Tamil Nadu & Chennai - South India and Kerala - page 684

54 St Isabel's Hospital D6

55 Thai Consulate C5

56 US Consulate C5

57 Wildlife Warden's Office C6

8 Transport

58 Air Asia C5

59 Broadway Bus Terminus F1

60 Emirates C5

61 Malaysia Airlines E6

62 SilkAir & Singapore Airlines E6

63 SriLankan Airlines C5

64 T Nagar Bus Terminus A7

History
The southern neighbourhood of Mylapore existed long before most of the rest of Chennai
and there is evidence that it traded with Roman and even Chinese and Greek merchants.
The Portuguese established their San Thome settlement on the coast nearby in 1523.
Another century passed before the British East India Company, searching for a good
southeast Indian trading base, struck a deal with the local Vijayanagar ruler to build a fort-
cum-trading post at the fishing village of Madraspatnam. This was Fort St George, erec-
ted between 1640 and 1653.
The three Carnatic Wars between 1744 and 1763 saw Britain and its colonialist rival
France allying with competing South Indian princes in their efforts to get the upper hand
over the locals and each other. The French occupied Fort St George from 1746 to 1749 but
the British eventually won out, with the French withdrawing to Pondicherry (now Puduch-
erry).
As capital of the Madras Presidency, one of the four major divisions of British India,
Madras grew into an important naval and commercial centre. After Independence, it be-
came capital of Madras state and its successor Tamil Nadu. The city itself was renamed
Chennai in 1996. IT and motor-vehicle manufacture are its industrial mainstays today.

Dangers & Annoyances