Editing Chennai (section)

==History==
{{see also|History of Chennai|Timeline of Chennai history}}

[[Stone Age]] implements have been found near [[Pallavaram]] in Chennai and according to the [[Archaeological Survey of India]] (ASI), Pallavaram was a [[megalith]]ic cultural establishment, and pre-historic communities resided in the settlement.<ref>{{cite news|title=Road workers stumble upon ancient grinding stone in Pallavaram|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/road-workers-stumble-upon-ancient-grinding-stone-in-pallavaram/articleshow/6581764.cms|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|date=19 September 2010|access-date=28 December 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210407175605/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/road-workers-stumble-upon-ancient-grinding-stone-in-pallavaram/articleshow/6581764.cms|archive-date=7 April 2021}}</ref> The region around Chennai was an important administrative, military, and economic centre for many centuries. During the 1st century [[common era|CE]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]] poet named [[Thiruvalluvar]] lived in the town of [[Mylapore]], a neighbourhood of present-day Chennai.<ref>{{cite book|title=Awakening Indians to India|publisher=Central Chinmaya Mission Trust|page=215|year=2008|isbn=978-8-17597-433-3}}</ref> The region was part of Tondaimandalam which was ruled by the [[Early Cholas]] in the 2nd century CE by subduing [[Kurumba]], the original inhabitants of the region.<ref name="Chist">{{cite web|url=https://chennai.nic.in/history/|title=Chennai, history|publisher=[[Government of Tamil Nadu]]|access-date=1 December 2023|archive-date=9 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231209121530/https://chennai.nic.in/history/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Pallava dynasty|Pallavas]] of [[Kanchipuram|Kanchi]] became independent rulers of the region from 3rd to 9th century CE and the areas of [[Mahabalipuram]] and Pallavaram were built during the reign of [[Mahendravarman I]].<ref>{{cite book|title=A brief history of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kwnv3I6qIosC&pg=PA173|publisher=Alain Daniélou|page=173|year=2003|first1=Alain|last1=Daniélou|first2=Kenneth|last2=Hurry|isbn=978-1-59477-794-3|access-date=3 July 2020|archive-date=29 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240629135925/https://books.google.com/books?id=Kwnv3I6qIosC&pg=PA173|url-status=live}}</ref> In 879, Pallavas were defeated by the [[Later Cholas]] led by [[Aditya I]] and [[Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan]] later brought the region under the [[Pandyas|Pandya]] rule in 1264.<ref name="Chist"/> The region came under the influence of [[Vijayanagara Empire]] in the 15th century CE.<ref>{{cite news|title=Chola, Vijayanagara period copper coins found on riverbed|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/chola-vijayanagara-period-copper-coins-found-on-riverbed/articleshow/104270641.cms|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|date=9 October 2023|access-date=28 November 2023|archive-date=16 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016131901/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/chola-vijayanagara-period-copper-coins-found-on-riverbed/articleshow/104270641.cms|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Chist"/>

[[File:Fort St. George, Chennai.jpg|thumb|left|18th-century print of Fort St. George, the oldest English settlement in India]]

The [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portuguese]] arrived in 1522 and built a port named São Tomé after the Christian apostle, [[Thomas (apostle)|St. Thomas]], who is believed to have preached in the area between 52 and 70&nbsp;CE. In 1612, the [[Dutch East India Company|Dutch]] established themselves near [[Pulicat]], north of Chennai.<ref name="COR">{{cite web |title=Origin of the Name Madras |url=https://chennaicorporation.gov.in/gcc/abFout-GCC/about-chennai/origin-and-growth/ |access-date=25 January 2023 |publisher=[[Greater Chennai Corporation]] |archive-date=6 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406202458/https://chennaicorporation.gov.in/gcc/about-GCC/about-chennai/origin-and-growth/ |url-status=live }}</ref> On 20 August 1639, Francis Day of the [[British East India Company]] along with the [[Nayak of Kalahasti]] Chennappa Nayaka met with the Vijayanager Emperor [[Peda Venkata Raya]] at [[Chandragiri]] and obtained a grant for land on the Coromandel coast on which the company could build a factory and warehouse for their trading activities.<ref>{{cite book|title=Symbols of substance : court and state in Nayaka period Tamilnadu|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|page=xix, 349 p., [16] p. of plates : ill., maps; 22&nbsp;cm|year=1998|first1=Velcheru Narayana|last1=Rao|first2=David|last2=Shulman|first3=Sanjay|last3=Subrahmanyam|isbn=978-0-19564-399-2}}</ref> On 22 August, he secured the grant for a strip of land about {{cvt|6|mi|order=flip}} long and {{cvt|1|mi|order=flip}} inland in return for a yearly sum of five hundred [[lakh]] [[Pagoda (coin)|pagodas]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3HCbDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA583|title=Facets of Contemporary history|last1=Thilakavathy|first1=M.|last2=Maya|first2=R. K.|date=5 June 2019|publisher=MJP Publishers|pages=583|access-date=20 August 2019|archive-date=3 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240603082111/https://books.google.com/books?id=3HCbDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA583#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mXgSDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA180|title=Christianity in India: From Beginnings to the Present|last=Frykenberg|first=Robert Eric|date=26 June 2008|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19826-377-7|access-date=20 August 2019|archive-date=3 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240603082100/https://books.google.com/books?id=mXgSDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA180#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> The region was then formerly a fishing village known as "Madraspatnam".<ref name="COR"/> A year later, the company built [[Fort St. George]], the first major English settlement in India, which became the nucleus of the growing colonial city and urban Chennai.<ref>{{cite book|title=A short history of the world|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3QZXvUhGwhAC|publisher=Helicon Publishing|page=277|year=1997|author=Roberts J. M.|isbn=978-0-19511-504-8|access-date=3 July 2020|archive-date=3 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240603081944/https://books.google.com/books?id=3QZXvUhGwhAC|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Wagret|first=Paul|title=Nagel's encyclopedia-guide|publisher=Nagel Publishers|location=Geneva|year=1977|series=India, Nepal|page=556|isbn=978-2-82630-023-6|oclc=4202160}}</ref>

[[File:Madras (Baedeker, 1914).jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Map of Madras, {{circa|1914}}]]

In 1746, Fort St. George and the town [[Battle of Madras|were captured]] by the [[French India|French]] under General [[Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais|La Bourdonnais]], the Governor of [[Mauritius]], who plundered the town and its outlying villages.<ref name="COR"/> The British regained control in 1749 through the [[Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)|Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle]] and strengthened the town's fortress wall to withstand further attacks from the French and [[Hyder Ali]], the [[Kingdom of Mysore|king of Mysore]].<ref>{{cite book|title=A global chronology of conflict|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h5_tSnygvbIC&pg=PA756|publisher=ABC—CLIO|page=756|year=2010|first=Spencer C.|last=Tucker|isbn=978-1-85109-667-1|access-date=3 July 2020|archive-date=3 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240603082105/https://books.google.com/books?id=h5_tSnygvbIC&pg=PA756|url-status=live}}</ref> They resisted a [[Siege of Madras|French siege attempt]] in 1759.<ref>{{cite news|title=Madras Miscellany: When Pondy was wasted|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/Madras-Miscellany-When-Pondy-was-wasted/article15719768.ece|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=21 November 2010|last=S.|first=Muthiah|access-date=28 December 2022|archive-date=1 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230501074741/https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/Madras-Miscellany-When-Pondy-was-wasted/article15719768.ece|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1769, the city was threatened by Hyder Ali during the [[First Anglo-Mysore War]] with the [[Treaty of Madras]] ending the conflict.<ref>{{cite book|title=History of Modern India:1707 A.D. to 2000 A.D|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MS_jrForJOoC&pg=PA94|publisher=Atlantic Publishers and Distributors|page=94|year=2002|author=Radhey Shyam Chaurasia|isbn=978-8-12690-085-5|access-date=3 July 2020|archive-date=3 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240603082104/https://books.google.com/books?id=MS_jrForJOoC&pg=PA94#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> By the 18th century, the British had conquered most of the region and established the [[Madras Presidency]] with Madras as the capital.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Madras-Presidency|title=Madras Presidency|encyclopedia=[[Britannica]]|access-date=12 October 2015|archive-date=17 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017071545/https://www.britannica.com/place/Madras-Presidency|url-status=live}}</ref>

The city became a major naval base and became the central administrative centre for the British in South India.<ref>{{cite book|title=World and Its Peoples: Eastern and Southern Asia|author=Marshall Cavendish Corporation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ZBaVhmRvCkC&pg=PA442|page=442|isbn=978-0-76147-645-0|year=2007|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|access-date=3 July 2020|archive-date=29 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240629135935/https://books.google.com/books?id=5ZBaVhmRvCkC&pg=PA442|url-status=live}}</ref> The city was the baseline for the [[Great Trigonometrical Survey|Great Trigonometrical Survey of India]], which was started on 10 April 1802.<ref name="Gill">{{cite report|author=Gill, B.|year=2001|title=Surveying Sir George Everest|publisher=Professional Surveyor Magazine|url=https://www.krcmar.ca/resource-articles/2000_Winter_The%20Big%20Man-%20Surveying%20Sir%20George_1.pdf|access-date=1 March 2023|archive-date=27 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327033525/https://www.krcmar.ca/resource-articles/2000_Winter_The%20Big%20Man-%20Surveying%20Sir%20George_1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> With the advent of [[Rail transport in India|railways in India]] in the 19th century, the city was connected to other major cities such as [[Bombay]] and [[Calcutta]], promoting increased communication and trade with the [[hinterland]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Understanding the cultural landscape|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q2J3YXhZaG8C|publisher=The Guilford Press|page=195|year=2005|first=Bret|last=Wallach|isbn=978-1-59385-119-4|access-date=3 July 2020|archive-date=29 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240629135930/https://books.google.com/books?id=Q2J3YXhZaG8C|url-status=live}}</ref>

After [[Indian independence movement|India gained its independence]] in 1947, the city became the capital of [[Madras State]], the predecessor of the current state of Tamil Nadu.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hubert-herald.nl/BhaTamilNadu.htm|title=Madras Renamed Tamil Nadu|work=Hubert Herald|access-date=12 October 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190911082149/http://www.hubert-herald.nl/BhaTamilNadu.htm|archive-date=11 September 2019}}</ref> The city was the location of the hunger strike and death of [[Potti Sreeramulu]] which resulted in the formation of [[Andhra State]] in 1953 and eventually the [[States Reorganisation Act, 1956|re-organization of Indian states]] based on linguistic boundaries in 1956.<ref>{{cite book|last=Murthy|first=Chippada Suryanarayana|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xahAAAAAMAAJ|title=Andhra Martyr Amarajeevi Potti Sriramulu|date=1984|publisher=International Telugu Institute}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/explainer-reorganization-states-india-and-why-it-happened-52273|title=The reorganization of states in India and why it happened|date=2 November 2016|access-date=1 June 2024|work=News Minute|archive-date=14 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114014912/https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/explainer-reorganization-states-india-and-why-it-happened-52273|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1965, [[Anti-Hindi agitations|agitations]] against the [[imposition of Hindi]] and in support of continuing English as a medium of communication arose which marked a major shift in the [[Politics of Tamil Nadu|political dynamics]] of the city and eventually led to English being retained as an official language of India alongside Hindi.<ref>{{cite news|title=Chennai says it in Hindi|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/web/chennai-says-it-in-hindi/|newspaper=[[The Indian Express]]|date=14 August 2011|author=V. Shoba|access-date=28 December 2022|archive-date=30 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230430174614/https://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/web/chennai-says-it-in-hindi/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite act|url=http://meity.gov.in/content/official-language-act|title=Official Language Act|legislature=[[Parliament of India]]|year=1963|access-date=24 January 2017}}</ref> On 17 July 1996, the city was officially renamed from Madras to Chennai, in line with then a [[Renaming of cities in India|nationwide trend]] to using less Anglicised names.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mapsofindia.com/on-this-day/july-17-1996-madras-came-to-be-known-as-chennai|title=Madras renamed Chennai|date=17 July 2013|publisher=Maps of India|access-date=12 October 2015|archive-date=17 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210717002209/https://www.mapsofindia.com/on-this-day/july-17-1996-madras-came-to-be-known-as-chennai|url-status=live}}</ref> On 26 December 2004, a [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake|tsunami]] lashed the shores of Chennai, killing 206 people in Chennai and permanently altering the coastline.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Impact of tsunami on meiofauna of Marina beach, Chennai, India|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24110427|journal=Current Science|volume=89|issue=1|last=Altaff|first=K|author2=J Sugumaran, Maryland S Naveed|date=10 July 2005|pages=34–38|jstor=24110427|access-date=28 December 2012|archive-date=13 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231113053446/https://www.jstor.org/stable/24110427|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[2015 South Indian floods|2015 Chennai Floods]] submerged major portions of the city, killing 269 people and resulting in damages of {{INRConvert|86.4|b|0}}.<ref>{{cite news|title=Tamil Nadu government pegs flood damage at Rs 8,481 crore, CM Jayalalithaa writes to PM Modi|work=Daily News and Analysis|url=https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-tamil-nadu-government-pegs-flood-damage-at-rs-8481-crore-cm-jayalalithaa-writes-to-pm-modi-2148012|date=23 November 2015|access-date=1 June 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200907224318/https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-tamil-nadu-government-pegs-flood-damage-at-rs-8481-crore-cm-jayalalithaa-writes-to-pm-modi-2148012|archive-date=7 September 2020}}</ref>