Madras Presidency
The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including all of present-day Andhra Pradesh, almost all of Tamil Nadu and parts of Kerala, Karnataka, Odisha and Telangana in the modern day. The city of Madras was the winter capital of the presidency and Ooty was the summer capital.
Presidency of Fort St George
1684–1935
Province of Madras
1935–1950
1684–1935
Province of Madras
1935–1950
Madras Provincial Legislature
Madras Legislative Council (1861–1947)
Madras Legislative Assembly (1935–1947)
1652
1833
1935
1950
49,341,810
The Madras Presidency was neighboured by the Kingdom of Mysore to the northwest, the Kingdoms of Cochin and Travancore to the southwest, the Kingdom of Pudukkottai in the center, and the Nizam's Dominions of Hyderabad and Berar to the north. Some parts of the presidency were also flanked by Bombay Presidency (Konkan) and Central Provinces and Berar (modern Madhya Pradesh).
In 1639, the English East India Company purchased the village of Madraspatnam and one year later it established the Agency of Fort St George, precursor of the Madras Presidency, although there had been Company factories at Machilipatnam and Armagon since the very early 1600s. The agency was upgraded to a Presidency in 1652 before once more reverting to its previous status in 1655. In 1684, it was re-elevated to a Presidency and Elihu Yale was appointed as president. In 1785, under the provisions of Pitt's India Act, Madras became one of three presidencies established by the East India Company. Thereafter, the head of the area was styled "Governor" rather than "President" and became subordinate to the Governor-General in Calcutta, with Madras' titulature that would persist until 1950. Judicial, legislative and executive powers rested with the Governor who was assisted by a Council whose constitution was modified by reforms enacted in 1861, 1909, 1919 and 1935. Regular elections were conducted in Madras up to the outbreak of the Second World War in 1938. By 1908, the province comprised twenty-two districts, each under a District Collector, and it was further sub-divided into taluks and firqas with villages making up the smallest unit of administration.
Following the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms of 1917, Madras was the first province of India to implement a system of dyarchy, and thereafter its Governor ruled alongside a prime minister. In the early decades of the 20th century, many significant contributors to the Indian independence movement came from Madras. Madras was later admitted as Madras State, a state of the Indian Union at the inauguration of the Republic of India on 26 January 1950.
Origins[edit]
Before the arrival of the English[edit]
The discovery of dolmens from this portion of the subcontinent shows inhabitation as early as the Stone Age. The first prominent rulers of the northern part of the future Presidency were the Tamil Pandya dynasty (230 BC – AD 102). Following the decline of the Pandyas and the Cholas, the country was conquered by a little known race of people called the Kalabhras.[1] The country recovered under the subsequent Pallava dynasty and its civilisation attained a peak when the later Telugu kings started acquiring vast places in Tamil Nadu. Following the conquest of Madurai by Malik Kafur in 1311, there was a brief lull when both culture and civilisation began to deteriorate. The Tamil and Telugu territories recovered under the Vijayanagar Empire, founded in 1336. Following the empire's demise, the country was split amongst numerous sultans, polygars and European trading companies.[2] Between 1685 and 1947, a number of kings ruled the areas that became part of the Madras Presidency.[3]
The southwestern portions of the presidency, which together constitute Tulu Nadu and Kerala, has a distinct history, language, and culture from its eastern counterparts.
Early English trading posts (1600–1639)[edit]
On 31 December 1600, Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533–1603) granted a group of English merchants a charter to establish a joint-stock company which became known as the East India Company.[4][5][6][7] Subsequently, during the reign of King James I (1567–1625), Sir William Hawkins and Sir Thomas Roe were sent to negotiate with the Mughal Emperor Jahangir (1569–1627) to permit the establishment of trading factories in India on behalf of the company. The first of these were built at Surat on the west coast[8] and at Masulipatinam on the country's eastern seaboard.[9] Masulipatinam is thus the oldest English trading post on India's east coast, dating back to 1611. In 1625, another factory was established at Armagon, a few miles to the south, whereupon both the factories came under the supervision of an agency based at Machilipatnam.[9] The English authorities decided to relocate these factories further south, due to a shortage of cotton cloth, the main trade item of the east coast at the time. The problem was compounded when the Sultan of Golconda started harassing the local officers.[9] The East India Company's administrator Francis Day (1605–73) was sent south, and after negotiations with the Raja of Chandragiri, he obtained a land grant in 1639 to set up a factory in the village of Madraspatinam [9] where the new Fort St George was built. An agency was created to govern the new settlement, and the factor Andrew Cogan of Masulipatinam was appointed as its first Agent.[10] All the agencies along India's east coast were subordinated to the East India Company presidency of Bantam in Java.[11] By 1641, Fort St George became the company's headquarters on the Coromandel Coast.[12]
Agency of Fort St George (1640–1684)[edit]
Andrew Cogan was succeeded by Francis Day (1643–1644), Thomas Ivie (1644–1648) and Thomas Greenhill (1648–52 and 1655–58). At the end of Greenhill's term in 1652, Fort St George was elevated to a Presidency, independent of Bantam[9] and under the leadership of the first president, Aaron Baker (1652–1655).[9] However, in 1655 the status of the fort was downgraded to an Agency and made subject to the factory at Surat,[13] until 1684. In 1658, control of all the factories in Bengal was given to Madras, when the English occupied the nearby village of Triplicane.[14][15]
The English East India Company was first permitted to set up its own garrison in 1665 to guard its settlements. Notable amongst the early operations of the company's forces were the defence of the city from Mughal and Maratha invaders and from the incursions of the Nawab of Carnatic. In 1713, the Madras forces under Lieutenant John de Morgan distinguished themselves in the siege of Fort St David and in putting down Richard Raworth's Rebellion.[103]
When Joseph François Dupleix, the Governor of French India, began to raise native battalions in 1748, the British of Madras followed suit and established the Madras Regiment.[104] Though native regiments were subsequently established by the British in other parts of India, the distances that separated the three presidencies resulted in each force developing divergent principles and organisations. The first reorganisation of the army took place in 1795 when the Madras army was reconstituted into the following units:
In 1824, a second reorganisation took place, whereupon the double battalions were abolished and the existing battalions were renumbered. The Madras Army at the time consisted of one European and one native brigade of horse artillery, three battalions of foot artillery of four companies each, with four companies of lascars attached, three regiments of light cavalry, two corps of pioneers, two battalions of European infantry, 52 battalions of native infantry and three local battalions.[106][107]
Between 1748 and 1895, as with the Bengal and Bombay armies, the Madras Army had its own Commander-in-Chief who was subordinate to the president, and later to the Governor of Madras. By custom, the Commander-in-chief of the Madras Army was a member of the Governor's Executive Council. The army's troops participated in the conquest of Manila in 1762,[108] the 1795 expeditions against Ceylon and the Dutch as well as the conquest of the Spice Islands in the same year. They also took part in expeditions against Mauritius (1810), Java (1811),[109] the wars against Tipu Sultan and the Carnatic Wars of the 18th century, the British attack on Cuttack during the Second Anglo-Maratha War,[110] the Siege of Lucknow during the Indian Mutiny, and the invasion of Upper Burma during the Third Anglo-Burmese War.[111]
The 1857 Mutiny, which quickly led to drastic changes in the Bengal and Bombay armies, had no effect on the Madras Army. In 1895, the presidency armies were finally merged and the Madras regiments came under the direct control of the Commander-in-chief of British India.[112]
in 1890 three madras infantry battalions were accordingly reconstituted, at least for
a time, by tapping two south Indian communities which had not yet
provided many recruits to the Indian army-the Mappilas and the coorgs, the government of madras was sceptical, and agreed to the formation of
two Mappila battalions only on condition they were deployed outside Malabar. Raised in 1900, the new regiments
were complete failure, they soon dwindled to 600 men 'quite useless for service'.
ref:The Sepoy and the Raj: The Indian Army, 1860-1940
[113]
Education[edit]
The first schools offering Western-style education in the presidency were established in Madras[195] during the 18th century. In 1822, a Board of Public Instruction was created based on the recommendations of Sir Thomas Munro, after which schools teaching students in vernacular language was established.[196] A central training school was set up in Madras as per Munro's scheme.[196] However, this system appeared to be a failure and the policy was altered in 1836 in order to promote European literature and science.[196] The Board of Public Instruction was superseded by a Committee for Native Education.[197] In January 1840, during the viceroyalty of Lord Ellenborough, a University Board was established with Alexander J. Arbuthnot as the Joint Director of Public Instruction.[198] The central school was converted to a high school in April 1841 with 67 students and in 1853 became the Presidency College with the addition of a college department.[197][198] On 5 September 1857, the University of Madras was established as an examining body using the University of London as a model with the first examinations held in February 1858.[198] C. W. Thamotharam Pillai and Caroll V. Visvanatha Pillai of Ceylon were the first to graduate from the University.[198] Sir S. Subramaniya Iyer was the first Indian Vice-Chancellor of the University.[198]
Similarly, Andhra University was established by the Andhra University Act of 1925[199] and in 1937, the University of Travancore was established in the princely state of Travancore.[200]
The Government Arts College, established in Kumbakonam in 1867, was one of the first educational institutions outside Madras.[201] The oldest engineering college in the presidency, College of Engineering, Guindy, was established as a Government Survey School in 1794 before being upgraded to an Engineering College in 1861.[202] Initially, only Civil Engineering was taught,[202] with the further disciplines of Mechanical Engineering added in 1894, Electrical Engineering in 1930 and Telecommunication and Highways in 1945.[203] The AC College, with its emphasis on textiles and leather technology, was founded by Alagappa Chettiar in 1944.[204] The Madras Institute of Technology, which introduced courses such as aeronautical and automobile engineering was established in 1949.[204] In 1827, the first medical school in the presidency was established then followed by the Madras Medical College in 1835.[205] The Government Teacher's College was established at Saidapet in 1856.[206]
Among the private institutions, the Pachaiyappa's College, established in 1842, is the oldest Hindu educational institution in the presidency. The Annamalai University, established by Rajah Sir Annamalai Chettiar in Chidambaram in 1929, was the first university in the presidency to have hostel facilities[207] Christian missionaries were pioneers in promoting education in the region. The Madras Christian College, St. Aloysius College at Mangalore, Loyola College in Madras and the St. Peter's College at Tanjore were some of the educational institutions established by Christian missionaries.
The Madras Presidency had the highest literacy rate of all the provinces in British India.[208] In 1901, Madras had a male literacy rate of 11.9 percent and a female literacy rate of 0.9 percent.[209] In 1950, when the Madras Presidency became Madras State, the literacy rate was slightly higher than the national average of 18 percent.[210] In 1901, there were 26,771 public and private institutions with 923,760 scholars of whom 784,621 were male and 139,139 female.[211] By 1947, the number of educational institutions had increased to 37,811 and the number of scholars to 3,989,686.[79] Apart from colleges, in 1947 there were 31,975 public and elementary schools, 720 secondary schools for boys and 4,173 elementary and 181 secondary schools for girls.[79] Most of the early graduates were Brahmins.[33][50] The preponderance of Brahmins in the universities and in the civic administration was one of the main causes for the growth of the Anti-Brahmin movement in the presidency. Madras was also the first province in British India where caste-based communal reservations were introduced.
In 1923, the Madras University Act was passed after its introduction by Education Minister A. P. Patro.[199] Under the bill's provisions, the governing body of Madras University was completely reorganised on democratic lines. The bill asserted that the governing body would henceforth be headed by a Chancellor who would be assisted by a pro-Chancellor, usually the Minister of Education. Apart from the Chancellor and the pro-Chancellor who were elected, there was to be a Vice-Chancellor appointed by the Chancellor.[199]
A Westernized middle-class urban Tamil Brahmin couple. c.a .1945
Refreshment stall at a railway station in the Madras Presidency, c. a. 1895
Hindus, Muslims and Christians generally followed a joint family system.[212][213] The society was largely patriarchal with the eldest male member the leader of the family.[213] Most of the presidency followed a patrilineal system of inheritance.[214] The only exceptions were the district of Malabar and the princely states of Travancore and Cochin which practised the marumakkathayam system.[215]
Women were expected to confine themselves to indoor activities and the maintenance of the household. Muslims and high-caste Hindu women observed purdah.[212] The daughter in the family rarely received an education and usually helped her mother with household chores.[216] Upon marrying, she moved to the house of her in-laws where she was expected to serve her husband and the elder members of his family.[217][218] There have been recorded instances of torture and ill treatment of daughters-in-law.[217][218] A Brahmin widow was expected to shave her head and was subjected to numerous indignities.[219][220]
Rural society comprised villages where people of different communities lived together. Brahmins lived in separate streets called agraharams. Untouchables lived outside village limits in small hamlets called cheris and were strictly forbidden from having houses in the village.[221] They were also forbidden from entering important Hindu temples or approaching high-caste Hindus.[222][223]
Serfdom was practised in almost all castes from Brahmins to non-Brahmins subjecting agricultural labourers to bondage for non-payment of debt.[224] The Law Commission report on slavery in 1841 contains the indicative figures on the number of slaves, computed based on the population of specific castes
of Pallar and Paraiyar.[225] There were proposed regulations in 1811 and 1823 to prevent child labour.[226] In 1833, the British Crown and the House of Commons proposed immediate abolition of slavery in India, but East India Company decreed otherwise.[227] All legal recognition to permit the civil status of slavery were withdrawn with the Act V of 1843 and selling of slaves became a criminal offence in 1862 under the new Indian Penal Code.[228] In spite of these regulations, serfdom continued and the slave population formed 12.2% – 20% of the total population in 1930 across various districts of the presidency.[229]
The Malabar Marriage Act of 1896 recognised sambandham contracts as legal marriages while the marmakkathayam system was abolished by the Marmakkathayam Law of 1933.[230] Numerous measures were taken to improve the lot of Dalit outcasts. The Thirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams Act (1933), included Dalits in the devasthanams administration. The presidency's Temple Entry Authorization Act (1939)[59] and its Temple Entry Proclamation (1936) of Travancore were aimed at elevating the status of Dalit and other low castes to a position equal to that of high-caste Hindus. In 1872, T. Muthuswamy Iyer established the Widow Remarriage Association in Madras and advocated the remarriage of Brahmin widows.[231] The devadasi system was regulated in 1927 and completely abolished on 26 November 1947.[232] The Widow Remarriage movement was spearheaded in the Godavari district by Kandukuri Veeresalingam.[233] Most of the pioneers of social reform were Indian nationalists.[234][235]
Traditional pastimes and forms of recreation in rural areas were cock-fighting, bull-fighting, village fairs and plays.[236] Men in urban areas indulged in social and communistic activities at recreational clubs, music concerts or sabhas, dramas and welfare organisations. Carnatic music and bharatanatyam were especially patronised by the upper and upper-middle class Madras society. Of the sports introduced by the British in the presidency, cricket, tennis, football, and hockey were the most popular. An annual cricket tournament, known as the Madras Presidency Matches, was held between Indians and Europeans during Pongal.[237]
The presidency's first newspaper, the Madras Courier, was started on 12 October 1785, by Richard Johnston, a printer employed by the British East India Company.[238] The first Indian-owned English-language newspaper was The Madras Crescent which was established by freedom-fighter Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty in October 1844.[239] Lakshminarasu Chetty is also credited with the foundation of the Madras Presidency Association which was a forerunner of the Indian National Congress. The number of newspapers and periodicals published in the presidency totalled 821 in 1948. The two most popular English-language newspapers were The Hindu established by G. Subramania Iyer in 1878, and The Mail,[194] established as the Madras Times by the Gantz family in 1868.[240]
Regular radio service in the presidency commenced in 1938 when All India Radio established a station in Madras.[241] Cinemas became popular in the 1930s and 1940s with the first film in a South Indian language, R. Nataraja Mudaliar's Tamil film Keechaka Vadham, released in 1916. The first sound films in Tamil and Telugu were made in 1931 while the first Kannada talkie Sati Sulochana was made in 1934 and the first Malayalam talkie Balan in 1938.[242] There were film studios at Coimbatore,[243] Salem,[244] Madras and Karaikudi.[245] Most early films were made in Coimbatore and Salem[243][244] but from the 1940s onwards, Madras began to emerge as the principal centre of film production.[243][245] Until the 1950s, most films in Telugu,[246] Kannada[247] and Malayalam[248] were made in Madras.