder of Europeans in Black Town by anti-colonialists agitated by Golkonda and plague in the 1670s. In 1674, the expanded colony had nearly 50,000 mostly British and European colonists and was granted its own corporate charter, thereby officially establishing the modern day city. Eventually, after additional provocations from Golkonda, the British pushed back until they defeated him.
After the fall of Golkonda in 1687, the region came under the rule of the Mughal Emperors of Delhi who in turn granted new Charters and territorial borders for the area. Subsequently, Firmans were issued by the Mughal Emperor granting the rights of English East India company in Madras and formerly ending the official capacity of local rulers to attack the British. In the later part of the seventeenth century, Madras steadily progressed during the period of the East India Company and under many Governors. Although most of the original Portuguese, Dutch, and British population had been genocided during the Golkonda period, under the Mughul protection, large numbers of British and Anglo-American settlers arrived to replenish these losses. As a result during the Governorship of Elihu Yale
(1687–92), the large number of British and European settlers led to the most important political event which was the formation of the institution of a Mayor
and the Corporation
for the city of Madras. Under this Charter, the British and Protestant inhabitants were granted the rights of self-government and independence from company law. In 1693, a perwanna was received from the local Nawab granting the towns Tondiarpet, Purasawalkam and Egmore to the company which continued to rule from Fort St. George. The present parts of Chennai like Poonamalee (ancient Tamil name - Poo Iruntha alli), Triplicane (ancient Tamil name - Thiru alli keni) are mentioned in Tamil bhakti literature of the sixth - ninth centuries.Thomas Pitt
became the Governor of Madras in 1698 and governed for eleven years. This period witnessed remarkable development of trade and increase in wealth resulting in the building of many fine houses, mansions, housing developments, an expanded port and city complete with new city walls, and various churches and schools for the British colonists and missionary schools for the local Indian population.
Acquisitions
In 1746, Fort St George and Madras were captured
at last. But this time it was by the French
under General La Bourdonnais
, who used to be the Governor
of Mauritius
. Because of its importance to the East India Company, the French plundered and destroyed the village of Chepauk
and Blacktown, the locality across from the port where all the dockyard labourers used to live.
The British regained control in 1749 through the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
. They then strengthened and expanded Fort St George over the next thirty years to bear subsequent attacks, the strongest of which
came from the French (1759, under Thomas Arthur, Comte de Lally
), and later Hyder Ali
, the Sultan
of Mysore in 1767 during the First Anglo-Mysore War
. Following the Treaty of Madras
which brought that war to an end, the external threats to Madras significantly decreased. The 1783 version of Fort St George is what still stands today.
In the latter half of the 18th century, Madras became an important British naval base, and the administrative centre of the growing British dominions in southern India. The British fought with various Europe
an powers, notably the French at Vandavasi
(Wandiwash) in 1760, where de Lally was defeated by Sir Eyre Coote
, and the Danish
at Tharangambadi (Tranquebar
). Following the British victory in the Seven Years War
they eventually dominated, driving the French, the Dutch and the Danes away entirely, and reducing the French dominions in India to four tiny coastal enclaves. The British also fought four war
s with the Kingdom of Mysore
under Hyder Ali and later his son Tipu Sultan
, which led to their eventual domination of India's south. Madras was the capital of the Madras Presidency
, also called Madras Province.
By the end of 1783, the great 18th century wars which saw the British and French battle from Europe to North America and from the Mediterranean to India, resulted in the British being in complete control of the city's regional and most of South India area. Although the British had lost most of their well-populated, industrious, and wealthy North American colonies, after a decade's feud with the French, they were securely in control of Madras and most of the Indian trade. Consequently, they expanded the Chartered control of the company by encompassing the neighbouring villages of Triplicane
, Egmore
, Purasawalkam and Chetput to form the city of Chennapatnam, as it was called by locals then. This new area saw a proliferation of English merchant and planter families who, allied with their wealthy Indian counterparts, jointly controlled Chennapatnam under the supervision of White Town. Over time and administrative reforms, the area was finally fully incorporated into the new metropolitan charter of Madras.
The development of a harbour in Madras led the city to become an important centre for trade between India and Europe in the eighteenth century. In 1788, Thomas Parry arrived in Madras as a free merchant and he set up one of the oldest mercantile companies in the city and one of the oldest in the country (EID Parry
). John Binny came to Madras in 1797 and he established the textile company Binny & Co in 1814. Spencer's
started as a small business in 1864 and went on to become the biggest department stores in Asia at the time. The original building which housed Spencer & Co. was burnt down in a fire in 1983 and the present structure houses one of the largest shopping malls in India, Spencer Plaza
. Other prominent companies in the city included Gordon Woodroffe, Best & Crompton, Higginbotham's
, Hoe & Co and P. Orr & Sons.
Madras was the capital of the Madras Presidency and thus became home to important commercial organisations. Breaking with the tradition of the closed and almost wholly British controlled system of the English East India Company, The Madras Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1836 by Fredrick Adam, Governor of the Madras Presidency (the second oldest Chamber of Commerce in the country). Thereafter in a nod to the declining fortunes of the British textile owners and skilled workers who were still extant in the city, the Madras Trades Association was established in 1856, by which the old colonial families still involved in the skilled and textile trades were granted entry into the British and Indian financial trade system. In turn, the Madras Stock Exchange
was established in 1920.
In 1906, the city experienced a financial crisis with the failure of its leading merchant bank, Arbuthnot & Co
. The crisis also imperiled Parry & Co
and Binny & Co, but both found rescuers. The lawyer V. Krishnaswamy Iyer
made a name for himself representing claimants, mostly wealthy Hindus and Muslims who had lent money on the failed bank. The next year, flush with funds won from the original British owners who had capitalized the bank, he organized a group of Chettiar
merchants to found Indian Bank
, with which he funded new Indian enterprises and broke into the previously closed ranks of the British financial system. The bank still has its corporate headquarters in the city.
During World War I
, Madras (Chennai) was shelled
by the German light cruiser
SMS Emden, resulting in 5 civilian deaths and 26 wounded. The crew of a merchant ship also destroyed by the Germans that night.
which was renamed as Tamil Nadu in 1968.
During the reorganisation of states in India on linguistic lines, in 1953, Telugu speakers wanted Madras as the capital of Andhra Pradesh and coined the slogan "Madras Manade" (Madras is ours) before Tirupati
was included in Andhra Pradesh. The dispute arose as over the preceding hundred years, the early British, European workers and small cottage capitalists had been replaced in large part by both Tamil and Telugu
speaking people. In fact, as the greater concentration of capital wrecked what remained of old East Indian middle class, the city principally became a large housing development for huge numbers of workers. Most of these were recruited as cheap labor from the relatively poor Telugu nationality, which in turn enraged the Tamil nationals who were originally the working and middle class settlers of Madras in the late 18th century. Earlier, Panagal Raja
, Chief Minister of Madras Presidency in early 1920s had suggested that the Cooum River
be the boundary between the Tamil and Telugu administrative areas. In 1953, the political and administrative dominance of Tamils, both at the Union and State levels ensured that Madras was not transferred to the new state of Andhra
Although the original inhabitants of Madras and responsible for its growth into the modern metropolis of today, the British and European nationals are virtually non-existent. Always a tiny minority in comparison with the vast Indian population of the hinterlands, despite slow growth in natural birthrate and continued settlement, the British and European populations were made an ever decreasing share of their city's populations. As more and more Indians arrived from the countryside to work in the city, the British and other Europeans found it increasingly difficult to establish or maintain independent wealth as they had during the early East Indian regime. This only furthered to mitigate continued British settlement. Nonetheless, as any purview of the city's and other major metropolitan cemeteries of India can attest, hundreds of thousands came to India between the 1600s and 1770s and later another million more came between 1770 and 1870. These settlers and their families spread throughout India or settled in the cities, with Madras being one of their principal entry points. However, by the early 20th century they had become a small minority in their own city. Although they remained in control of the original corporations and businesses of Madras, and were the official representatives of the Imperial government, their communities size relative to the larger Indian population in Madras ensured their eventual demise should democratic control be given to Indian nationalities in place of the older Colonial charters. When this was accomplished with the Independence of India in 1947, they were quickly brushed aside by the new Hindu population.
Despite lacking their original numbers and control, the original British community remnants, along with other minorities as well as the long history of British culture, keeps Madras a slightly cosmopolitan city. Although the majority of residents in "Chennai" are Tamilians, there are also a sizeable community of Telugu
nationals, mixed Anglo Indian descendants of the original English settlers, a smaller but still extant British and European community, as well as migrant Malayalee communities in the city. As the city is an important administrative and commercial centre, many nationalities such as the mostly Muslim Bengali
, Punjabi
, Gujarati
and Marwari
communities, as well as Hindu nationalities from Uttar Pradesh
and Bihar
migrated to the city and have contributed to its cosmopolitan nature. Today, Chennai also has a growing expatriate population especially from the United States
, Europe and East Asia
who work in the industries and IT
centres.
Since its establishment as a city in 1639, English was the official language of the city. However, with independence, the new Hindu speaking rulers started imposing the use of Hindi in business and government. From 1965 to 1967, the city was an important base for the Tamil agitation against this imposition, and witnessed sporadic rioting. Madras witnessed further political violence due to the civil war in Sri Lanka
, with 33 people killed by a bomb planted by the Tamil Eelam Army
at the airport in 1984, and assassination of thirteen members of the EPRLF and two Indian civilians by the rival LTTE in 1991. In the same year, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi
was assassinated in Sriperumbudur
, a small town close to Chennai, whilst campaigning in Tamil Nadu, by Thenmuli Rajaratnam
A.K.A Dhanu. Dhanu is widely believed to be have been an LTTE member. In 1996, keeping with the recent nationwide practice of Indianizing city names, the Government of Tamil Nadu, then represented by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
, renamed the city to Chennai. The 2004 tsunami lashed the shores of "Chennai" killing many, destroying much of the historical oceanfront, and permanently altering the coastline.
Today, modern Chennai, formerly known as Madras is a large commercial and industrial centre, and is known for its cultural heritage
and temple architecture. Chennai is the automobile
capital of India, with around forty percent of the automobile industry having a base there and with a major portion of the nation's vehicles being produced there. Chennai is also referred as the Detroit of South Asia
. It is a major manufacturing centre. Chennai has also become a major centre for outsourced IT and financial services from the Western world.
Currently, the nomenclature of the area is in a state of controversy. The region was often called by different names as madrapupatnam, madras kuppam, madraspatnam, and madirazpatnam as adopted by locals. Another small town, Chennapatnam, lay to the south of it. This place was supposedely named so by Damarla Venkatadri Nayakudu, Nayak of Wandiwash in remembrance of his father Damarla Chennappa Nayakudu. He was the local governor for the last Raja of Chandragiri, Sri Ranga Raya VI of Vijayanagar Empire. The first Grant of Damarla Venkatadri Nayakudu makes mention of the village of Madraspatnam as incorporated into East India lands but not of Chennapatnam. This together with the written records makes it clear that the Fort which became the center of present Chennai, was built upon or nearby the village of Madraspatnam. Although, Madraspatnam is named in later records following the establishment of Fort St. George, this is likely because of the discriminatory nature of the local caste system. Under Hindu caste code, as well as English Common Law, it is unlikely that Fort St. George was built upon the village of Madraspatnam and its inhabitants incorporated into the new town. Instead, it is likely that Fort was built either close to the village or if it was built upon the village, the village was relocated. In fact, in all records of the times, a difference is made between the original village of Madraspatnam and the new town growing around the Fort known as "White Town". Therefore, because of the fort's proximity or origin to the village of Mandraspatnam, and the fort's centrality to the development of the city, the British settlers of the city later named their settlement Madras in honor of it. Further militating against the name "Chennai", Chennapatnam was the name in later years of an area explicitetly detailed as having been incorporated of native villages, European plantations, and European merchant houses outside of the combined city of Madras consisting of Fort St. George, and White and Black Town. Lastly, while the Fort St. George, White Town, and Black Town areas were fully incoporated together by the late 1700s, and was known as Madras, Chennapatnam was its own separate entity existing under the authority of Fort St. George well into the 19th century. Consequently, once the area separating Chennapatnam and Old Madras was built over uniting the two settlements, as founders, settlers, and authorities of area, the English named the new united city Madras. Thus it is improbable that the area was ever called Chennai. Instead, being the gateway of trade and the center of the economy of the region, the English settlement and their fort of 1639-40, which was the basis for the presently named city of Chennai, was likely called Madras as well by the rest of India. Thus, the renaming of the city "Chennai" by the DMK was an overtly political act at culturally erasing the English antecedents and colonial settlement which gave birth to the modern metropolis.
States and territories of India
India is a federal union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories. The states and territories are further subdivided into districts and so on.-List of states and territories:...
of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
and is India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
's fourth largest city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
. It is located on the Coromandel Coast
Coromandel Coast
The Coromandel Coast is the name given to the southeastern coast of the Indian Subcontinent between Cape Comorin and False Divi Point...
of the Bay of Bengal
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...
. With an estimated population of 7.60 million (2006), the 400-year-old city is the 36th largest metropolitan area
Metropolitan area
The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...
in the world.
Chennai boasts of a long history from the English East India Company, through the British Raj to its evolution in the late 20th century as a services and manufacturing hub for India. Additionally, the pre-city area of Chennai has a long history within the records of South Indian Empires.
Ancient area in South India
ChennaiChennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, originally known as "Madraspatnam" was located in the province of Tondaimandalam, an area lying between Pennar river of Nellore and the Pennar river of Cuddalore
Cuddalore
Cuddalore is a fast growing industrial city and headquarter of Cuddalore district in the Tamil Nadu state of southern India. Located south of Pondicherry on the coast of Bay of Bengal, Cuddalore has a large number of industries which employ a great deal of the city's population.Cuddalore is known...
. The capital of the province was Kancheepuram. Tondaimandalam was ruled in the 2nd century by Tondaiman Ilam Tiraiyan, who was a representative of the Chola family at Kanchipuram. It is believed that Ilam Tiraiyan must have subdued the Kurumbas, the original inhabitants of the region and established his rule over Tondaimandalam. The modern city of "Chennai" arose from the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
settlement of Fort St. George and its subsequent expansion through merging numerous native villages and European settlements around Fort St. George into the city of Madras. While most of the original city of Madras was built and settled by Europeans, the surrounding area which was later incorporated included the native temples of Thiruvanmiyur, Thiruvotriyur, Thiruvallikeni (Triplicane), Thirumayilai (Mylapore) which have existed for more than 1000 years. Thiruvanmiyur, Thiruvotriyur and Thirumyilai are mentioned in the Thevarams of the Moovar (of the Nayanmars) while Thiruvallikeni in the Nalayira Divya Prabhandhams (of the Alwars)
Satavahana
The Sātavāhana Empire or Andhra Empire, was a royal Indian dynasty based from Dharanikota and Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh as well as Junnar and Prathisthan in Maharashtra. The territory of the empire covered much of India from 230 BCE onward...
incursions from the north under their King Pulumayi II. They appointed chieftains to look after the Kanchipuram region. Bappaswami, who is considered as the first Pallava to rule from Kanchipuram
Kanchipuram
Kanchipuram, or Kanchi, is a temple city and a municipality in Kanchipuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a temple town and the headquarters of Kanchipuram district...
, was himself a chieftain (of the tract around) at Kanchipuram under the Satavahana empire in the beginning of the 3rd century. The Pallavas who had so far been merely viceroys, then became independent rulers of Kancheepuram and its surrounding areas.
The Pallavas held sway over this region from the beginning of the 3rd century to the closing years of the 9th century, except for the interval of some decades when the region was under the Kalabhras
Kalabhras
The Kalabhras dynasty ruled over the entire Ancient Tamil country between the 3rd and the 6th century in an era of South Indian history called the Kalabhra interregnum. The Kalabhras displaced the kingdoms of the early Cholas, early Pandayan and Chera dynasties. Information about its origin and...
. The Pallavas were defeated by the Cholas under Aditya I
Aditya I
Aditya I , the son of Vijayalaya, was the first great Chola king of South India who extended the Chola dominions by the conquest of the Pallavas.- Pallava Civil War :...
by about 879 and the region was brought under the Chola rule. The Pandyas under Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan
Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan
Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I was king and Lord Emperor of the Pandyan dynasty, ruling regions of Tamilakkam Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I was king and Lord Emperor of the Pandyan dynasty, ruling regions of Tamilakkam Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I was king and Lord Emperor of the Pandyan...
rose to power and the region was brought under the Pandya rule by putting an end to Chola supremacy in 1264. Pandya's rule over this region lasted a little over half a century followed by the Bahmini kingdom
Bahmani Sultanate
The Bahmani Sultanate was a Muslim state of the Deccan in southern India and one of the great medieval Indian kingdoms...
with the extension of Delhi Sultanate
Delhi Sultanate
The Delhi Sultanate is a term used to cover five short-lived, Delhi based kingdoms or sultanates, of Turkic origin in medieval India. The sultanates ruled from Delhi between 1206 and 1526, when the last was replaced by the Mughal dynasty...
under Khilji
Khilji dynasty
The Khilji Sultanate was a dynasty of Turko-Afghan Khalaj origin who ruled large parts of South Asia from 1290 - 1320. They were the second dynasty to rule the Delhi Sultanate of India...
dynasty especially under the rule of Alauddin Khilji. During 1361, Kumara Kampana II, the son of Vijayanagar Emperor, Bukka I conquered and established Vijayanagar rule in Tondaimandalam.
Historical establishment of the city
The present day city of Chennai started as an English settlement known as Fort St. George. The Vijayanagar rulers who controlled the area, appointed chieftains known as NayaksNayak dynasty
Nayak dynasties emerged after the downfall of Vijayanagara Empire. The Nayaks were originally military governors under the supervision of the Vijayanagara Empire. After the battle of Talikota, several of them declared independence...
who ruled over the different regions of the province almost independently. Damarla Venkatadri Nayakudu, who was a Telugu King, and an influential Padma Velama
Velama
Velama or the Velama Doralu is a social group found mainly in Andhra Pradesh. Velamas are classed as "Upper Shudras". The history of Velama's is as old as Telugu bravery. Military exploits of Velamas form an important part of Telugu tradition, history and folklore...
Nayak chieftain under the Vijayanagara King Peda Venkata Rayalu based in Chandragiri
Chandragiri
Chandragiri , is a suburb of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, India. Recently it is included under Municipal Corporation limits of Tirupati...
-Vellore Fort
Vellore Fort
Vellore Fort is a large 16th-century fort situated in Vellore city near Chennai, in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The Fort was at one point of time the headquarters of the Vijayanagara Empire...
, was in-charge of the area of present Chennai city when the English East India Company arrived to establish a factory
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
in the area. It was Darmala who gave the East India Company in 1639 a grant of a piece of land lying between the river Cooum almost at the point it enters the sea and another river known as the Egmore river. On this piece of waste land was founded Fort St. George, a fortified settlement of British merchants, factory workers, and other colonial settlers. Upon this settlement the English expanded their colony to include a number of other European communities, new British settlements, and various native villages, one of which was named Madraspatnam. It in honor of the later village upon which the British named the entire colony and the combined city Madras. Controversially, in an attempt to revise history and justify renaming the city as Chennai, the ruling party has purged the history of the early English Madras settlements. According to the new party history, instead of being named Madras, it was named Chennai, after a village called Chennapattanam, in honour of Damerla Chennappa Nayakudu, father of Venkatadri Nayakudu, who controlled the entire coastal country from Pulicat in the north to the Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
settlement of Santhome
Santhome
-History:The word Santhome or San Thome is derived from Saint Thomas, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. The local Christian belief is that the apostle came to India in A.D.52, was martyred in A.D.72 at St.Thomas Mount in the City and was interred in Mylapore. A church was built over his...
. However, it is widely recorded that while the official centre of the present settlement was designated Fort St. George, the British applied the name Madras to a new large city which had grown up around the Fort including the "White Town" consisting principally of British settlers, and "Black Town" consisting of principally Catholic Europeans and allied Indian minorities.
Early European settlers
Modern Chennai had its origins as a colonialColonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
city and its initial growth was closely tied to its importance as an artificial harbour and trading centre. When the Portuguese arrived in 1522, they built a port and named it São Tomé, after the Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
apostle St. Thomas, who is believed to have preached there between the years 52 and 70. The region then passed into the hands of the Dutch
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
, who established themselves near Pulicat
Pulicat
Pulicat is a historic seashore town in Thiruvallur District, of Tamil Nadu state, South India. It is about 60 km north of Chennai and 3 km from Elavur, on the barrier island of Sriharikota, which separates Pulicat Lake from the Bay of Bengal. Pulicat lake is a shallow salt water lagoon...
just north of the city in 1612. Both groups strived to grow their colonial populations and although their populations reached into 10,000 persons when the British arrived, they remained substantially outnumbered by the local Indian population.
Arrival of the English
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
established themselves in Pulicat to the north.
In the seventeenth century when the English East India Company
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
decided to build a factory on the east coast and in 1626 selected as its site Armagon (Dugarazpatnam), a village some 35 miles north of Pulicat. The calico cloth from the local area, which was in high demand, was of poor quality and not suitable for export to Europe. The English soon realized that as a port Armagon was unsuitable for trade purposes. Francis Day, one of the officers of the company, who was then a Member of the Masulipatam Council and the Chief of the Armagon Factory, made a voyage of exploration in 1637 down the coast as far as Pondicherry with a view to choosing a site for a new settlement.
Permission from Vijayanagara Rulers
At that time the Coromandel Coast was ruled by Peda Venkata RayaPeda Venkata Raya
Venkata III , the grandson of Aliya Rama Raya became the King of Vijayanagara Empire from 1632–1642.-Seizure by Timma Raja:...
, Rajah of Chandragiri
Chandragiri
Chandragiri , is a suburb of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, India. Recently it is included under Municipal Corporation limits of Tirupati...
-Vellore
Vellore Fort
Vellore Fort is a large 16th-century fort situated in Vellore city near Chennai, in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The Fort was at one point of time the headquarters of the Vijayanagara Empire...
, who was a descendant of the famous Rajas of Vijayanagar. Under the Rajah, local chiefs or governors known as Nayaks ruled over each district.
Damarla Venkatadri Nayakudu, local governor of the Vijayanagar Empire and Nayak of Wandiwash (Vandavasi), ruled the coastal part of the region, from Pulicat to the Portuguese settlement of San Thome. He had his head-quarters at Wandiwash, and his brother Ayyappa Nayakudu resided at Poonamallee
Poonamallee
Poonamallee is a town in the Poonamallee taluk of the Thiruvallur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu...
, a few miles to the west of Madras, where he looked after the affairs of the coast. Beri Thimmappa, Francis Day's dubash (interpreter), was a close friend of Damarla Ayyappa Nayakudu. In the early 17th century Beri Thimmappa of the Puragiri Kshatriya (Perike
Perike
Perike/Perika/Puragiri Kshatriya : The Perike Caste is a Social Grouping found in the State of Andhra Pradesh. Literally they purely belongs to kshatriyas. Perikas were kings, agriculturists, peasants, warriors and landlords....
) caste migrated to the locality from Palacole, near Machilipatnam
Machilipatnam
Machilipatnam is a city and a special grade municipality in the Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located south east of state capital, Hyderabad.-History:...
in Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
. Ayyappa Nayakudu persuaded his brother to lease the sandy strip to Francis Day and promised him trade benefits, army protection, and Persian horses in return. Francis Day wrote to his Headquarters at Masulipatam for permission to inspect the proposed site at Madraspatnam and to examine the possibilities of trade there. Madraspatnam seemed favourable during the inspection, and the calicoes woven there were much cheaper than those at Armagon (Durgarazpatam).
Land grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate – land or its privileges – made by a government or other authority as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service...
by the Damarla Venkatadri Nayakudu, Nayak of Wandiwash, giving over to the East India Company a three-mile long strip of land, a fishing village called Madraspatnam, copies of which were endorsed by Andrew Cogan, the Chief of the Masulipatam Factory, and are even now preserved. The Grant was for a period of two years and empowered the Company to build a fort and castle on about five square kilometres of its strip of land.
The English Factors at Masulipatam were satisfied with Francis Day's work. They requested Day and the Damarla Venkatadri Nayakudu to wait until the sanction of the superior English Presidency of Bantam
Bantam (city)
Bantam in Banten province near the western end of Java was a strategically important site and formerly a major trading city, with a secure harbor on the Sunda Strait through which all ocean-going traffic passed, at the mouth of Banten River that provided a navigable passage for light craft into...
in Java could be obtained for their action. The main difficulty, among the English those days, was lack of money. In February 1640, Day and Cogan, accompanied by a few factors and writers, a garrison of about twenty-five European soldiers and a few other European artificers, besides a Hindu powder-maker named Naga Battan, proceeded to the land which had been granted and started a new English factory there. They reached Madraspatnam on February 20, 1640; and this date is important because it marks the first actual settlement of the English at the place.
Grant establishing lawful self-rule
The grant signed between Damarla Venkatadri and the English had to be authenticated or confirmed by the Raja of Chandragiri - Venkatapathy Rayulu. The Raja, Venkatapathy Rayulu, was succeeded by his nephew Sri Rangarayulu in 1642, and Sir Francis Day was succeeded by Thomas Ivy. The grant expired, and Ivy sent Factor Greenhill on a mission to Chandragiri to meet the new Raja and to get the grant renewed. A new grant was issued, copies of which are still available. It is dated October - November 1645. This new grant is important regarding the legal and civic development of the English settlement. Because the Raja operated an arbitrary and capricious legal code which fundamentally discriminated against private property, trade, and merchandising in general, and against non-Indians in particular, the new grant signed in 1645 expanded the rights of the English by empowering them to administer English Common Law amongst their colonists and Civil LawCivil law (legal system)
Civil law is a legal system inspired by Roman law and whose primary feature is that laws are codified into collections, as compared to common law systems that gives great precedential weight to common law on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different...
between the colonists and the other European, Muslim, and Hindu nationalities. Furthermore, it expanded the Company property by attaching an additional piece of land known as the Narimedu (or 'Jackal-ground') which lay to the west of the village of Madraspatnam. This new grant laid the foundation for the expansion of Madras into its present form. All three grants are said to have been engraved on gold plates which were later reported to have been plundered, disappearing during one of the genocides of the English colony. However, there are city records of their existence long afterwards, and it has been suggested that the present government may still hold them.
Expansion of Fort St. George into Madras
Francis Day and his superior Andrew Cogan can be considered as the founders of Madras (now Chennai). They began construction of the Fort St George on 23 April 1640 and houses for their residence. Their small fortified settlement quickly attracted other East Indian traders and as the Dutch position collapsed under hostile Indian power they also slowly joined the settlement. By the 1646, the settlement had reached 19,000 persons and with the Portuguese and Dutch populations at their forts substantially more. To further consolidate their position, the Company combined the various settlements around an expanded Fort St. George, which including its citadel also included a larger outside area surrounded by an additional wall. This area became the Fort St. George settlement. As stipulated by the Treaty signed with the Nayak, the British and other Christian Europeans were not allowed to decorate the outside of their buildings in any other color but white. As a result, over time, the area came to be known as 'White Town'.According to the treaty, only Europeans, principally Protestant British settlers were allowed to live in this area as outside of this confine, non-Indians were not allowed to own property. However, other national groups, chiefly FrenchPortuguese, and other Catholic merchants had separate agreements with the Nayak which allowed them in turn to establish trading posts, factories, and warehouses. As the East India Company controlled the trade in the area, these non-British merchants established agreements with the Company for settling on Company land near "White Town" per agreements with the Nayak. Over time, Indians also arrived in ever greater numbers and soon, the Portuguese and other non-Protestant Christian Europeans were outnumbered. Following several outbreaks of violence by various Hindu and Muslim Indian communities against the Christian Europeans, White Town's defenses and its territorial charter was expanded to incorporate most of the area which had grown up around its walls thereby incorporating most of its Catholic European settlements. In turn they resettled the non-European merchants and their families and workers, almost entirely Muslim or of various Hindu nationalities outside of the newly expanded "White Town". This was also surrounded by a wall. To differentiate these non-European and non-Christian area from "White Town", the new settlement was termed "Black Town. Collectively, the original Fort St. George settlement, "White Town", and "Black Town" were called Madras.
During the course of the late 17th century, both plague and genocidal warfare reduced the population of the colony dramatically. Each time, the survivors fell back upon the safety of the Fort St George
Fort St George
Fort St George is the name of the first English fortress in India, founded in 1639 at the coastal city of Madras, the modern city of Chennai. The construction of the Fort provided the impetus for further settlements and trading activity, in what was originally a no man's land...
. As a result, oweing to the frequency of outbursts of racial and national violence against the Europeans and especially the English, Fort St George
Fort St George
Fort St George is the name of the first English fortress in India, founded in 1639 at the coastal city of Madras, the modern city of Chennai. The construction of the Fort provided the impetus for further settlements and trading activity, in what was originally a no man's land...
with its impressive fortifications became the nucleus around which the city grew and rebuilt itself. Several times throughout the life of the colony, the Fort became the last refuge of Europeans and their allied Indian communities from various savage pograms initiated by several Indian rulers and powers, which resulted in the almost total destruction of the town. Each time the town and later city was rebuilt and repopulated with new English and European settlers. The Fort still stands today, and a part of it is used to house the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
Legislative Assembly
Legislative Assembly is the name given in some countries to either a legislature, or to one of its branch.The name is used by a number of member-states of the Commonwealth of Nations, as well as a number of Latin American countries....
and the Office of the Chief Minister
Chief Minister
A Chief Minister is the elected head of government of a sub-national state, provinces of Sri Lanka, Pakistan, notably a state of India, a territory of Australia or a British Overseas Territory that has attained self-government...
. Elihu Yale, after whom Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
is named, was British governor of Madras for five years. Part of the fortune that he amassed in Madras as part of the colonial administration became the financial foundation for Yale University.
The city has changed its boundaries as well as the geographic limits of its quarters several times, principally as a result from destructions of the town by surrounding Hindu and Moslem powers. For instance, Golkonda forces under General Mir Jumla conquered Madras in 1646, massacred or sold into slavery much of the Christian European inhabitants and their allied Indian communities, and brought Madras and its immediate surroundings under his control. Nonetheless, the Fort and its surrounding walls remained under British control who slowly rebuilt their colony with additional colonists despite another mass murder of Europeans in Black Town by anti-colonialists agitated by Golkonda and plague in the 1670s. In 1674, the expanded colony had nearly 50,000 mostly British and European colonists and was granted its own corporate charter, thereby officially establishing the modern day city. Eventually, after additional provocations from Golkonda, the British pushed back until they defeated him.
After the fall of Golkonda in 1687, the region came under the rule of the Mughal Emperors of Delhi who in turn granted new Charters and territorial borders for the area. Subsequently, Firmans were issued by the Mughal Emperor granting the rights of English East India company in Madras and formerly ending the official capacity of local rulers to attack the British. In the later part of the seventeenth century, Madras steadily progressed during the period of the East India Company and under many Governors. Although most of the original Portuguese, Dutch, and British population had been genocided during the Golkonda period, under the Mughul protection, large numbers of British and Anglo-American settlers arrived to replenish these losses. As a result during the Governorship of Elihu Yale
Elihu Yale
Elihu Yale was a Welsh merchant and philanthropist, governor of the East India Company, and a benefactor of the Collegiate School of Connecticut, which in 1718 was named Yale College in his honour.- Life :...
(1687–92), the large number of British and European settlers led to the most important political event which was the formation of the institution of a Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
and the Corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
for the city of Madras. Under this Charter, the British and Protestant inhabitants were granted the rights of self-government and independence from company law. In 1693, a perwanna was received from the local Nawab granting the towns Tondiarpet, Purasawalkam and Egmore to the company which continued to rule from Fort St. George. The present parts of Chennai like Poonamalee (ancient Tamil name - Poo Iruntha alli), Triplicane (ancient Tamil name - Thiru alli keni) are mentioned in Tamil bhakti literature of the sixth - ninth centuries.Thomas Pitt
Thomas Pitt
Thomas Pitt , born at Blandford Forum, Dorset, to a rector and his wife, was a British merchant involved in trade with India....
became the Governor of Madras in 1698 and governed for eleven years. This period witnessed remarkable development of trade and increase in wealth resulting in the building of many fine houses, mansions, housing developments, an expanded port and city complete with new city walls, and various churches and schools for the British colonists and missionary schools for the local Indian population.
Acquisitions
| Village | Year |
|---|---|
| Madraspatnam | 1639 |
| Narimedu (area to the west of Madraspatnam) | 1645 |
| Triplicane Triplicane Triplicane also has the famous powerful Ellamman temple in SMV Koil street. A beautiful Sundaramurthy Vinayagar temple is right opposite to the Ellamman Temple.... |
1672 |
| Tiruvottiyur Tiruvottiyur Tiruvottiyur is located within the city premises of Chennai. It is located to the north of Chennai. Due to its proximity to Parrys and Chennai Central, it is fast becoming a sought after residential destination... |
1708 |
| Kottivakkam Kottivakkam Kottivakkam is a census town in Kancheepuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Even though it comes under the administration of kancheepuram it enjoys a close proximity to the Chennai city.- Demographics :... |
1708 |
| Nungambakkam | 1708 |
| Egmore | 1720 |
| Purasawalkam | 1720 |
| Tondiarpet Tondiarpet Tondiarpet constitutes an important suburban region of Chennai city. The place is located in the northern outskirts and close to the nearby sea that is Bay of Bengal. Tondiarpet is one important commercial centre in the north of the city. The place shares its boundaries with other important... |
1720 |
| Chintadripet | 1735 |
| Vepery | 1742 |
| Mylapore Mylapore Mylapore is a cultural hub and neighborhood in the southern part of the city of Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, India. Earlier, Mylapore used to be called Vedapuri.... |
1749 |
| Chennapatnam | 1801 |
1750s to the end of the British Raj
Battle of Madras
The Battle of Madras or Fall of Madras or Battle of Adyar took place in September 1746 during the War of the Austrian Succession when a French force attacked and captured the city of Madras from its British garrison....
at last. But this time it was by the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
under General La Bourdonnais
Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais
Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais was a French naval officer and administrator, in the service of the French East India Company.-Biography:...
, who used to be the Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
. Because of its importance to the East India Company, the French plundered and destroyed the village of Chepauk
Chepauk
Chepauk is a locality in Chennai , in India. The name Chepauk is popularly used to refer to the M. A. Chidambaram International Cricket Stadium also known as Chepauk Stadium. It is also home to the Chepauk palace, built in the Indo-Saracenic style...
and Blacktown, the locality across from the port where all the dockyard labourers used to live.
The British regained control in 1749 through the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)
The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1748 ended the War of the Austrian Succession following a congress assembled at the Imperial Free City of Aachen—Aix-la-Chapelle in French—in the west of the Holy Roman Empire, on 24 April 1748...
. They then strengthened and expanded Fort St George over the next thirty years to bear subsequent attacks, the strongest of which
Siege of Madras
The Siege of Madras was a siege of Madras, British India, between December 1758 and February 1759 by French forces under the command of Lally during the Seven Year's War. The British garrison was able to hold out until it was relieved. The British fired 26,554 cannon balls and more than 200,000...
came from the French (1759, under Thomas Arthur, Comte de Lally
Thomas Arthur, comte de Lally
Thomas Arthur, comte de Lally, baron de Tollendal was a French General of Irish Jacobite ancestry. He commanded French forces in India during the Seven Years War. After a failed attempt to capture Madras he lost the Battle of Wandiwash to British forces under Eyre Coote and then was forced to...
), and later Hyder Ali
Hyder Ali
Hyder Ali was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born Hyder Naik, he distinguished himself militarily, eventually drawing the attention of Mysore's rulers...
, the Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
of Mysore in 1767 during the First Anglo-Mysore War
First Anglo-Mysore War
The First Anglo-Mysore War was a war in India between the Sultanate of Mysore and the British East India Company. The war was instigated in part by the machinations of Asaf Jah II, the Nizam of Hyderabad, who sought to divert the company's resources from attempts to gain control of the Northern...
. Following the Treaty of Madras
Treaty of Madras
The Treaty of Madras was a peace agreement signed in 1769 between Mysore and the British East India Company which brought an end to the First Anglo-Mysore War. Fighting had broken out in 1767 and the forces of Hyder Ali had come close to capturing Madras at one point.The Treaty contained a clause...
which brought that war to an end, the external threats to Madras significantly decreased. The 1783 version of Fort St George is what still stands today.
In the latter half of the 18th century, Madras became an important British naval base, and the administrative centre of the growing British dominions in southern India. The British fought with various Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an powers, notably the French at Vandavasi
Vandavasi
Vandavasi or Wandiwash is a city and a municipality in Tiruvanamalai district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.Vandavasi was the scene of a decisive battle in the 18th-century war between France and the United Kingdom for the control of South Asia. The Battle of Wandiwash was a watershed in...
(Wandiwash) in 1760, where de Lally was defeated by Sir Eyre Coote
Eyre Coote (East India Company officer)
Lieutenant-General Sir Eyre Coote, KB was an Irish soldier. He is best known for his many years of service with the British Army in India. His victory at the Battle of Wandiwash is considered a decisive turning point in the struggle for control in India between British and France...
, and the Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
at Tharangambadi (Tranquebar
Tranquebar
Tharangambadi is a panchayat town in Nagapattinam district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, 15 km north of Karaikal, near the mouth of a distributary of the Kaveri River. Its name means "place of the singing waves"...
). Following the British victory in the Seven Years War
Great Britain in the Seven Years War
The Kingdom of Great Britain was one of the major participants in the Seven Years' War which lasted between 1756 and 1763. Britain emerged from the war as the world's leading colonial power having gained a number of new territories at the Treaty of Paris in 1763 and established itself as the...
they eventually dominated, driving the French, the Dutch and the Danes away entirely, and reducing the French dominions in India to four tiny coastal enclaves. The British also fought four war
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
s with the Kingdom of Mysore
Kingdom of Mysore
The Kingdom of Mysore was a kingdom of southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. The kingdom, which was ruled by the Wodeyar family, initially served as a vassal state of the Vijayanagara Empire...
under Hyder Ali and later his son Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan , also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. He was the son of Hyder Ali, at that time an officer in the Mysorean army, and his second wife, Fatima or Fakhr-un-Nissa...
, which led to their eventual domination of India's south. Madras was the capital of the Madras Presidency
Madras Presidency
The Madras Presidency , officially the Presidency of Fort St. George and also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India...
, also called Madras Province.
By the end of 1783, the great 18th century wars which saw the British and French battle from Europe to North America and from the Mediterranean to India, resulted in the British being in complete control of the city's regional and most of South India area. Although the British had lost most of their well-populated, industrious, and wealthy North American colonies, after a decade's feud with the French, they were securely in control of Madras and most of the Indian trade. Consequently, they expanded the Chartered control of the company by encompassing the neighbouring villages of Triplicane
Triplicane
Triplicane also has the famous powerful Ellamman temple in SMV Koil street. A beautiful Sundaramurthy Vinayagar temple is right opposite to the Ellamman Temple....
, Egmore
Egmore
-Main places:* Chennai Egmore railway station.* Office of the commissioner of Greater Chennai Police department.* Government Museum, Chennai.* Connemara Public Library, one of the biggest libraries in India.* National Art Gallery...
, Purasawalkam and Chetput to form the city of Chennapatnam, as it was called by locals then. This new area saw a proliferation of English merchant and planter families who, allied with their wealthy Indian counterparts, jointly controlled Chennapatnam under the supervision of White Town. Over time and administrative reforms, the area was finally fully incorporated into the new metropolitan charter of Madras.
The development of a harbour in Madras led the city to become an important centre for trade between India and Europe in the eighteenth century. In 1788, Thomas Parry arrived in Madras as a free merchant and he set up one of the oldest mercantile companies in the city and one of the oldest in the country (EID Parry
EID Parry
EID Parry Limited is a public company, headquartered in Chennai, South India, which has been in business for more than 200 years. It has many firsts to its credit, including manufacturing of fertilizers for the first time in the Indian subcontinent...
). John Binny came to Madras in 1797 and he established the textile company Binny & Co in 1814. Spencer's
Spencer Plaza
Spencer Plaza, is a shopping mall located on Anna Salai, and is one of the landmarks of modern Chennai, Tamil Nadu in India. Reconstructed in 1985 on the site of a departmental store, it is the oldest shopping mall in India.-History:...
started as a small business in 1864 and went on to become the biggest department stores in Asia at the time. The original building which housed Spencer & Co. was burnt down in a fire in 1983 and the present structure houses one of the largest shopping malls in India, Spencer Plaza
Spencer Plaza
Spencer Plaza, is a shopping mall located on Anna Salai, and is one of the landmarks of modern Chennai, Tamil Nadu in India. Reconstructed in 1985 on the site of a departmental store, it is the oldest shopping mall in India.-History:...
. Other prominent companies in the city included Gordon Woodroffe, Best & Crompton, Higginbotham's
Higginbotham's
The Higginbotham's is an Indian company of book sellers and publishers based in the city of Chennai. The main bookstore at Mount Road, Chennai has the reputation of being India's oldest bookshop in existence.- History :...
, Hoe & Co and P. Orr & Sons.
Madras was the capital of the Madras Presidency and thus became home to important commercial organisations. Breaking with the tradition of the closed and almost wholly British controlled system of the English East India Company, The Madras Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1836 by Fredrick Adam, Governor of the Madras Presidency (the second oldest Chamber of Commerce in the country). Thereafter in a nod to the declining fortunes of the British textile owners and skilled workers who were still extant in the city, the Madras Trades Association was established in 1856, by which the old colonial families still involved in the skilled and textile trades were granted entry into the British and Indian financial trade system. In turn, the Madras Stock Exchange
Madras Stock Exchange
The Madras Stock Exchange is a stock exchange in Madras, , India. The Madras Stock Exchange is the fourth Stock Exchange to be established in the country, and the first in South India...
was established in 1920.
In 1906, the city experienced a financial crisis with the failure of its leading merchant bank, Arbuthnot & Co
Arbuthnot & Co
Arbuthnot & Co was a mercantile bank, based in Madras, India. It was founded as Francis Latour & Co in the late 18th century, then became Arbuthnot De Monte & Co and failed spectacularly on 22 October 1906....
. The crisis also imperiled Parry & Co
EID Parry
EID Parry Limited is a public company, headquartered in Chennai, South India, which has been in business for more than 200 years. It has many firsts to its credit, including manufacturing of fertilizers for the first time in the Indian subcontinent...
and Binny & Co, but both found rescuers. The lawyer V. Krishnaswamy Iyer
V. Krishnaswamy Iyer
Venkatarama Iyer Krishnaswamy Iyer was an Indian lawyer and High Court judge of Madras. He was involved in the prosecution of a partner of the British banking Company Arbuthnot & Co after the bank crashed on 22 October 1906...
made a name for himself representing claimants, mostly wealthy Hindus and Muslims who had lent money on the failed bank. The next year, flush with funds won from the original British owners who had capitalized the bank, he organized a group of Chettiar
Chettiar
Chettiar , also spelled Chetty, is a title used by various castes in South India especially in Tamil Nadu. In Kannada, it appears as Setty, Shettar and Shettigar, who are Padmashalis in Andhra Pradesh....
merchants to found Indian Bank
Indian Bank
Indian Bank is a major Indian Commercial Bank headquartered in Chennai , India. It has 22,000 employees, 1923 branches and is one of the big public sector banks of India. It has overseas branches in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and 229 correspondent banks in 69 countries...
, with which he funded new Indian enterprises and broke into the previously closed ranks of the British financial system. The bank still has its corporate headquarters in the city.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Madras (Chennai) was shelled
Bombardment of Madras
The Bombardment of Madras was an engagement of World War I, at Madras in British India, now the modern day Chennai. The bombardment was initiated by the German light cruiser Emden at the start of the war in 1914....
by the German light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
SMS Emden, resulting in 5 civilian deaths and 26 wounded. The crew of a merchant ship also destroyed by the Germans that night.
Post-independence (1947)
Post-British Raj
After India became independent, the city became the administrative and legislative capital of Madras StateMadras State
Madras State was the name by which the Indian districts in Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Northern Kerala, Bellary and Dakshina Kannada were collectively known as from 1950 to 1953....
which was renamed as Tamil Nadu in 1968.
During the reorganisation of states in India on linguistic lines, in 1953, Telugu speakers wanted Madras as the capital of Andhra Pradesh and coined the slogan "Madras Manade" (Madras is ours) before Tirupati
Tirumala - Tirupati
Tirupati is a major pilgrimage city located in the Chittoor district and seventh biggest city of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located at the foothills of the Eastern Ghats at a distance of south of Hyderabad, the capital of the state, east of Bangalore, and north of Chennai.Tirupati is famous...
was included in Andhra Pradesh. The dispute arose as over the preceding hundred years, the early British, European workers and small cottage capitalists had been replaced in large part by both Tamil and Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
speaking people. In fact, as the greater concentration of capital wrecked what remained of old East Indian middle class, the city principally became a large housing development for huge numbers of workers. Most of these were recruited as cheap labor from the relatively poor Telugu nationality, which in turn enraged the Tamil nationals who were originally the working and middle class settlers of Madras in the late 18th century. Earlier, Panagal Raja
Panagal Raja
Sir Panaganti Ramarayaningar KCIE , , also known as the Raja of Panagal, was a zamindar of Kalahasti, a Justice Party leader and the Chief Minister or Premier of Madras Presidency from July 11, 1921 to December 3, 1926.Ramarayaningar was born in Kalahasti on July 9, 1866...
, Chief Minister of Madras Presidency in early 1920s had suggested that the Cooum River
Cooum River
The Cooum River , is an urban river which ends in the city of Chennai draining into the Bay of Bengal. Along with the Adyar River running parallel to the south, the river trifurcates the city and separates Northern Chennai from Central Chennai.The name of Cooum appears to be derived from Tamil...
be the boundary between the Tamil and Telugu administrative areas. In 1953, the political and administrative dominance of Tamils, both at the Union and State levels ensured that Madras was not transferred to the new state of Andhra
Andhra State
Andhra State was a state in India created on October 1, 1953 from the Telugu-speaking northern districts of Madras Presidency. On November 1, 1956 it was merged with the Telangana region of Hyderabad State to form the united Telugu-speaking state of Andhra Pradesh.- Madras Manade movement :In 1953,...
Although the original inhabitants of Madras and responsible for its growth into the modern metropolis of today, the British and European nationals are virtually non-existent. Always a tiny minority in comparison with the vast Indian population of the hinterlands, despite slow growth in natural birthrate and continued settlement, the British and European populations were made an ever decreasing share of their city's populations. As more and more Indians arrived from the countryside to work in the city, the British and other Europeans found it increasingly difficult to establish or maintain independent wealth as they had during the early East Indian regime. This only furthered to mitigate continued British settlement. Nonetheless, as any purview of the city's and other major metropolitan cemeteries of India can attest, hundreds of thousands came to India between the 1600s and 1770s and later another million more came between 1770 and 1870. These settlers and their families spread throughout India or settled in the cities, with Madras being one of their principal entry points. However, by the early 20th century they had become a small minority in their own city. Although they remained in control of the original corporations and businesses of Madras, and were the official representatives of the Imperial government, their communities size relative to the larger Indian population in Madras ensured their eventual demise should democratic control be given to Indian nationalities in place of the older Colonial charters. When this was accomplished with the Independence of India in 1947, they were quickly brushed aside by the new Hindu population.
Despite lacking their original numbers and control, the original British community remnants, along with other minorities as well as the long history of British culture, keeps Madras a slightly cosmopolitan city. Although the majority of residents in "Chennai" are Tamilians, there are also a sizeable community of Telugu
Telugu people
The Telugu people or Telugu Prajalu are an ethnic group of India. They are the native speakers of the Telugu language, the most commonly spoken language in India after Hindi and Bengali...
nationals, mixed Anglo Indian descendants of the original English settlers, a smaller but still extant British and European community, as well as migrant Malayalee communities in the city. As the city is an important administrative and commercial centre, many nationalities such as the mostly Muslim Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
, Punjabi
Punjabi people
The Punjabi people , ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ), also Panjabi people, are an Indo-Aryan group from South Asia. They are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia. They originate in the Punjab region, which has been been the location of some of the oldest civilizations in the world including, the...
, Gujarati
Gujarati people
Gujarati people , or Gujaratis are an ethnic group that is traditionally Gujarati-speaking and can trace their ancestry to the state of Gujarat in western India...
and Marwari
Marwaris
Marwari or Marwadi or Rajasthani people are Indian ethnic group, that inhabit the Rajasthan region of India. Their language Rajasthani is a part of the western group of Indo-Aryan languages....
communities, as well as Hindu nationalities from Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
and Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
migrated to the city and have contributed to its cosmopolitan nature. Today, Chennai also has a growing expatriate population especially from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Europe and East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
who work in the industries and IT
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
centres.
Since its establishment as a city in 1639, English was the official language of the city. However, with independence, the new Hindu speaking rulers started imposing the use of Hindi in business and government. From 1965 to 1967, the city was an important base for the Tamil agitation against this imposition, and witnessed sporadic rioting. Madras witnessed further political violence due to the civil war in Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan civil war
The Sri Lankan Civil War was a conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on July 23, 1983, there was an on-and-off insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent Tamil state named Tamil...
, with 33 people killed by a bomb planted by the Tamil Eelam Army
Tamil Eelam Army
The Tamil Eelam Army is a defunct Tamil separatist group in Sri Lanka. It was founded by Panagoda Maheswaran. It was implicated in a bomb attack against a Sri Lankan airlines at Madras airport in India. It was disbanded after that incident.-See also:...
at the airport in 1984, and assassination of thirteen members of the EPRLF and two Indian civilians by the rival LTTE in 1991. In the same year, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira...
was assassinated in Sriperumbudur
Sriperumbudur
Sriperumbudur is an industrial city in Kanchipuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located in proximity to Chennai. It is famous for being the birth place of Sri Ramanuja, one of the most prominent Hindu Vaishnava saints as well as the town where former Indian Prime Minister...
, a small town close to Chennai, whilst campaigning in Tamil Nadu, by Thenmuli Rajaratnam
Thenmuli Rajaratnam
Thenmozhi "Gayatri" Rajaratnam was the assassin who killed Rajiv Gandhi, herself, and 14 others in a suicide bombing on May 21, 1991, in the Indian town of Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, near Chennai. A member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , Rajaratnam was also known as Gayatri and Dhanu...
A.K.A Dhanu. Dhanu is widely believed to be have been an LTTE member. In 1996, keeping with the recent nationwide practice of Indianizing city names, the Government of Tamil Nadu, then represented by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. It is a Dravidian party founded by C. N. Annadurai as a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam headed by Periyar...
, renamed the city to Chennai. The 2004 tsunami lashed the shores of "Chennai" killing many, destroying much of the historical oceanfront, and permanently altering the coastline.
Today, modern Chennai, formerly known as Madras is a large commercial and industrial centre, and is known for its cultural heritage
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
and temple architecture. Chennai is the automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
capital of India, with around forty percent of the automobile industry having a base there and with a major portion of the nation's vehicles being produced there. Chennai is also referred as the Detroit of South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
. It is a major manufacturing centre. Chennai has also become a major centre for outsourced IT and financial services from the Western world.
Name
The name Madras is derived from Madraspatnam, the site chosen by the British East India Company for a permanent settlement in 1639.Currently, the nomenclature of the area is in a state of controversy. The region was often called by different names as madrapupatnam, madras kuppam, madraspatnam, and madirazpatnam as adopted by locals. Another small town, Chennapatnam, lay to the south of it. This place was supposedely named so by Damarla Venkatadri Nayakudu, Nayak of Wandiwash in remembrance of his father Damarla Chennappa Nayakudu. He was the local governor for the last Raja of Chandragiri, Sri Ranga Raya VI of Vijayanagar Empire. The first Grant of Damarla Venkatadri Nayakudu makes mention of the village of Madraspatnam as incorporated into East India lands but not of Chennapatnam. This together with the written records makes it clear that the Fort which became the center of present Chennai, was built upon or nearby the village of Madraspatnam. Although, Madraspatnam is named in later records following the establishment of Fort St. George, this is likely because of the discriminatory nature of the local caste system. Under Hindu caste code, as well as English Common Law, it is unlikely that Fort St. George was built upon the village of Madraspatnam and its inhabitants incorporated into the new town. Instead, it is likely that Fort was built either close to the village or if it was built upon the village, the village was relocated. In fact, in all records of the times, a difference is made between the original village of Madraspatnam and the new town growing around the Fort known as "White Town". Therefore, because of the fort's proximity or origin to the village of Mandraspatnam, and the fort's centrality to the development of the city, the British settlers of the city later named their settlement Madras in honor of it. Further militating against the name "Chennai", Chennapatnam was the name in later years of an area explicitetly detailed as having been incorporated of native villages, European plantations, and European merchant houses outside of the combined city of Madras consisting of Fort St. George, and White and Black Town. Lastly, while the Fort St. George, White Town, and Black Town areas were fully incoporated together by the late 1700s, and was known as Madras, Chennapatnam was its own separate entity existing under the authority of Fort St. George well into the 19th century. Consequently, once the area separating Chennapatnam and Old Madras was built over uniting the two settlements, as founders, settlers, and authorities of area, the English named the new united city Madras. Thus it is improbable that the area was ever called Chennai. Instead, being the gateway of trade and the center of the economy of the region, the English settlement and their fort of 1639-40, which was the basis for the presently named city of Chennai, was likely called Madras as well by the rest of India. Thus, the renaming of the city "Chennai" by the DMK was an overtly political act at culturally erasing the English antecedents and colonial settlement which gave birth to the modern metropolis.