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Madras Presidency (Tamil: சென்னை மாகாணம், Telugu: చెన్నపురి సంస్థానము), also known as Madras Province and known officially as Presidency of Fort St. George, was a province of British India. At its greatest extent, Madras Presidency included much of southern India, including the present-day Indian State of Tamil Nadu, the Malabar region of North Kerala, Lakshadweep Islands, the Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions of Andhra Pradesh, Brahmapur and Ganjam districts of Orissa and the Bellary, Dakshina Kannada, and Udupi districts of Karnataka. The capital was at Madras, now known as Chennai.

The Presidency had its origins in the Agency of Fort St George established by the British East India Company soon after the purchase of the village of Madraspatnam in 1639. However, there have been Company factories at Machilipatnam and Armagon ever since the early 1600s. Madras was upgraded to a Presidency in 1652 before reverting to its previous status as an Agency. In 1684, Madras was elevated to a Presidency once again and Elihu Yale appointed its first President. From 1785 onwards, as per the provisions of the Pitt’s India Act, the ruler of the Presidency of Fort St George was styled ‘’Governor’’ instead of ‘’President’’ and was made subordinate to the Governor-General at Calcutta. Madras made a significant contribution to the freedom movement in the early decades of the 20th century. Madras was the first province in British India where the system of dyarchy was first implemented. The Presidency was dissolved when India became independent on August 15, 1947. On January 26, 1950, when the Republic of India was inaugurated, Madras was admitted as one of the states of the Indian Union.

Madras was one of the three provinces originally established by the British East India Company as per the terms of the Pitt’s India Act. The head of state held the title of “Agent” from 1640 to 1652 and 1655 to 1684 and President from 1652 to 1655 and 1684 to 1785 and Governor from 1785 to 1947. The judicial, legislative and executive powers are wrested in the Governor who is assisted by a Council whose constitution has been modified by reforms enacted in 1861, 1909, 1919 and 1935. As per the Montague-Chelmsford reforms of 1919, a system of dyarchy was established and regular elections were conducted till the outbreak of the Second World War. The head of the government was known as Prime Minister. In 1908, the province comprised 22 districts each under a District Collector. Each district was further sub-divided into ‘'taluks’’ and ‘'firqas’’. The smallest unit of administration was the village.

Origins

Before the arrival of the British

The districts , which formed the Madras Presidency between 1685 and 1947 were ruled by different kings in different times. The discovery of dolmens has proved beyond doubt that this portion of the subcontinent had been inhabited as early as the Stone Ages.¹ The first prominent historical dynasty to rule over this region was that of the Andhras or Satavahanas who held sway over the northern part of the Madras Presidency between the 3rd century B.C. and the 3rd century A.D.² The Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas of the Sangam Age were the southern contemporaries of the Satavahanas.³² Following the decline of these kingdoms, the country was conquered by a little known race of people called the Kalabhras.⁴ The country however recovered under the Pallavas and its civilization attained a golden age under the Cholas and the Pandyas.² Following the conquest of Madurai by Malik Kafur, there was a brief period of lull when culture and civilization began to decay.⁵ But the Tamil and Telugu countries recovered under the Vijayanagar Empire. On the demise of the Vijayanagar Empire, the country was parcelled out amongst the numerous sultans, polygars and European trading companies.⁵

Early British trading posts

On December 31, 1600, a group of English merchants established the British East India Company, the world’s first joint-stock company. Subsequently, during the reign of James I, Sir William Hawkins and Sir Thomas Roe were sent to negotiate with the Mughal Emperor Jahangir for the establishment of factories in India on behalf of the Company. The first factories of the British East India Company were established at Surat on India’s west coast and Machilipatnam on India’s east. Of the trading posts on India’s east coast, Masulipatnam is the oldest having been established in the year 1611. Soon afterwards, another factory was established at Armagon a few miles southward and both the factories were placed under the administration of an Agency based at Machilipatnam. However, soon after the establishement of these factories, the British authorities, unable to bear the hostility of local rulers, felt the need to move their new factory to an alternate location. Francis Day was sent southward for this purpose and after negotiating with the Raja of Chandragiri, succeeding in obtaining the land grant for setting up a factory in the village of Madraspatnam. A fort was constructed at the aforesaid place between 1642 and 1645 and christened Fort St George. An agency was created to govern this new settlement and factor Andrew Cogan of Masulipatnam was deputed as the first Agent. All the agencies along India’s east coast were subordinate to the presidency of Bantam in Java.

Agency of Fort St George

Andrew Cogan was succeeded by Francis Day, Thomas Ivie and Thomas Greenhill. In 1652, when Greenhill’s term came to an end, Fort St George was raised to the rank of a Presidency and was given control of all factories on the east coast of India stretching up to Bengal.⁶Aaron Baker was appointed as the first President of Fort St George.⁶ However, in 1655, the status of Fort St George was downgraded to an Agency and made subject to the factory at Surat.⁷ It remained so until 1684. During this period, the British occupied the village of Triplicane near Madras.⁸⁹

History

Stinger Lawrence who established the Madras Army with Mohamed Ali Khan Walajan, the Nawab of Carnatic

Expansion

In 1684, Madras was once again elevated to the status of a Presidency and William Gyfford was appointed as the first President.¹⁰During this period, the Presidency expanded manifold reaching its present dimensions in the early 1800s. At the same time, the early years of Madras Presidency were tormentous as the British had to bear the repeated attacks of the powerful Mughals, Marathas and the Nawabs of Golconda and Carnatic.¹¹ In September 1746, Fort St George was taken by the French who ruled Madras as a part of French India till 1749 when Madras was made over to the British as per the Treaty of Aix-la-Chappelle.¹² On September 1774, by the terms of the Pitt's India Act, which was passed by the British Parliament to the 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.¹³

During the Company Raj

See also: Company rule in India

From 1774 to 1858, Madras was a part of British India ruled by the British East India Company. The last quarter of the 18th century was a period of rapid expansion. The successful wars against Tipu, Velu Thambi, Polygars and Ceylon added vast chunks of land and contributed to the exponential growth of the Presidency. Newly-conquered Ceylon was a part of Madras Presidency from 1793 to 1798.¹⁴ The system of Subsidiary Alliances originated by Lord Wellesly also created a lot of princely states subordinate to the Governor of Fort St George.¹⁵ The hill tracts of Ganjam and Visakhapatnam were the last to be annexed.¹⁶

This period also witnessed a number of rebellions. The Vellore Mutiny of 1806 precedes the First War of Indian Independence by half-a-century.¹⁷¹⁸ The rebellion of Velu Thambi and Paliath Achan and the risings of the Polygars were other notable insurrections against British rule. The Madras Presidency, however, remained relatively undisturbed by the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857.

The kingdom of Mysore was annexed to Madras Presidency in 1831 on accounts of maladministration.¹⁹ THe kingdom was restored to the rightful heir in 1881.²⁰Thanjavur was annexed in 1855, following the death of Shivaji II without a surviving male heir.

Madras Province in 1913

The Victorian Era

See also: British Raj

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 Government of India 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.²¹²²²³A number of roads, railways, dams and canals were constructed during this time.²²

During this period, Madras was devastated by two great famines: Great Famine of 1876–78 and the Indian famine of 1896–97.²⁴ 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

Annie Besant in 1922

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.²⁵²⁶ The third session of the Indian National Congress was held in Madras in December 1887²⁷ and was a huge success attended by 362 delegates from the Province.²⁸ Subsequent sessions of the Indian National Congresswere held in Madras in 1894, 1898, 1903, 1908, 1914 and 1927.²⁹

The headquarters of the Theosophical Society were moved to Adyar by Madam Blavatsky and Colonel H. S. Olcott in 1882.³⁰ The most prominent figure associated with the Theosophical Society was Annie Besant who founded the Home Rule League in 1916.³¹ The Home Rule Movement was organized from Madras and found extensive support in the Province. The freedom struggle was actively endorsed by nationalistic newspapers such as The Hindu³²³³ and Swadesamitran³⁴ and Mathrubhumi. Subramanya Bharathy, Tiruppur Kumaran, V. V. S. Aiyar, Subramanya Siva, V. O. Chidambaram Pillai, Vanchinathan, V. Kalyanasundaram, Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, K. Kamaraj, U. Muthuramalingam Thevar, Sir S. Subramania Iyer, G. Subramania Iyer, S. Srinivasa Iyengar, V. S. Srinivasa Sastri, Tanguturi Prakasam, Sir P. S. Sivaswami Iyer, C. Sankaran Nair, Karunakara Menon and Kalki Sadasivam were some prominent freedom-fighters of the period. India's first trade union was established in Madras in 1918 by V. Kalyanasundaram and B. P. Wadia.³⁵

Implementation of the Dyarchy

The non-Brahmin movement was started by Sir P. Theagaroya Chetty (pictured) who founded the Justice Party in 1916. After his death, the movement was spearheaded by E. V. Ramaswamy Naicker, 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.³⁶ 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 adninistration, was elected to power.³⁷ 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.³⁸ 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 November 27, 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.613³⁹) which introduced reservations to government jobs, in August 1921, remains one of the highpoints of his rule.³⁹⁴⁰ 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.⁴¹ In 1930, the Justice Party was victorious and P. Munuswamy Naidu became the Chief Minister.⁴² 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.⁴³ The Justice Party eventually lost in the 1937 elections to the Indian National Congress and Chakravarti Rajagopalachari became Chief Minister of Madras Presidency.⁴⁴

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.⁴⁵ He also participated in the Vaikom satyagraha which campaigned for the rights of untouchables in Travancore to enter temples.

Last Days of British rule

The Indian National Congress came to power for the first time in 1937 with Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (pictured at a rally) as its Chief Minister

The Indian National Congress was elected to power in 1937 ⁴⁴ 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 August 15, 1947. Chakravarti Rajagopalachari was the first Chief Minister of Madras Presidency from the Congress party. He issued the Temple Entry Authorization and Indemnity Act⁴⁶ and introduced prohibition⁴⁷ and sales tax in Madras Presidency.⁴⁸ However, his rule is largely remembered for compulsory introduction of Hindi in educational institutions which made him highly unpopular as a politician.⁴⁹ 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.⁵⁰ Two agitators Thalamuthu and Natarasan lost their lives.⁵⁰ 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 February 21, 1940.⁵⁰

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 August 15, 1947 with Ramaswamy Reddiyar as the first Chief Minister of Madras state.

Demographics

The first census of the Madras Presidency was taken in the year 1822.⁵¹ It returned a population of 13,476,923.⁵¹ The second census conducted in 1836-37 returned a population of 13,967,395, an increase of only 490,472 in 15 years.⁵¹ The first quinquennial enumeration of the population was made in 1851-52. It returned a population of 22,031,697.⁵¹ Subsequent enumerations were made in 1856-57, 1861-62 and 1866-67. The population of Madras Presidency was found to be 22,857,855 in 1851-52, 24,656,509 in 1861-62 and 26,539,052 in 1866-67.⁵¹

The first organized census of India was conducted in 1871. It returned a population of 31,220,973 for Madras Presidency. Since then, a census has been conducted once every ten years. The last census of British India held in 1941 returned a population of 49,341,810 for Madras Presidency.

Languages

See also: Dravidian languages

Linguistic map of the Madras Presidency

The languages spoken in the Madras Presidency were Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Tulu and English. Tamil was spoken in the southern districts of the Presidency from a few miles north of Madras city as far west as the Nilgiri hills and Western Ghats.⁵⁴ Telugu was spoken in the districts to the north of Madras city and to the east of Bellary and Anantapur districts.⁵⁴ Kannada was spoken in the district of South Kanara , the western part of Bellary and Anantapur districts and parts of Malabar.⁵⁵ Malayalam was spoken in the districts of Malabar and South Kanara and the princely states of Travancore and Cochin, while Tulu was spoken in South Canara.⁵⁵ Oriya was spoken in the district of Ganjam and parts of Vizagapatam district.⁵⁵ English was spoken by Anglo-Indians and Eurasians. It was also the link language for the Presidency and the official language of British India in which all government proceedings and court hearings were conducted.

According to the 1871 census, there were 14,715,000 people who spoke Tamil, 11,610,000 people who spoke Telugu, 2,324,000 people who spoke Malayalam, 1,699,000 spoke Canarese or Kannada, 640,000 people spoke Oriya and 29,400 people spoke Tulu.⁵⁶ The 1901 census returned 15,182,957 speakers of Tamil, 14,276,509 Telugu-speakers, 2,861,297 speakers of Malayalam, 1,518,579 were speakers of Kannada, 1,809,314 spoke Oriya, 880,145 spoke Hindusthani and 1,680,635 spoke other languages.⁵⁷ At the time of India's independence, Tamil and Telugu speakers made up over 78% of the total population of the Presidency. Kannada, Malayalam and Tulu speakers made up the rest.⁵⁸

Religion

Vaishnavite Brahmin students at a Gurukulam in Tanjore, c.a. 1909

A village shrine dedicated to Lord Ayyanar, c.a. 1911

Muhammadan boy, c.a. 1914

The population in 1901 was divided into Hindus (37,026,471), Muslims (2,732,931), and Christians (1,934,480). At the time of India's independence in 1947, Madras had an estimated population of 49,799,822 Hindus, 3,896,452 Muslims and 2,047,478 Christians⁵⁹

Hinduism was the predominant religion in the Presidency practised by around 88% of the population. The main Hindu denominations were Saivite, Vaishnavite and Lingayat.⁶⁰The Smartha doctrine was quite popular among the Brahmins. ⁶¹ The worship of village gods was strong in the southern districts of the Presidency. The mutts at Kanchi, Sringeri and Ahobilam were regarded as the centres of the Hindu faith. The largest and most important Hindu temples were the Venkateswara temple at Thirupathi, Brihadeeswarar temple at Tanjore, the Meenakshi Amman temple at Madurai, Ranganathaswamy temple at Srirangam, Krishna temple at Udupi and the Padmanabhaswamy temple in the princely state of Travancore. Islam was brought to the southern part of India by Arab traders. However, most converts were made from the 14th century onwards, when Malik Kafur conquered Madurai. Nagore was the holiest city for the Muslims of Madras Presidency. The Madras Presidency also had one of the oldest Christian populations. Branches of the Syrian church were established by St. Thomas, an apostle of Jesus Christ who visited the Malabar coast in 52 AD.⁶²Christians were mainly concentrated in the Tinnevely and Malabar districts of Madras Presidency.Native Christians formed over one-fourth of the total population of the princely state of Travancore.

The hill tribes of the Nilgiris, Palani and Ganjam hills such as the Todas, Badagas, Kodavas, Kotas, Yerukalas and the Khonds worshipped tribal gods and were often classified as Hindus. Till the early years of the 20th century, Hindu communities such as the Pallar,Paraiyar, Sakkiliar, Pulayar, Madiga, Izhava and Holeya were regarded as untouchable and were not allowed inside Hindu temples. However, along with the abolition of female infanticide, the removal of purdah and advocation of widow remarriage, untouchability was also slowly eradicated through legislation and social reform. The Raja of Bobbili who served the Premier from 1932 to 1936 appointed untouchables to temple administration boards all over the Presidency.⁶³ In 1939, the Congress government of C. Rajagopalachari introduced the Temple Entry Authorization and Indemnity Act which removed all restrictions on untouchables entering Hindu temples.⁴⁶ Sir C. P. Ramaswamy Ayyar, the Diwan of Travacnore, had earlier introduced a similar legislation, the Temple Entry Proclamation in the princely state of Travancore in 1937.

The Hindu Religious Endowments Bill was passed by the government of the Raja of Panagal in 1921 to regulate the management of Hindu temples.⁶⁴ As per the provisions of this bill, government-controlled trusts were set up in the Madras Presidency to manage Hindu temples and monitor the usage of funds so that they were not misused.⁶⁴ The Raja of Bobbili introduced reforms in the administration of Thirumala-Tirupathi devasthanams.⁶³

Administration

Madras Presidency in 1909, northern portion.

Madras Presidency in 1909, southern portion.

The Madras presidency was administered by a governor and a council, consisting of two members of the civil service, which number may be increased to four. There was also a board of revenue of three members. For legislative purposes the council of the governor was augmented by additional members, numbering 45 in all, of whom not more than 17 may be nominated officials, while 19 were elected by various representative constituencies. Members of the legislative council enjoyed the right of interpolation, of proposing resolutions on matters of public interest, and of discussing the annual financial statement.

In 1911 the province was divided into 24 districts: Ganjam, Vizagapatam (Visakhapatnam), Godavari, Krishna, Kurnool, Nellore, Cuddapah, Anantapur, Bellary, North Arcot, South Arcot, Chingleput, Madras, Salem, South Canara, Malabar, Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli, Tanjore, Madurai, Tirunelveli, The Nilgiris, and Guntur. Each district was under the charge of a collector, with sub-collectors and assistants. The districts were not grouped into divisions or commissionerships, as in other provinces.

The principle of local devolution was carried somewhat further in Madras than in other Raj provinces. At the bottom are union panchayats or village committees, whose chief duty is to attend to sanitation. Above them came taluk or subdivisional boards. At the head of all were district boards, a portion of whose members are elected by the taluk boards.

Five princely states fell under the political authority of Madras Presidency: Banganapalle, Cochin, Pudukkottai, Sandur, and Travancore.

Army

A British officer in the Madras Light Cavalry

Main article: Madras Army

The city of Madras had its own garrison ever since 1665, when the British East India Company was first permitted to set up its own garrisons to guard its settlements. Notable amongst the army's early operations were the defence of the city from Mughal and Maratha invaders and the forces of the Nawab of Carnatic. In 1713, the Madras forces under Lieutenant John de Morgan distinguished themselves in the siege of Fort St David and in quelling the mutiny of Richard Raworth.⁶⁵

When Dupleix, the Governor of French India began to raise native battalions in 1748, the British of Madras followed suit and established the Madras Regiment.⁶⁶ Though native regiments were subsequently established by the British in other parts of India, the distances that separated the three presidencies resulted in each force growing up on divergent principles and with different organizations. The first reorganization of the army was carried out in 1795. The Madras Army was reconstituted into the following units:

• European Infantry:Two battalions of 10 companies.
• Artillery: Two European battalions of 5 companies each, with 15 companies of lascars.
• Native Cavalry. Four regiments.
• Native Infantry. Eleven regiments of 2 battalions.⁶⁷

A Jamadar of the 20th Deccan Horse

In 1824, there was a second reorganization of troops. The double battalions were abolished and the existing battalions renumbered. The Madras Army, at the time consisted of two brigades of horse artillery, one European and one native; 3 battalions of foot artillery of 4 companies each, with 4 companies of lascars attached; 3 regiments of light cavalry; 2 corps of pioneers; 2 battalions of European infantry; 52 battalions of native infantry and 3 local battalions.⁶⁸⁶⁹

From 1748 to 1895, the Madras Army like the Bengal and Bombay armies, had its own Commander-in-Chief who was subordinate to the President, and later, the Governor of Madras. The Commander-in-chief of the Madras Army was, by default, a member of the Governor's Executive Council. The Madras Army participated in the conquest of Manila in 1762,⁷⁰ the 1795 expedition against Ceylon, the expedition against the Dutch and the conquest of the Spice Islands in the same year and in expeditions against Maurutius in 1810, Java in 1811,⁷¹ the wars against Tipu Sultan and the Carnatic Wars of the 18th century, the British attack on Cuttack dring the Second Maratha War,⁷² the siege of Lucknow during the Indian mutiny and the invasion of Upper Burma during the Third Anglo-Burmese War.⁷³

The 1857 mutiny, which caused drastic changes in the Bengal and Bombay armies did not affect the Madras Army, the least. In 1895, the Presidential Armies were finally abolished and the Madras regiments brought under the direct control of the Commander-in-chief of British India.⁷⁴

The Madras Army derived heavily from the Moplahs of Malabar and soldiers from the Coorg.^</