Madras Founded by the British East India Company
Madras was founded in 1639 on a strip of beach. Francis Day of the British East India Company bought the land from the Nayak governor of Chandragiri for an annual rent and the promise to build a fortified trading post. Fort St. George went up within a year. The logic was straightforward — the Company needed a base on the Coromandel Coast with a deep-water anchorage. What they got was the foundation for one of India's major cities. Today it's Chennai. The fort is still standing.
August 22, 1639
387 years ago
Key Figures & Places
India
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British East India Company
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Chennai
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Madras
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East India Company
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Chennai
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East India Company
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Madras Day
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Tamil Nadu
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Francis Day (Kolonialadministrator)
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Nayak-Dynastien
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Koromandelküste
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Fort St. George
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