The Madras Presidency ( English Madras Presidency , Tamil . சென்னை மாகாணம், Telugu : చెన్నపురి సంస్థానము, Malayalam : മദ്രാസ് പ്രസിഡന്സി, Kannada : ಮದ್ರಾಸ್ ಪ್ರೆಸಿಡೆನ್ಸಿ) is the administrative unit of British India . It occupied a significant part of the south of the country. In its most expanded state, the presidency included the territory of the modern state of Tamil Nadu , the Malabar coast of Kerala , the coastal regions of Andhra Pradesh , the southern regions of the state of Orissa , and some areas of Karnataka . The winter capital of the presidency was located in the city of Madras , the summer - in Ooty .
History
In 1639, the British East India Company bought the village of Madraspatnam and one year later created the organization Fort St. George. This organization was upgraded to the presidency in 1652, but already in 1655 it was again demoted to its original status. In 1684 it was again upgraded to the status of presidency. Subsequently, the area was significantly increased.
The end of the 19th century was overshadowed for Madras by the famine of 1876-78. and the subsequent famine of 1896-97. The population of the presidency declined from 31.2 million in 1871 to 30.8 million - in 1881 as a result of the first famine.
After India gained independence in 1947, the presidency became the Indian state of Madras, which was subsequently divided into states by language.
Population
According to the 1822 census, the population of the presidency was 13,476,923 people, according to data from 1836-37. this figure was 13,967,395 people. The 1871 census data report a population of 31,220,973 people, and the last census in British India, the 1941 census, refers to 49,441,810 people.
At the time of Indian independence, about 78% of the presidency population spoke Tamil and Telugu, the rest spoke Malayalam, Kannada, Tula , Oriya , etc. Hinduism was the predominant religion (about 88% of the presidency).