Chennai

I

Introduction

Chennai, city in south-eastern India, capital of Tamil Nadu State, on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth-largest city in India (after Kolkata, Delhi, and Mumbai) and one of the country’s principal ports. The city was known as Madras until 1996, when it was officially renamed as Chennai. Population 6,424,624 (2001).

II

Economy

One of the main ports of India, the city has a large artificial harbour, from which leather goods, peanuts, and raw cotton are exported. Located on the Coromandel Coast, a low and sandy region, the city is the commercial and manufacturing centre of the surrounding area with chemical plants, tanneries, and textile mills. The city has two railway stations: Central for broad-gauge trains to all parts of India, and Egmore for metre-gauge trains to other towns in the southern region. Chennai has an international airport with two terminals (Anna International and Kamaraj Domestic), located approximately 17 km (11 mi) from the city centre. Chennai’s retail sector expanded rapidly at the end of the 20th century. Tourism makes a significant contribution to the economy; popular coastal tourist destinations include Marina Beach and Elliots Beach.

III

Places of Interest

The city grew up around the English settlement of Fort St George and gradually absorbed the surrounding towns and villages. The city falls into three main areas. The north was the original centre of British trade and, subsequently, of British political power, while Mylapore, in the south, was the first Portuguese settlement. From the 19th century onwards, as the British consolidated their rule, the third area, the city, gradually grew up between the other two districts. Today, the fort buildings house the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council, as well as the state secretariat offices and high court. Other places of interest include the Chepauk Palace, Kapaleeshwarar Temple (an ancient shrine to Shiva), and the Cathedral of San Thomé, said to have been built over the burial place of the Apostle Thomas. Located at the heart of the Chennai metropolitan area is Guindy National Park, India’s smallest national park, covering an area of 27.6 sq km (10.7 sq mi). Wildlife supported by the park includes chitals, mongooses, civets, jackals, and monkeys.

The city has a number of educational and cultural institutions important to southern India, including the University of Madras (founded in 1857), a branch of the Indian Institutes of Technology (1959), the Chennai Music Academy, and the College of Carnatic Music. The Government Museum, in the centre of Chennai, opened in 1851. The museum complex comprises an art gallery, a theatre, a public library, and individual departments dedicated to anthropology, archaeology, art, coins and coin collecting, botany, zoology, and geology. Highlights include ancient Buddhist limestone sculptures and rock and cave art, artefacts dating from the Pallava, Chola, and Pandya eras, and an extensive collection of Southern Indian bronzes.

IV

History

A

Founding and Early Development

Chennai is over 350 years old, having been founded by the East India Company in 1639. It was the company’s first settlement in India and was established by the trader Francis Day as a fort and trading post. However, some of the villages on the site of the city—Triplicane, Mylapore, Tiruvottiyur, and Pallavaram—date from over 2,000 years ago. The British fort of St George was completed in 1653, and George Town—the township surrounding it—was given a charter in 1688. After the Carnatic Wars Chennai became an undisputed centre of British power in India.