Chennai formerly known as Madras, is the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu and is India's fourth largest metropolitan city. Chennai is the third largest commercial and industrial centre in India. Chennai is known for its cultural heritage and temple architecture. It is also a hub for south Indian classical music and dance performances. Chennai is considered the automobile capital of India, with a major percentage of the automobile industry having a base here and a major portion of the nation's vehicles being produced here.

     Chennai was initially a small fishing village. It has been ruled by South Indian kingdoms, notably the Pallava, the Chola, the Pandya, and Vijaynagar empires. The town of Mylapore, now part of the metropolis, was once a major port of the Pallava kingdom.

     When the Portuguese arrived in 1522, they built a port and named it Sao Tome, 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.

     On 22 August 1639, Francis Day of the British East India Company obtained a small strip of land in the Coromandel Coast from the Vijayanagara King, Peda Venkata Raya in Chandragiri. The region was under by the Damerla Venkatapathy, Nayak of Vandavasi.The permission was to build a factory and warehouse for their trading activities. A year later, Fort St George was built, which subsequently became the nucleus around which the colonial city grew.

     In 1746, Fort St George and Madras were captured by the French under General La Bourdonnais, the Governor of Mauritius, who plundered the town and its outlying villages. The British regained control of the town in 1749 through the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle and subsequently fortified the base to withstand further attacks from the French and Hyder Ali, the Sultan of Mysore.

     By the late 18th century, the British had conquered most of the region around Tamil Nadu and the northern modern-day states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka to establish the Madras Presidency, whose capital was Madras. Under British rule the city grew into a major urban centre and naval base. With the advent of railways in India in the late 19th century, it was connected to other important cities such as Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) and Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), facilitating communication and trade.

     It was the only Indian city to be attacked by the Central Powers during World War I, when an oil depot was shelled by the German light cruiser SMS Emden.

     After independence in 1947, the city became the capital of Madras State, which was renamed Tamil Nadu in 1969.

     The name Madras is derived from Madraspatnam, the site chosen by the British East India Company for a permanent settlement in 1639. Another small town, Chennapatnam, lay to the south of it. In due course the two towns were merged, and the term Madras was favoured by the British. Locals used to refer to it as Chennapatnam or Chennapuri. The city was renamed Chennai in August, 1996[5] as the name Madras was perceived to be of Portuguese origin.

     Chennai, the present gateway to the South of India, is only about 350 years old. Chennai is located near the 13th north parallel and 80 degree longitude. It is located on a flat coastal plain known as the Eastern Coastal Plains. The city has an average elevation of 6 metres (20 feet), its highest point being 60 m (200 ft). The city stretches its 19 km length along the Coromandel coast and extends inland about 9 km at its widest. Its irregular shape covers about 172 sq km. It is a fairly low-lying strip of land, its highest point being only 60 m above sea level.

     Chennai is trisected by two east-flowing rivers that traverse its width. The Cooum river almost divides the city into half and the Adyar river divides the southern half of the city into two. The Buckingham Canal, 4 km (3 miles) inland, travels parallel to the coast, linking the two rivers. The Otteri Nullah, an east-west stream runs through north Chennai and meets the Buckingham Canal at Basin Bridge.

     Several lakes of varying size are located on the western fringes of the city. Red Hills, Sholavaram and Chembarambakkam Lake supply Chennai with potable water.

     Except for four pleasant months, November to February, the weather is uniformly hot and humid. May is the hottest season with the mercury sometimes touching 42⁰C and the mean temperature about 33⁰C. December and January are the coolest months with a mean temperature of 24⁰C. Howerver, the cool sea breeze (which sets in shortly after 3 PM daily) makes even the warmest of evenings bearable. The hottest part of the year is late May and early June, known locally as Agni Nakshatram ("fire star") or as Kathiri Veyyil, with maximum temperatures around 38-42⁰C (100-107⁰F).

     The average annual rainfall is about 1,300 mm (51 inches). The city gets most of its seasonal rainfall from the north-east monsoon winds, from mid-September to mid-December. Cyclones in the Bay of Bengal sometimes hit the city.

     Chennai is connected to all major cities in India by air, rail and road network.

---

---

Page URL: http://www.chennainetwork.com/general/cityinfo.html

---