Geography

The Coromandel Coast: Madras (Chennai), A Case Study

Geography

Map of Indian Ocean

The Coromandel coast embraces a geographical area along the southeast coast of India and the western shores of the Bay of Bengal. The coast is strategically situated to serve as a conduit for long distance maritime trade between east and west, linking the shores of the east coast of the Bay of Bengal and beyond with the Mediterranean. The port of Madras, founded by the English East India Company in 1639, became the most important city in South India by the 18th century and under the empire the capital of the Madras Presidency, comprising most of south India.

Map of South India

After independence Madras State was divided along linguistic lines into Madras and Teluga-speaking Andhra Pradesh. Today, officially renamed Chennai, the city is the fourth largest in India (over 5 milion people), and is the capital of Tamil Nadu the only Tamil-speaking state in India. Chennai occupies 172 sq. km along 20 km of the Coromandel Coast lying near the 13th North parallel and parallel to 80° longitude.

(Click to enlarge ~ adapted from mapsofindia.com for education use only)

Created and updated by Carol A. Keller, the initial development of this website is made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) 2002 Summer Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, and The United States Department of Education, Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program, India’s Cultural Heritage, Contemporary Concerns, and Challenges for the New Millennium, 2003. The website contents are reviewed regularly for accuracy and timeliness. Efforts are made to update material as the need arises in order to make this information accessible through the Internet. As with many Web Pages, these pages are often "under construction" to reflect the continuous changes in the web and in current information. Therefore, these pages may be incomplete or have missing links. Your patience is appreciated.

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