East India Company rule

Second Polygar War

One year after Kattabomman was executed, a broad coalition of Tamil palayakkarars and their allies revolted against the East India Company.

Pudukkottai comes under Company protection

Through a subsidiary alliance, the Tondaiman state of Pudukkottai came under the protection of the East India Company.

Jambudweep proclamation of the Maruthu brothers

The Maruthu brothers issued a proclamation calling on all people of the peninsula, whatever their religion, to fight the British.

Fall of Panchalankurichi fort

After a lengthy siege and heavy shelling, Colonel Agnew's Company troops took the rebuilt fort of Panchalankurichi.

Carnatic Treaty transfers the Carnatic to the Company

Nawab Azim-ud-Daula signed the Carnatic Treaty, handing the civil and military administration of the Carnatic to the East India Company.

Execution of the Maruthu brothers

Periya Marudhu and Chinna Marudhu, rulers of Sivaganga and leaders of the 1800-01 rising, were hanged at Tiruppathur fort.

Execution of Oomaithurai

Oomaithurai, brother of Kattabomman, was captured and hanged at Panchalankurichi with Sevathaiah, ending the Second Polygar War.

Permanent Settlement extended to Madras Presidency

The zamindari Permanent Settlement, first applied in Bengal, was introduced in parts of the Madras Presidency.

Goldingham sets Madras time

Astronomer John Goldingham of the Madras Observatory fixed Madras time at 5 hours 21 minutes ahead of Greenwich.

Great Trigonometrical Survey begins at Madras

Measuring a baseline close to Madras, William Lambton set the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India in motion.

Sivaganga settled on Gowri Vallaba Thevar

After the Maruthu brothers were executed, Sivaganga was settled in 1803 as a permanent estate on Gowri Vallaba Thevar.

Village Settlement revenue experiment

A Village Settlement system of land revenue was tried in several Tamil districts before ryotwari became the norm.

Company engineers begin remodelling the Grand Anicut

Captain Caldwell was appointed in 1804 to study the Kaveri and raised the ancient Grand Anicut to send more water to the delta.

Coimbatore district formed with Coimbatore as its capital

Coimbatore district was formed by the Company, with Coimbatore town as its headquarters.

Execution of Dheeran Chinnamalai

Dheeran Chinnamalai, a Kongu chieftain who fought the Company for several years, was hanged at Sankagiri Fort.

Serfoji II sets up a Devanagari press at Thanjavur

At Thanjavur, Serfoji II founded the Nava Vidya Kalasala press, the first in South India to print Devanagari.

First segment of the Buckingham Canal opens

In 1806 a saltwater canal linking Madras with Ennore was finished; it would later form part of the Buckingham Canal.

Vellore Mutiny

Indian sepoys of the Madras Army rose against the East India Company at Vellore Fort over new dress regulations.

College of Fort St. George founded

Francis Whyte Ellis founded the College of Fort St. George in Madras to train officials in South Indian languages.

Tirukkural appears in print for the first time

The first known printed edition of the Tirukkural was produced in 1812, together with the Naladiyar.

Charter Act of 1813

Renewing the Company's charter, Parliament abolished its India trade monopoly, admitted missionaries and funded education.

Channar revolt over the upper cloth

Nadar women in southern Travancore, including today's Kanyakumari district, struggled for decades for the right to cover their upper bodies.

John Binny establishes Binny & Co in Madras

Merchant John Binny, in Madras since 1797, established the firm of Binny & Co, one of the city's oldest mercantile houses.

Hugh Elliot becomes Governor of Madras

Diplomat Hugh Elliot, earlier Governor of the Leeward Islands, governed the Madras Presidency from 1814 to 1820.

Church Missionary Society begins work in Madras

After the Charter Act of 1813 allowed missionaries into India, the Church Missionary Society placed its first missionaries at Madras in 1814.

St. George's Church built in Madras

St. George's Church on the Choultry Plain was opened in 1815 and later became the cathedral of the Diocese of Madras.

Birth of Tamil scholar Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai

Tamil poet and teacher Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, later the teacher of U. V. Swaminatha Iyer, was born near Tiruchirappalli.

Tranquebar handed back to Denmark

Britain returned Tranquebar (Tharangambadi), occupied since 1808 during the Napoleonic Wars, to Danish rule on 20 September 1815.

Ellis publishes the Dravidian Proof

Francis Whyte Ellis argued that the South Indian languages form a family separate from Sanskrit.

Abbe Dubois's account of south Indian customs published

Abbe J. A. Dubois's account of south Indian customs and institutions appeared in London in an English translation.

Pondicherry and Karaikal restored to France

After the Napoleonic Wars, Britain returned Pondicherry, Karaikal and the other French settlements in India to France in 1816.

Madras Literary Society founded

In 1817 a learned society and library, the Madras Literary Society, was established in Madras.

Madras Regulation VII of 1817 on temple endowments

The Madras government passed Regulation VII of 1817, the first explicit Company legislation on the management of temple endowments.

Ellis orders new wells during the Madras water shortage

During a severe drinking water shortage in Madras, Collector Francis Whyte Ellis had 27 wells dug, one bearing a Tamil inscription honouring Thiruvalluvar.

LMS seminary moves to Nagercoil

Charles Mead shifted the London Missionary Society's seminary from Mylaudy to Nagercoil, where it grew into Scott Christian College.

Madras Eye Infirmary established

The Madras Eye Infirmary, now the Egmore Eye Hospital, was founded and is regarded as the oldest eye hospital in Asia.

John Sullivan explores the Nilgiris

Coimbatore Collector John Sullivan set out to explore the Nilgiri hills, leading to the founding of Ootacamund.

Tamil scholar F. W. Ellis dies at Ramnad

Francis Whyte Ellis, Collector of Madras and founder of the College of Fort St. George, died of cholera on 10 March 1819 at Ramnad.

Death of Nawab Azim-ud-Daula; Azam Jah succeeds

Azim-ud-Daula, the Nawab of the Carnatic who had signed away his civil administration to the Company in 1801, died and was succeeded by Azam Jah.

Thomas Munro becomes Governor of Madras

Thomas Munro served as Governor of Madras, establishing revenue and administrative systems that lasted into the twentieth century.

Ryotwari system adopted in Madras Presidency

Under Thomas Munro the ryotwari land revenue system, dealing directly with cultivators, became the main settlement in Madras.

Coffee planting begins at Yercaud

Salem Collector M. D. Cockburn helped start coffee estates at Yercaud in the Shevaroy Hills during the 1820s.

Rhenius begins CMS mission in Tirunelveli

Church Mission Society missionary C. T. E. Rhenius arrived in Tirunelveli and built a large Protestant mission based at Palayamkottai.

First girls' school opens in Tirunelveli

The first school for girls in the Tirunelveli region was opened in 1821.

St. Andrew's Church (the Kirk) consecrated

Built in Egmore for the Scots of Madras, St. Andrew's Church was consecrated in 1821.

Birth of Ramalinga Swamigal (Vallalar)

Ramalinga Swamigal, the Tamil saint-poet known as Vallalar, was born at Marudur near Chidambaram.

Dutch possessions on the Coromandel Coast pass to Britain

Under the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, the Dutch ceded their Coromandel settlements, including Pulicat, to the British on 1 June 1825.

Board of Public Instruction set up in Madras

The Madras government founded a Board of Public Instruction in 1826 to oversee education in the Presidency.

Bishop Reginald Heber dies at Tiruchirappalli

Reginald Heber, Bishop of Calcutta and hymn-writer, died suddenly at Trichinopoly during a tour of South India.

Death of composer Syama Sastri

Syama Sastri, the eldest of the Trinity of Carnatic music, died in 1827.

Ootacamund becomes a sanatorium of the Madras Presidency

By 1827 Ootacamund in the Nilgiris had been established as a sanatorium of the Madras Presidency.

Recruitment of Tamil labourers for Ceylon plantations begins

Labourers from the Tirunelveli, Tiruchi, Madurai and Tanjore areas were recruited for British coffee estates in Ceylon.

Governor Thomas Munro dies of cholera

Sir Thomas Munro, Governor of Madras and architect of the ryotwari system, died of cholera at Pattikonda while on tour.

St. Stephen's Church founded at Ooty

St. Stephen's Church at Ootacamund, whose foundation stone Governor Stephen Lushington laid, opened for worship in 1831.

Porto Novo iron works established

With a loan from the government, Josiah Marshall Heath set up iron and steel works at Porto Novo (Parangipettai) in South Arcot.

Thomas Glanville Taylor takes charge of the Madras Observatory

T. G. Taylor came to Madras as head of the observatory, where he compiled the Madras Catalogue of Stars.

First census of Madras city

The first census of the city of Madras was taken in 1831.

Madras Pioneers renamed the Madras Sappers and Miners

The Madras Pioneers, raised in 1780, were renamed the Corps of Madras Sappers and Miners in 1831.

Guntur famine strikes the Madras Presidency

Crop failures led to a famine that took roughly 150,000 lives in Guntur district and spread as far south as Madras.

Death of Serfoji II of Thanjavur

Serfoji II, Thanjavur's scholarly ruler who had handed its administration to the Company in 1799, passed away.

Shivaji II becomes Raja of Thanjavur

Shivaji, son of Serfoji II, was crowned at the Durbar Hall of Tanjore Fort and became the last Raja of Thanjavur.

Madras Club founded

Founded for Europeans only, the Madras Club is among the oldest gentlemen's clubs in India.

Ayya Vaikundar begins his mission

Ayya Vaikundar began the teachings that gave rise to Ayyavazhi, a movement that challenged caste rules in southern Travancore.

Charter Act of 1833 centralises lawmaking

The Government of India Act 1833 removed the Madras government's power to make its own laws and centralised it in Calcutta.

Madras Medical College founded

A medical school was opened in Madras that grew into Madras Medical College, one of the oldest in Asia.

Death of composer Muthuswami Dikshitar

Muthuswami Dikshitar, one of the Trinity of Carnatic music, died at Ettayapuram on Deepavali day.

Anglican Diocese of Madras created

Daniel Corrie was consecrated the first Bishop of Madras, and St. George's Church became the cathedral of the new diocese.

Red Hill Railway carries granite to Madras

Built by Arthur Cotton as an early experiment, the Red Hill Railway hauled granite from Red Hills into Madras for road works.

Arthur Cotton builds the Upper Anaicut at Mukkombu

Arthur Cotton built the Upper Anaicut regulator where the Kollidam branches from the Kaveri, between 1836 and 1838.

Madras Chamber of Commerce founded

The Madras Chamber of Commerce was set up at the Binny & Co. office by merchants from the Parry, Binny and Arbuthnot firms.

General Assembly's School, origin of Madras Christian College

Scottish missionary John Anderson opened the General Assembly's School in Madras, which grew into Madras Christian College.

Ayya Vaikundar imprisoned by the Travancore king

Ayya Vaikundar, founder of Ayyavazhi, was arrested on the orders of the Travancore king and held at Singarathoppe jail.

Robert Caldwell arrives in Madras

Robert Caldwell, who would go on to write the Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian languages, reached Madras as a missionary.

Death of missionary C. T. E. Rhenius at Palayamkottai

C. T. E. Rhenius, the missionary known as the Apostle of Tirunelveli, died at Palayamkottai.

G. U. Pope begins mission work at Sawyerpuram

In 1839 George Uglow Pope set sail for South India and took up missionary work at Sawyerpuram, close to Thoothukudi.

Equestrian statue of Thomas Munro unveiled

Francis Chantrey's bronze equestrian statue of Governor Thomas Munro was ceremonially opened on the Island in Madras.

Madras Preparatory School, forerunner of Presidency College

A government preparatory school opened in Madras in 1840; it grew into the High School and eventually Presidency College.

Ice House built on the Madras beach

Frederic Tudor built the Ice House facing the sea at Madras to store ice shipped from America; it is now Vivekanandar Illam.

Madras General Hospital opens to Indians

Once reserved for Europeans, the Madras General Hospital moved to a new H-shaped building and admitted Indians.

Parry's sugar factory at Nellikuppam

The firm founded by Thomas Parry set up a sugar plant at Nellikuppam, described as the first in India.

Pachaiyappa's Central Institution opens

Funded by the bequest of merchant Pachaiyappa Mudaliar, Pachaiyappa's Central Institution opened in Madras.

Indian Slavery Act abolishes legal slavery

Under Act V of 1843, slavery lost legal recognition in Company territories, agrestic slavery in the Tamil districts included.

First emigrant ship from Madras reaches Mauritius

Britain allowed emigration from Madras to Mauritius again in December 1842, and the first ship from Madras reached the island in April 1843.

Bank of Madras formed

The Bank of Madras, one of the three Presidency banks, came into being through the merger of several banks in Madras.

Jesuits found St. Joseph's College at Nagapattinam

French Jesuits opened a college at Nagapattinam that later moved to Tiruchirappalli as St. Joseph's College.

Higginbotham's bookshop founded in Madras

Abel Joshua Higginbotham founded Higginbotham's on Mount Road, regarded as India's oldest bookshop still in existence.

Madras's first standalone lighthouse begins operation

A granite Doric column built north of Fort St. George began working as Madras's lighthouse on 1 January 1844.

The Crescent, first Indian-owned newspaper in Madras

The Crescent, launched by Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty, was the Madras Presidency's first newspaper under Indian ownership.

Denmark sells Tranquebar to the British

Denmark sold its settlement of Tranquebar (Tharangambadi) to the East India Company, ending Danish rule on the Tamil coast.

Kodaikanal hill station established

In the Palani Hills, American missionaries from the Madurai Mission founded Kodaikanal as an escape from the summer heat.

Madras Railway Company formed

The Madras Railway was established to build the first main line railways of South India.

Death of Tyagaraja

Tyagaraja, the most celebrated composer of the Carnatic Trinity, died at Thiruvaiyaru on the banks of the Kaveri.

Government Botanical Garden laid out at Ooty

William Graham McIvor of Kew laid out the Government Botanical Garden at Ootacamund.

Arumuka Navalar receives his title at Thiruvaduthurai

Travelling to Madras to acquire a printing press, Jaffna scholar Arumuka Pillai received the title Navalar from the Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam.

Madras School of Art founded

Surgeon Alexander Hunter founded a private art school in Madras, today's Government College of Fine Arts.

Government Museum, Madras founded

Built on collections donated by the Madras Literary Society, the Madras Government Museum, India's second oldest, was founded.

Ayya Vaikundar's mission ends

Ayyavazhi tradition records that Ayya Vaikundar's earthly mission ended on 2 June 1851.

Wellington cantonment established in the Nilgiris

The military station of Jakkatalla in the Nilgiris was renamed Wellington and construction of its barracks began.

Madras Native Association founded

One of India's earliest Indian political bodies, the Madras Native Association, was set up by Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty.

Railway construction begins at Royapuram

Work on South India's first main railway line, from Madras towards Arcot, began at Royapuram in 1853.

Madras Native Association petition read in the House of Lords

The Earl of Ellenborough read the Madras Native Association's catalogue of grievances in the House of Lords.

Wood's Despatch on education

Charles Wood's education despatch called for universities in the presidency towns and a graded school system across India.

Imperial Hotel opens in Madras

The Imperial Hotel, later the Connemara, opened in 1854 and is the oldest functioning hotel in Chennai.

Madras Torture Commission appointed

A commission was appointed to investigate the torture of ryots by revenue officials in the Madras Presidency.

Provincial School opens at Kumbakonam

A government Provincial School opened at Kumbakonam, later the Government Arts College known as the Cambridge of South India.

Madras Zoo begins at the Government Museum

Edward Balfour started a zoological park in the Government Museum premises, the origin of today's Vandalur zoo.

Birth of U. V. Swaminatha Iyer

U. V. Swaminatha Iyer, later famed for recovering and printing many lost classical Tamil texts, was born near Kumbakonam.

Carnatic Nawabship abolished under the Doctrine of Lapse

On the death of the last Nawab, Ghulam Muhammad Ghouse Khan, the Company abolished the Carnatic Nawabship.

Thanjavur annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse

After Raja Shivaji died without a male heir, the Company annexed the titular Maratha principality of Thanjavur.

Caldwell's Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian languages

With his Comparative Grammar, Robert Caldwell showed that the Dravidian languages make up a separate language family.

First train in South India, Royapuram to Wallajah Road

The Madras Railway opened South India's first railway line, from Royapuram in Madras to Wallajah Road near Arcot.

University of Madras founded

An act of the Legislative Council incorporated the University of Madras, among the first three modern universities in India.