A city of Contrasts and diversities, Chennai is the forth-largest city in
India. Known world wide as Madras until recently, the city was renamed Chennai,
evolved from the age-old name, Chennapattinam.
Chennai is a coastal city with the second largest beach in the world. The
climate is hot and humid. But the breeze blowing from the sea makes the climate
bearable. In the summer the temperature reaches up to 42 degree C (month of
May). The winter (Dec.- Feb.) is slightly less hot than the summer. Mansoon
falls in Sept. - Nov. Chennai is the Capital of Tamil Nadu.
History
Chennaipattinam
was a popular trading center for spices and clothes for more than 2000 years.
Portuguese and Dutch arrived in the 16
th
century followed by the British and French. In 1639 the British East India
Company established a settlement in the fishing village of Madraspattnam that
they leased from the local Nayaks.
In Madraspattnam they started construction of Fort St. George. George Town grew
in the area of fort and neighboring villages ultimately becoming the oldest
Municipality of India in 1668. During the 17
th
and 18
th
centuries Europeans competed for supremacy in India and Briton became the
ultimate gainer. Under the command of Robert Clive, British launched a campaign
against French, a series of war known as the Carnatic Wars. Finally the French
were forced to withdraw to Pondicherry.
The city grew into modern day Madras City merging all neighboring areas. In the
19th century the city became the seat of Madras Presidency, the southern
division of British Imperial India. After independence in 1947 it became the
capital of Madras State that was renamed Tamil Nadu. Very recently Madras was
renamed Chennai.
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