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MADRAS

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 292 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MADRAS , the See also:

capital of Madras See also:presidency, and the See also:chief seaport on the eastern See also:coast of See also:India, is situated in 130 4' N. and 80° 17' E. The See also:city, with its suburbs, extends nine milesalong the See also:sea and nearly four See also:miles inland, intersected by the little See also:river Cooum. See also:Area, 27 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 509,346, showing an increase of 12-6% in the See also:decade. Madras is the third city in India. Although at first sight the city presents a disappointing See also:appearance, and possesses not a single handsome See also:street, it has several buildings of architectural pretensions, and many spots of See also:historical See also:interest. It is spread over a very wide area, and many parts of it are almost rural in See also:character. Seen from the roadstead, the fort; a See also:row of merchants' offices, a few See also:spires and public buildings are all that strike the See also:eye. Roughly speaking, the city consists of the following divisions. (I) See also:George See also:Town (formerly See also:Black Town, but renamed after the visit of the See also:Prince of See also:Wales in 1906), an See also:ill-built, densely-populated See also:block, about a mile square, is the business See also:part of the town, containing the See also:banks, See also:custom See also:house, high See also:court, and all the See also:mercantile offices. The last, for the most part handsome structures, See also:lie along the See also:beach. On the sea-See also:face of George Town are the See also:pier and the new See also:harbour.

Immediately See also:

south of George Town there is (2) an open space which contains Fort St George, the Marina, or fashionable drive and See also:promenade by the seashore, See also:Government House, and several handsome public buildings on the sea-face. (3) See also:West and south of this See also:lung of the city are crowded quarters known by native names—Chintadrapet, Turuvaleswarampet, Pudupak, Royapet, Kistnampet and Mylapur, which See also:bend to the sea again at the old town of See also:Saint Thome. (4) To the west of George Town are the quarters of Veperi and Pudupet, chiefly inhabited by Eurasians, and the suburbs of Egmore, Nangambakam,, and Perambur, adorned with handsome See also:European mansions and their spacious " compounds " or parks, which make Madras a city of magnificent distances. (5) South-west and south lie the European quarters of Tanampet and aristocratic Adyar. Among the most notable buildings are the See also:cathedral, Scottish See also:church, Government House, Pachayappa's See also:Hall, See also:senate house, Chepauk See also:palace (now the See also:revenue See also:board), and the Central railway station. Madras possesses no See also:special See also:industries. There are several See also:cotton See also:mills, large See also:cement See also:works, See also:iron foundries and See also:cigar factories. Large sums of See also:money have from See also:time to time been spent upon the harbour works, but without any See also:great success. The See also:port remains practically an open roadstead, protected by two breakwaters, and the P. & O. steamers ceased to See also:call in 1898. Passengers or See also:cargo are landed or embarked in See also:flat-bottomed masula boats. The sea bottom is unusually flat, reaching a See also:depth of ten fathoms only at a mile from the See also:shore.

The harbour is not safe during a See also:

cyclone, and vessels have to put out to sea. Madras conducts about 56% of the See also:foreign See also:trade of the presidency, but a much smaller See also:share of the See also:coasting trade. As the capital of See also:southern India, Madras is the centre on which all the great military roads converge. It is also the terminal station of two lines of railway, the Madras & Southern Mahratta See also:line and the Madras & See also:Tanjore See also:section of the South See also:Indian railway. The See also:Buckingham See also:canal, which passes through an outlying part of the city, connects South See also:Arcot See also:district with See also:Nellore and the See also:Kistna and See also:Godavari See also:system of canal See also:navigation. The municipal government of the city was framed by an See also:act of the Madras legislature passed in 1884. The governing See also:body consists of 32 commissioners, of whom 24 are elected by the ratepayers, together with a paid See also:president. The Madras University was constituted in 1857, as an examining body, on the See also:model of the university of See also:London. The chief educational institutions in Madras city are the Presidency See also:College; six missionary colleges and one native college; the medical college, the See also:law college, the college of See also:engineering, the teachers' college in the suburb of See also:Saidapet, all maintained by government; and the government school of arts. The See also:foundation of Madras See also:dates' from 1640, when See also:Francis See also:Day, chief of the See also:East India See also:Company's See also:settlement at Armagon, obtained a See also:grant of the See also:present site of the city from a native ruler. A fort—called Fort St George, presumably from having been finished on St George's Day (See also:April 23)—was at once constructed, and a gradually increasing See also:population settled around its walls. In 1653 Madras, which had previously been subordinate to the settlement of See also:Bantam in See also:Java, was raised to the See also:rank of an See also:independent presidency.

In 1702 Daud See also:

Khan, See also:Aurangzeb's See also:general, blockaded the town for a few See also:weeks, and in 1741 the See also:Mahrattas unsuccessfully attacked the See also:place. In 1746 La Bourdonnais bombarded and captured Madras. The settlement was restored to the See also:English two years later by the Treaty of See also:Aix-la-Chapelle, but the government of the presidency did not return to Madras till 1762. In 1758 the See also:French under See also:Lally occupied the Black Town and invested the fort. The See also:siege was conducted on both sides with great skill and vigour. After two months the arrival of an English See also:fleet relieved the See also:garrison, and the besiegers retired with some precipitancy. With the exception of the threatening approach of Hyder See also:Ali's horsemen in 1769, and again in 178o, Madras has since the French siege been See also:free from See also:external attack. The town of Saint See also:Thorne, now part of Madras city, was founded and fortified by the Portuguese in 1504, and was held by the French from 1672 to 1674. See Mrs F. See also:Penny, Fort St George (1900); W. See also:Foster, See also:Founding of Fort St George (1902).

End of Article: MADRAS

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