In 1684, Madras was once again elevated to the status of a Presidency and William Gyfford appointed the first President.[1] In 1690, the East India Company purchased a promontory from Shahuji I, the [Mahratta Raja of Tanjaore], where they built Fort St. David, near Cuddalore. By 1700, there were English factories at Porto Novo, Madapollam, Vizagapatam, Anjengo, Tellicherry and Calicut.
Although the East India Company managed to keep its distance from the politics of Peninsular India, as struggle involving the Mughals, the Mahrattas, the Nizams of Hyderabad and the Nawabs of the Carnatic, as also the European Companies,[2] until 1740, when repercussion of the War of the Austrian Succession began to be felt in India, as a result of Dupleix's machinations to establish French paramountcy in Southern India. In September 1746, Fort St. George was taken by the French, under La Bourdonnais, and governed as a part of French India until 1749 when Madras was restored to the British under the terms of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.[3]
In 1755 an expedition was dispatched from Madras to the Tinnevelly country, to assist the Nawab of the Carnatic, to whom it belonged, in bringing it to some order from the poligar chieftains who actually controlled it. Although the polygars were signally defeated the Nawab's representative was unable to exert any control meriting the name, which led the area to being leased to the British by the Nawab. However, in 1763, when Yusuf Cawn, the only native commander-in-chief of British troops in India, and the man who had been given charge of Tinnevelly, rebelled and raised the French flag, another expedition was despatched to quell him, after which troops in the area were commanded by British officers and the area administered by native officials on behalf of the Nawab.
When war again broke out between Britain and France in 1757, a campaign was fought between the forces of the two companies all through the extent of the Madras Presidency, from Vizagapatam in the Northern Circars, to Fort St. David, bordering on the Mahratta Kingdom of Tanjore. It was the same war that witnessed the famed Battle of Wandiwash, where the French forces under Count Lally were routed by the English under Sir Eyre Coote. Fort St. Dénis, at Pondicherry, the capital of French India, surrendered to the English in January, 1761. All French possessions were restituted by the provisions of the Peace of Paris of 1763, but the French were ever thereafter a spent force in India.
It was shortly thereafter that the Northern Circars were transferred to the Madras Presidency from the French, who had held it until that point, by the Mughal Emperor. It was in the 1760s that war first broke out between the Madras Presidency and the Kingdom of Mysore under Hyder Ali, but was amicably resolved by a mutual restitution of conquered territories.
In September 1774, by the terms of the Pitt's India Act, which was passed by the British Parliament to regulate the administration of territories owned by the British East India Company and to create an unified authority, the President of Madras was made subordinate to the Governor-General based at Calcutta.[4]
In 1780, the First Anglo-Mysore War broke out, which resulted in widespread devastation of the Madras Presidency, by the Mysore troops. Peace was made in 1784 by a mutual restoration of territories. Six years thereafter, in 1790, war again broke out with Mysore, albeit with Tipu Sultan, Hyder Ali's son at its head, when the latter raided the territories of the King of Travancore, an English ally. Assisted by the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Peshwa's forces, in 1792, the Mysorean capital of Seringapatam was besieged by the English, whereupon the Sultan treated for peace, the terms of which were the cession of one half of his territories to the allied forces and an indemnity of 3 crores 30 lakhs of rupees. This resulted in the accession to the Madras Presidency of the territories of Dindigul and the Burramah'l, comprising the country from Salem to Dharmapuri, and Malabar. Seeking revenge, Tipu Sultan began to intrigue with the French, which precipitated the Third Anglo-Mysore War, in 1799. With the assistance of their allies from the previous war the English stormed the Sultan's capital in the Siege of Seringapatam. The conclusion of this war resulted in the addition of Coimbatore and Wayanad and the Canara districts on the West Coast, to the territory of the Madras Presidency.
In addition to these substantial additions, in 1799, the Mahratta Raja of Tanjore ceded his kingdom to the East India Company in return for an annuity, while the Nizam surrendered all territory acquired from Tipu Sultan, to the British, in return for an army in his dominions. This latter accession brought the districts of Bellary, Anantapur, Cuddapah and Kurnool, which were known as the Ceded Districts on account of the circumstances attending upon their accession to the British dominions. The discovery of a body of correspondence between Tipu Sultan and the Nawab of the Carnatic, violative of his alliance with the British, led to a treaty in 1801, whereby the government of his territory of Arcot was resigned to the English, in return for the titular dignity of Prince of Arcot and an annual stipend. Thus, the last quarter of the 18th century was a period of rapid expansion.
In the meanwhile, in 1781, the Nawab of the Carnatic assigned the revenues from the Tinnevelly country to the East India Company. Encouraged by the Dutch, the poligars once again began to prove troublesome. In 1783, a stronghold of the poligar leader Kattabomma Nayak, at Panjalamkurichi was reduced, but the war with Mysore prevented it being followed up. However, by 1799, with the fall of Seringapatam, attention could again be turned to Tinnevelly, which resulted in the capture of Panjalamkurichi and the hanging of Kattabomma Nayak. In 1801, rebellion again broke out, which finally resulted in the area being subdued and the leaders either being hanged or transported. Since the Nawab had already made his territories over to the British, Tinnevelly passed into the Madras Presidency in 1801.
Ceylon, then newly conquered from the Dutch, was a part of the Madras Presidency from 1793 to 1798.[5]
A minor insurrection occurred amongst the sepoy troops at Vellore on 10 July 1806 but was suppressed by the next day using sepoys and European troops from Madras under Captain Rollo Gillespie.[6][7] This was the only serious military uprising all through British rule, in the Madras Presidency, the territory remaining wholly undisturbed by the Sepoy Mutiny, of 1857.
The kingdom of Mysore was annexed to the Madras Presidency in 1831 on account of inability to pay the exorbitant subsidies to the English East India Company, but the rightful heir was restored as a subsidiary ruler in 1881.[8]
Following the Indian Mutiny of 1857, Queen Victoria issued a Proclamation by which Company rule over India came to an end and the British Raj was established. The Victorian era was a period of peace and prosperity. The Indian Councils Act 1861 and the Indian Councils Act 1909 admitted Indians in the provincial administration. There was a rapid increase in the number of educated classes who qualified for the Indian and Provincial Civil Service. The profession of law was especially prized by the newly emerging class of educated Indians. In 1877, T. Muthuswamy Iyer became the first Indian judge of the Madras High Court despite serious opposition.[9][10][11] A number of roads, railways, dams and canals were constructed during this time.[10]
During this period, Madras was devastated by two great famines: Great Famine of 1876–78 and the Indian famine of 1896–97.[12] The population of the Presidency fell from 31.2 million in 1871 to 30.8 million in 1881 as a result of the 1876–78 famine.
Indian Independence Movement and the Home Rule League
There was a strong sense of national awakening in Madras Presidency starting from the later half of the 19th century. Of the 72 delegates who participated in the first session of the Indian National Congress at Bombay in December 1885, 22 were from Madras Presidency.[13][14] The third session of the Indian National Congress was held in Madras in December 1887[15] and was a huge success attended by 362 delegates from the Province.[16] Subsequent sessions of the Indian National Congresswere held in Madras in 1894, 1898, 1903, 1908, 1914 and 1927.[17]
The non-Brahmin movement was started by Sir P. Theagaraya Chetty(left) who founded the Justice Party in 1916. After his death, the movement was spearheaded by E. V. Ramaswamy Naicker(right), affectionately called Periyar, who gave it the much-needed impetus through his social and political work
A dyarchy was created in Madras Presidency in the year 1920 as per the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms and provisions were made for elections in the Presidency.[24] Democratically elected governments would henceforth share powers with the Governor's autocratic establishment. In the first elections held in November 1920, the Justice Party, an organization that was established in 1916 to campaign for increased representation of non-Brahmins in the administration, was elected to power.[25]A. Subbarayalu Reddiar became the first Chief Minister of Madras Presidency. However, he resigned soon after a short period due to declining health and was replaced with Sir P. Ramarayaningar, the Minister of Local Self-Government and Public Health.[26] The party split in late 1923 when C. R. Reddy resigned from primary membership and formed a splinter group which allied with Swarajists who were in opposition. A no-confidence motion was passed against Ramarayaningar's government on 27 November 1923, which was however defeated 65–44. Ramarayaningar, popularly known as the Raja of Panagal, remained in power till November 1926. The passing of the First communal Government Order (G.O. No.613[27]) which introduced reservations to government jobs, in August 1921, remains one of the highpoints of his rule.[27][28] In the next elections held in 1926, the Justice Party lost. However, as no party was able to attain clear majority, the Governor set up an independent government under the leadership of P. Subbarayan and nominated members to support it.[29] In 1930, the Justice Party was victorious and P. Munuswamy Naidu became the Chief Minister.[30] However, the exclusion of Zamindars from the Ministry split the Justice Party once again. Fearing a no-confidence motion against him, Munuswamy Naidu resigned in November 1932 and the Raja of Bobbili was appointed Chief Minister.[31] The Justice Party eventually lost in the 1937 elections to the Indian National Congress and Chakravarti Rajagopalachari became Chief Minister of Madras Presidency.[32]
During the 1920s and 1930s, the Anti-Brahmin movement evolved in the Madras Presidency. This movement was launched by a Congressman E. V. Ramaswamy Naicker, who, unhappy with the principles and policies of the Brahmin leadership of the provincial Congress, moved to the Justice Party in 1925. E. V. R., or Periyar, as he was affectionately called, launched venomous attacks on Brahmins, Hinduism and Hindu superstitions in periodicals and newspapers such as Viduthalai and Justice.[33] He also participated in the Vaikom Satyagraha which campaigned for the rights of untouchables in Travancore to enter temples.
The Indian National Congress was elected to power in 1937 [32] for the first time in Madras Presidency and barring the six years when Madras was in a state of Emergency, ruled the Presidency till India got independence on 15 August 1947. Chakravarti Rajagopalachari was the first Chief Minister of Madras Presidency from the Congress party. He issued the Temple Entry Authorization and Indemnity Act[34] and introduced prohibition[35] and sales tax in Madras Presidency.[36] However, his rule is largely remembered for compulsory introduction of Hindi in educational institutions which made him highly unpopular as a politician.[37] This measure sparked off widespread Anti-Hindi agitations even leading to violence in some places. Over 1,200 men, women and children were jailed for participating in these Anti-Hindi agitations.[38] Two agitators Thalamuthu and Natarasan lost their lives.[38] In 1940, the Congress ministers resigned protesting the declaration of war on Germany without their consent and the Governor took over the reins of the administration. The unpopular law was eventually repealed by the Governor on 21 February 1940.[38]
Most of the Congress leadership and erstwhile ministers were arrested in 1942 following their participation in the Quit India Movement. In 1944, Periyar renamed the Justice Party as Dravidar Kazhagam and withdrew from politics. When the Second World War came to an end, the Indian National Congress re-entered politics and without the presence of any serious opposition, was elected to power in the Presidency. However, Chakravarti Rajagopalachari resigned from the party leadership in 1946 facing strong opposition in the party ranks. Tanguturi Prakasam was elected Chief Minister with the support of Kamaraj. He served for 11 months and was succeeded by O. P. Ramaswamy Reddiyar. India became independent on 15 August 1947 with Ramaswamy Reddiyar as the first Chief Minister of Madras State.
↑ Codrington, Chapter X:Transition to British administration
↑ "The first rebellion". The Hindu Jun 19, 2006. The Hindu Group. Archived from the original on 2 November 2007. Retrieved 15 November 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
↑ W. B. Vasantha Kandasamy; F. Smarandache; K. Kandasamy; Florentin Smarandache. E. V. Ramasami's Writings and Speeches. American Research Press.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
Tipu Sultan, commonly referred to as Sher-e-Mysore or "Tiger of Mysore", was the Indian Muslim ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery. He introduced a number of administrative innovations during his rule, including a new coinage system and calendar, and a new land revenue system, which initiated the growth of the Mysore silk industry. Tipu was also a pioneer in introducing Channapatna toys. He expanded the iron-cased Mysorean rockets and commissioned the military manual Fathul Mujahidin. He deployed the rockets against advances of British forces and their allies during the Anglo-Mysore Wars, including the Battle of Pollilur and Siege of Srirangapatna.
Hyder Ali was the Sultan and de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the attention of Mysore's rulers. Rising to the post of Dalavayi (commander-in-chief) to Krishnaraja Wodeyar II, he came to dominate the titular monarch and the Mysore government. He became the de facto ruler of Mysore as Sarvadhikari by 1761. During intermittent conflicts against the East India Company during the First and Second Anglo–Mysore Wars, Hyder Ali was the military leader.
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari BR, popularly known as Rajaji or C.R., also known as Mootharignar Rajaji, was an Indian statesman, writer, lawyer, and independence activist. Rajagopalachari was the last Governor-General of India, as when India became a republic in 1950 the office was abolished. He was also the only Indian-born Governor-General, as all previous holders of the post were British nationals. He also served as leader of the Indian National Congress, Premier of the Madras Presidency, Governor of West Bengal, Minister for Home Affairs of the Indian Union and Chief Minister of Madras state. Rajagopalachari founded the Swatantra Party and was one of the first recipients of India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna. He vehemently opposed the use of nuclear weapons and was a proponent of world peace and disarmament. During his lifetime, he also acquired the nickname 'Mango of Salem'.
Presidency College is an art, commerce, and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. On 16 October 1840, this school was established as the Madras Preparatory School before being repurposed as a high school, and then a graduate college. The Presidency College is one of the oldest government arts colleges in India. It is one of two Presidency Colleges established by the British in India, the other being the Presidency College, Kolkata.
The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including all of present-day Andhra Pradesh, almost all of Tamil Nadu and parts of Kerala, Karnataka, Odisha and Telangana in the modern day. The city of Madras was the winter capital of the presidency and Ooty was the summer capital.
The First Anglo-Mysore War (1767–1769) was a conflict in India between the Sultanate of Mysore and the East India Company. The war was instigated in part by the machinations of Asaf Jah II, the Nizam of Hyderabad, who sought to divert the company's resources from attempts to gain control over the Northern Circars.
The Anglo-Mysore Wars were a series of four wars fought during the last three decades of the 18th century between the Sultanate of Mysore on the one hand, and the British East India Company, Maratha Empire, Kingdom of Travancore, and the Kingdom of Hyderabad on the other. Hyder Ali and his succeeding son Tipu fought the wars on four fronts: with the British attacking from the west, south and east and the Nizam's forces attacking from the north. The fourth war resulted in the overthrow of the house of Hyder Ali and Tipu, and the dismantlement of Mysore to the benefit of the East India Company, which took control of much of the Indian subcontinent.
The Third Anglo-Mysore War (1790–1792) was a conflict in South India between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company, the Kingdom of Travancore, the Maratha Confederacy, and the Nizam of Hyderabad. It was the third of four Anglo-Mysore Wars.
Dewan Bahadur Sachivottama SirChetput Pattabhiraman Ramaswami Iyer, popularly known as Sir C. P., was an Indian lawyer, administrator and statesman, acknowledged as the most powerful man in the Madras Presidency in the decades immediately prior to Indian Independence.
The Justice Party, officially the South Indian Liberal Federation, was a political party in the Madras Presidency of British India. It was established on 20 November 1916 in Victoria Public Hall in Madras by Dr C. Natesa Mudaliar and co-founded by T. M. Nair, P. Theagaraya Chetty and Alamelu Mangai Thayarammal as a result of a series of non-Brahmin conferences and meetings in the presidency. Communal division between Brahmins and non-Brahmins began in the presidency during the late-19th and early-20th century, mainly due to caste prejudices and disproportionate Brahminical representation in government jobs. The Justice Party's foundation marked the culmination of several efforts to establish an organisation to represent the non-Brahmins in Madras and is seen as the start of the Dravidian Movement.
Paramasivan Subbarayan was an Indian politician, freedom fighter and diplomat and was the Prime Minister of Madras Presidency, India's ambassador to Indonesia and Union Minister of Transport and Communications in Jawaharlal Nehru's government. He was the father of General P. P. Kumaramangalam, who served as India's Chief of Army staff, and of politician Mohan Kumaramangalam. He was also the grandfather of INC and BJP politician and Union Minister Rangarajan Kumaramangalam.
The Treaty of Mangalore was signed between Tipu Sultan and the British East India Company on 11 March 1784. It was signed in Mangalore and brought an end to the Second Anglo-Mysore War.
British General Charles Cornwallis, the Earl Cornwallis, was appointed in February 1786 to serve as both Commander-in-Chief of British India and Governor of the Presidency of Fort William, also known as the Bengal Presidency. He oversaw the consolidation of British control over much of peninsular India, setting the stage for the British Raj. He was also instrumental in enacting administrative and legal reforms that fundamentally altered civil administration and land management practices there. According to historian Jerry Dupont, Cornwallis was responsible for "laying the foundation for British rule throughout India and setting standards for the services, courts, and revenue collection that remained remarkably unaltered almost to the end of the British era."
The Indian independence movement had a long history in the Tamil-speaking districts of the then Madras Presidency going back to the 18th century.
The Mysorean invasion of Malabar (1766–1792) was the military invasion of the Malabar region of Kerala, including the territories of the Zamorin of Calicut, by the then-de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore, Hyder Ali. After the invasion, the Kingdom of Cochin to the south of Malabar became a tributary state of Mysore.
Madras State was a state of India which was in existence during the mid-20th century. The state came into existence on 26 January 1950 when the Constitution of India was adopted and included the present-day Tamil Nadu, Kerala and parts of neighboring states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Andhra state was separated in 1953 and the state was further re-organized when states were redrawn linguistically in 1956. On 14 January 1969, the state was renamed as Tamil Nadu.
Rajaji Hall, previously known as the Banqueting Hall, Madras, is a public hall in the city of Chennai, India used for social functions. The hall was built by John Goldingham to commemorate the British victory over Tipu Sultan in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War.
Attur Fort is a historic fort present in Attur in Salem district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The fort is located on the banks of river Vashista, 56 km (35 mi) away from Salem.The fort was built by a Palaiyakkarar chieftain Gatti Mudaliar dynasty under Madurai Nayaks, called Lakshmana Nayakan during the 17th century.
The Battle of Tiruvannamalai is one of the two successful battles fought by the Madras Army in the Carnatic along with the Battle of Chengam. It was fought on 25 September 1767 between the allied forces led by the East India Company against the troops of Hyder Ali. The allied forces of the English army were led by Colonel Smith.
The Dravidian movement in British India started with the formation of the Justice Party on 20 November 1916 in Victoria Public Hall in Madras by C. Natesa Mudaliar along with T. M. Nair and P. Theagaraya Chetty as a result of a series of non-Brahmin conferences and meetings in the presidency. Communal division between Brahmins and non-Brahmins began in the presidency during the late-19th and early-20th century, mainly due to caste prejudices and disproportionate Brahmins representation in government jobs. The Justice Party's foundation marked the culmination of several efforts to establish an organisation to represent the non-Brahmins in Madras Presidency.
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