On 22 August 1639, two Englishmen standing south of the Lake Pulicat, signed a lease agreement for a parcel of land adjoining the sandy strip of a beach. That lease deed signed by Francis Day and Andrew Cogan, established the First Colonial City of the Empire*.
Thus the City of Madras, now renamed as Chennai, is older** than both Bombay (or Mumbai) and Calcutta (or Kolkata).
The only city in India which has connection with Clive of India, Elihu Yale of Yale University, Marco Polo, Ptolemy, Huen-Tsang, and even St. Thomas or Doubting Thomas. The city which educated Sir. C.V. Raman, and supported Srinivasa Ramanujan, is also connected with at least six other diamonds - of the gemstone variety - from Koh-i-noor, to the Hope Diamond.
What better way to express the joy of this day, than reproduce this banner for the 375th Madras Day, by The Hindu?
*Madras is the First Colonial City of the Empire, because unlike other cities which try to boast/boost the title, Madras is the first city to be ‘leased’ and later ‘bought’. All the others were either barren land, and thus ‘settled’ or ‘occupied’ by the Empire.
**The modern cities of Calcutta (Kolkata) and Bombay (Mumbai) were again obtained, leased or bought with a sale deed much later than Madras (Chennai). The point to note is that there were always villages nearby to these leased or bought out parcels of land, and so they are not taken cognizance of while calculating the ‘age’ of the modern cities.
For the record the islands of Bombay were part of the ‘dowry’ to King Charles II for marrying Catherine in 1661 (22 years after the lease of Madras), and the Calcutta trading licence was granted in 1690 (full 51 years later).
Happy Birthday Madras, that is Chennai!
Thus the City of Madras, now renamed as Chennai, is older** than both Bombay (or Mumbai) and Calcutta (or Kolkata).
The only city in India which has connection with Clive of India, Elihu Yale of Yale University, Marco Polo, Ptolemy, Huen-Tsang, and even St. Thomas or Doubting Thomas. The city which educated Sir. C.V. Raman, and supported Srinivasa Ramanujan, is also connected with at least six other diamonds - of the gemstone variety - from Koh-i-noor, to the Hope Diamond.
What better way to express the joy of this day, than reproduce this banner for the 375th Madras Day, by The Hindu?
*Madras is the First Colonial City of the Empire, because unlike other cities which try to boast/boost the title, Madras is the first city to be ‘leased’ and later ‘bought’. All the others were either barren land, and thus ‘settled’ or ‘occupied’ by the Empire.
**The modern cities of Calcutta (Kolkata) and Bombay (Mumbai) were again obtained, leased or bought with a sale deed much later than Madras (Chennai). The point to note is that there were always villages nearby to these leased or bought out parcels of land, and so they are not taken cognizance of while calculating the ‘age’ of the modern cities.
For the record the islands of Bombay were part of the ‘dowry’ to King Charles II for marrying Catherine in 1661 (22 years after the lease of Madras), and the Calcutta trading licence was granted in 1690 (full 51 years later).
Happy Birthday Madras, that is Chennai!
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