Gingee Singapuri, Senji | |
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Special Grade Town Panchayat | |
 View of Gingee fort | |
  Gingee Location in Tamil Nadu, India | |
| Coordinates:12°09′N79°18′E / 12.15°N 79.30°E /12.15; 79.30 | |
| Country |  India |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| District | Viluppuram district |
| Elevation | 92 m (302 ft) |
| Population (2021 census) | |
• Total | 43,731 |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Tamil |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| Postal code | 604202 |
| Area code | +91 4145 |
| Vehicle registration | TN-16 |
Gingee, also known asSenji orJinji and originally calledSingapuri, is apanchayat town inViluppuram district in theIndianstate ofTamil Nadu. Gingee is located between three hills covering a perimeter of 3 km, and lies west of theSankaraparani River.
Originally Gingee fort and its surrounding areas were ruled by aKadava king of Pallava lineage titled Senjiyar Kon in Ottakoothar's Moovarula around 1123 AD.[1][2][3].The Gingee country then came under the rule of theHoysalas in the later part of the 13th and in the first half of the 14th century. From the Hoysalas, it passed to the first rulers of theVijayanagara empire. The imperial Vijayanagara dominion gradually expanded over Southern India and divided the administration of the tamil country into three important provinces, which were assigned to theNayaks. These were theNayaks of Madurai,Nayaks of Tanjore, andNayaks of Gingee. Information about the Gingee Nayaks and their rule is very scant. It is said thatTupakula Krishnappa Nayaka (1490 to 1521) of a Chandragiri family was the founder of the Nayaka line of Gingee kings.[4][5][6][7][8][9] He seems to have ruled along the coast fromNellore to theKollidam River up to 1521. Under the Nayaks the forts were strengthened and the town was greatly enlarged.
The last Nayak of Gingee was forced to surrender to the invadingBijapur Sultanate army towards the end of December 1649. The booty acquired by theTurko-Persian sultan of Bijapur was 20 crore rupees in cash and jewels. Gingee assumed a new and enhanced strategic importance under the Bijapur governors. Bijapur was in possession of the fortress of Senji until 1677, when theMaratha monarchChhtrapati Shivaji Maharaj conquered it in his Carnatic expedition. The Marathas greatly strengthened and fortified its defences.
TheMughals were then able to capture Gingee Fort from theMaratha emperorRajaram I early in 1698, after a siege of seven years.Zulfikar Khan, the son ofAsad Khan, the Grand Vizier in the court of theTurko-Persian Mughal emperorAurangzeb, was in command of the siege operation of Senji and later its governance till he left the Carnatic after about a year from its fall.
After that, Aurangzeb granted a mansab of 2,500 rank andjagir of 12 lakhs toRaja Swarup Singh, hisBundela Rajputservant, along with the killedari (Fort Commandership) of Gingee in 1700. Raja Swarup Singh died of old age in 1714. His arrears of payments due to thefaujdari amounted to 70 lakhs, being a defaulter for ten years. The Nawab of Arcot reported this matter to the Mughal emperor at Delhi. Hearing about the death of his father,Desingh, the son of Raja Swarup Singh, started for Gingee fromBundelkhand, his ancestral home.
On arriving at Gingee, Desingh assumed the governance of Gingee after performing the last rites of his father. Aurangazeb had granted afirman to his father and Desingh took formal possession of his father's jagir on the ground of his hereditary right. Desingh did not receive a warm welcome from the Mughal officers. The Nawab of Arcot,Saadatullah Khan I, who attempted to dispossess Desingh, pleaded that the firman was not valid. When Payya Ramakrishna, who was his secretary, informed him of the legal necessity of getting the firman renewed by the new Emperor before assuming the jagir, Desingh replied that he had got the firman of Aurangzeb and that he need not apply to anybody else.
In fact after capturing the fort from Marathas, Aurangzeb had first appointed Nawab Daud Khan as the deputysubahdar of the Deccan. Nawab Daud Khan removed his headquarters from Gingee to the town ofArcot, as he believed that the place was not healthy. This diminished the importance of Gingee. While shifting his headquarters, Daud Khan appointed Sadatullah Khan as his Diwan and Faujdar in 1708. Sadatullah Khan later became the Nawab of the two Carnatics in 1713, under Nizam-Ul-Mulk. He was the regular and acknowledged Nawab of the Carnatic between the years 1710 and 1732. After the death of Raja Swarup Singh he renewed the demand for the arrears of revenue with his son Raja Desingh. This led to a battle between the two, which ended in the death of theRajput, Desingh on 3 October 1714. He struggled at the age of 22, against the powerful Nawab Sadatulla Khan of Arcot in a struggle that was hopeless from the outset (Desingh's army consisted of only 350 horses and 500 troopers, while the Nawab's army had 8,000 horsemen and 10,000 sepoys). Ballads are sung in and around Gingee about his bravery. However, the fortress of Gingee lost its pre-eminent position and political importance within a few years of the extinction of the Rajput rule.
Subsequently, the English and the French competed for the control of Gingee and the French won it for themselves on 11 September 1750, under the initiative ofMarquis de Bussy, the Governor-General ofPondicherry. They took good care to secure the fort with a strong garrison, which was well supported with artillery and ammunition.
Gingee remained firmly in French possession until after the fall of Pondicherry toSir Eyre Coote in January 1761. The English commander was Captain Stephen Smith. With the British conquest of Gingee, the French lost their last possession in the Carnatic.
Gingee regained its political importance for the last time in 1780, whenHyder Ali of Mysore, helped by some able French officers, invaded the Carnatic with a force of 90,000 men. Hyder's men appeared before the fortress and easily carried it by their assault in November 1780. The English re-conquered it at the close of theSecond Mysore War fromTipu Sultan in 1799. After that Gingee had been free from the ravages and anarchy of war, but subject to desolation and decay. During the frequent Indo-French Wars, the British resident unsuccessfully petitioned for the demolition of the fort and the fortifications.
The presence ofTurko-Persian Muslim rulers in Gingee is evident from the inhabitants of a nearby village called Minambur, where the Urdu speaking Navaitha Muslims living with their unique culture and tribes such as Shakir, Koken, Bhanday Bhonday, Choudary, Pappa, Aghalay, Hazari, Amberkhani, Sayeed etc.
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Gingee is famous for itsGingee Fort, a popular tourist attraction. The earliest mention of the hill fort of Gingee is found in an Inscription of Vikrama Chola (1120–63) dated in his 10th Year[10] and a Kadava feudatory identified with Atkolli Kadavarayan calls himself the Lord of Senjiyar of the strong embattled fort.[11][12] The fort was later built up by theImperial Cholas in the 12th century. It then passed from theHoysala Emperors to theEmperors of Vijayanagara. In 1638, Gingee came under the control of theTurko-PersianBijapur Sultanate. In 1677, the greatMaratha monarchChhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj conquered it. In 1698, it was captured by theTurko-PersianMughals, when it became the headquarters of theCarnatic. It changed hands to theFrench in 1750, and then to theBritish in 1762. During this time, many sculptural aspects of Gingee were shifted toPondicherry by the French.
To visit Gingee Fort, guides are available from archaeological office which is on the way to the fort. The office is open for visitors from 9:00 to 17:00 (9am to 5pm). The fee for visitors and tourists for visiting the fort is Rs.25.
Gingee is located at12°15′N79°25′E / 12.25°N 79.42°E /12.25; 79.42.[13] It has an average elevation of 92 metres (301 ft).
The nearest towns with railway stations areTindivanam, 28 km away,Viluppuram 38 km away andThiruvannamalai, 39 km away. Gingee is 147 km fromChennai and 64 km fromPondicherry. National HighwayNH 77 connectsKrishnagiri andPondicherry, passes through Gingee and State Highway SH 4 connectsArcot andVillupuram, passes through Gingee.
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 | 7,941 | — |
| 1961 | 8,765 | +10.4% |
| 1971 | 10,222 | +16.6% |
| 1981 | 15,106 | +47.8% |
| 1991 | 16,990 | +12.5% |
| 2001 | 21,251 | +25.1% |
| 2011 | 27,045 | +27.3% |
| Source: | ||
According to the2011 census, Gingee had a population of 27,045 with a sex-ratio of 975 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929.[16] A total of 2,893 were under the age of six, constituting 1,470 males and 1,423 females.Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 19.8% and 1.12% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 76.4%, compared to the national average of 72.99%.[16] The town had a total of 6,259 households. There were a total of 10.936 workers, comprising 487 cultivators, 640 main agricultural labourers, 414 in house hold industries, 5,721 other workers, 3,664 marginal workers, 45 marginal cultivators, 1,867 marginal agricultural labourers, 330 marginal workers in household industries and 1,442 other marginal workers.[15]
Gingee assembly constituency is part ofArni (Lok Sabha constituency). Gingee itself a legislative constituency which is currently held by the DMK party and K.S.Masthan is currently the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Senji.
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