CultureEast India Company rule
Government Museum, Madras founded
Built on collections donated by the Madras Literary Society, the Madras Government Museum, India's second oldest, was founded.
Only the Indian Museum in Kolkata is older among India's museums than the Government Museum in Madras, begun in 1851. The museum grew out of roughly 1,100 geological specimens that the Madras Literary Society presented to the government. The museum was housed at first on College Road, Nungambakkam, and in 1854 it relocated to its current site in Egmore. Its first officer in charge, Edward Balfour, expanded its holdings in natural history and archaeology.
