| Fort St. George | |
|---|---|
| Part ofTamil Nadu | |
| Chennai,Tamil Nadu,India | |
 Fort St. George, the seat ofGovernment of Tamil Nadu | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Forts |
| Owner | Indian Army |
| Controlled by | Government of Tamil Nadu |
| Condition | Good |
| Location | |
  Fort St. George | |
| Coordinates | 13°04′47″N80°17′13″E / 13.079722°N 80.286944°E /13.079722; 80.286944 |
| Height | 45 m (148 ft)[citation needed] |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1639; 386 years ago (1639) |
| Built by | British East India Company |
| In use | Government of Tamil Nadu |
| Garrison information | |
| Occupants | Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly–Secretariat |
Fort St. George (or historically,White Town)[1] is a fortress at the coastal city ofChennai,India. Founded in 1639, it was the firstEnglish (laterBritish) fortress in India.[2] The construction of the fort provided the impetus for further settlements and trading activity, in what was originally an uninhabited land.[3] Thus, it is a feasible contention to say that the city (named Madras since before the arrival of the Europeans until July 1996) evolved around the fortress.[4] The fort currently houses theTamil Nadu legislative assembly and other official buildings.
TheEast India Company (EIC), which had entered India around 1600 for trading activities, had begun licensed trading atSurat, which was its initial bastion. However, to secure its trade lines and commercial interests in thespice trade, it felt the necessity of a port closer to theMalaccan Straits. Thanks to negotiations led byFrancis Day with ruler of Chandragiri in 1639, English succeeded in purchasing a piece of coastal land, originally calledChennirayarpattinam orChannapatnam, where the Company began the construction of a harbour and a fort.
The fort was completed on 23 April 1644 at a cost of £3,000,[5] coinciding withSt. George's Day, celebrated in honour of the patron saint ofEngland. The fort, hence christened Fort St. George, faced the sea and some fishing villages, and it soon became the hub of merchant activity. It gave birth to a new settlement area calledGeorge Town (historically referred to as Black Town), which grew to envelop the villages and led to the formation of the city of Madras. It also helped to establishEnglish influence over theCarnatic region and to keep the kings ofArcot andSrirangapatna, as well as theFrench forces based atPondicherry, at bay. In 1665, after the EIC received word of the formation of the newFrench East India Company, the fort was strengthened and enlarged while its garrison was increased.[6]
According to the 17th-century merchant and travellerThomas Bowrey, Fort St. George was:
without all dispute a beneficial place to the Honourable English India Company, and with all the Residence of theire Honourable Agent and Governour all of their Affaires Upon this Coast and the Coast of Gingalee, the Kingdoms also of Orixa, (Orissa) Bengala (Bengal), and Pattana (Patna), the said Governour and his Councell here resideigne, for the Honour of our English Nation keepinge and maintainneinge the place in great Splendour, Civil and good Government, Entertaineinge nobly all Foraign Embassadors, and provideinge great quantities of Muzlinge (Muslin) Callicoes (Calico) &c. to be yearly transported to England.[7]
The Fort is a stronghold with 6-metre-high (20 ft) walls that withstood a number of assaults in the 18th century. It briefly passed into the possession of the French from 1746 to 1749, but was restored toGreat Britain under theTreaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which ended theWar of the Austrian Succession.
The Fort now serves as one of the administrative headquarters for thelegislative assembly ofTamil Nadu state and it still houses a garrison of troops in transit to various locations at South India and theAndamans. The Fort Museum contains many relics of theRaj era, including portraits of many of theGovernors of Madras. The fort is maintained by theArchaeological Survey of India, with the administrative support of the Indian Army.[8][9]
![In the Fort, Madras (MacLeod, p. 124, 1871)[10]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aIn_the_Fort%2c_Madras_(MacLeod%2c_p.124%2c_1871)_-_Copy.jpg)
St. Mary's Church is the oldestAnglican church in India. It was built between 1678 and 1680 on the orders of the then Agent of MadrasStreynsham Master.[11] The tombstones in its graveyard are the oldest English or British tombstones in India. This ancient prayer house solemnised the marriages ofRobert Clive and GovernorElihu Yale, who later became the first benefactor ofYale University in the United States.
The Fort Museum, which is the only ticketed institution of the Archaeological Survey of India in the complex,[12] exhibits many items of the period of English and later British rule. This building was completed in 1795 and first housed the office of the Madras Bank. The hall upstairs was the Public Exchange Hall and served as a place for public meetings, lottery draws and occasional entertainment. These relics are reminders of British rule in India. The objects on display in the museum are the weapons, coins, medals, uniforms and other artefacts from England, Scotland, France and India dating back to the colonial period. Original letters written by Clive andCornwallis make fascinating reading. One set of quaint period uniforms is displayed for viewing, as well. However, thepièce de resistance is a large statue ofLord Cornwallis.
TheNational Flag of India was designed byPingali Venkayya and adopted in its present form during the meeting of the Constituent Assembly held on 22 July 1947, a few days before India's independence from Britain on 15 August 1947. The first ever flag flown after the independence is stored in the third floor of the museum. The public are allowed to see but not to touch or take photographs.
The museum is mentioned in the novelThe Museum of Innocence, by the Turkish Nobel LaureateOrhan Pamuk.
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The first floor of the building includes the Banqueting Hall, which holds paintings of the Governor of the Fort and other high officials of the administration. The cannons ofTipu Sultan decorate the ramparts of the museum. The 4.4-metre (14.5 ft) statue stands at the entrance near a stairway in the museum. This statue was created by Charles Bank in England to be brought to India. The pedestal of the statue is carved with a scene depicting Tipu Sultan's emissary. The house takes its name fromRichard Wellesley, Governor General of India, and brother of theDuke of Wellington.
The flagstaff at the fort is one of the tallest in the country. Made ofteakwood, it is 46 metres (150 ft) high.[13]
Namakkal Kavingar Maligai is a 10-storeyed building at the campus and is the power centre of state secretariat. It houses offices of the secretaries and departments. Between 2012 and 2014, the building was renovated at a cost of₹280 million (equivalent to₹450 million or US$5.1 million in 2023), with additional facilities like centralised air-conditioning and new electrical wiring system.[14]
The entire complex is administered by the Department of Defence. The fort building is a three-storeyed one housing the offices of the chief minister and other ministers, the chief secretary, home ministry, treasury, etc. The remaining offices are housed in the 10-storeyed Namakkal Kavingyar Maaligai, which houses more than 30 departments.[15]
The Fort St. George complex housed the administrative buildings of theGovernment of Tamil Nadu till March 2010. TheLegislature of Tamil Nadu and the secretariat (with headquarters of various government departments) were situated in the fort. The fort itself was open to the public however only to a certain area. The main building or the secretariat was open only to government officials and the police. The cannons and the moat which guarded this old building have been left untouched. In 2010 the legislature and the secretariat moved to anew location and the old assembly complex was converted into a library for theCentral Institute of Classical Tamil.[16] Following the 2011 assembly elections and the return ofJ Jayalalithaa as the Chief Minister of the State, the Tamil Nadu Assembly and the Secretariat have been restored to Fort St. George.[17]
An arch commemorating the diamond jubilee of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is under construction near the Fort on Rajaji Salai close toNapier Bridge. The structure is a replica of Fort St. George's façade. The arch will be rectangular in structure with a height of 12 m (41 ft) and a width of 80 m (260 ft) being built at a cost of₹13.3 million (US$150,000). The structure will be a mix of old and modern architecture, inspired by the frontage of Fort St. George. The legend 'Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly diamond jubilee commemorative arch' would be inscribed in English and Tamil, in addition to the words '60 years'. The chief minister J Jayalalithaa laid the foundation stone for the arch on 30 October 2012. Earlier, the arch was planned to be constructed close to the entrance of Fort St. George, but was later relocated beyond the prohibitive zone, as perAMASR Act. A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in theMadras High Court opposing the move stating that the arch would choke Rajaji Salai that leads to the High Court. However, the petition was dismissed by a division bench on 9 January 2013.[18]
| Ahom dynasty | |
|---|---|
| Bahmani Sultanate | |
| British Raj | |
| Deccan sultanates | |
| Delhi Sultanate | |
| Eastern Ganga dynasty | |
| Faruqi dynasty | |
| Gujarat Sultanate | |
| Jat | |
| Kakatiya dynasty | |
| Kingdom of Mysore | |
| Malwa Sultanate | |
| Maratha Empire | |
| Mughal Empire | |
| Nayak dynasty | |
| Portuguese |
|
| Rajputs | |
| Sikh Empire | |
| Siddi | |
| Sur Empire | |
| Travancore | |
| Vijayanagara | |
