'NO MEAN CITY'
It is less than three hundred years since Mr. Francis Day, seeking a
likely spot for a trading settlement, surveyed the desolate sea-beach
near the mouth of the Cooum, and decided that the settlement should be
there. A few scattered huts on the shore and a few catamarans out at
sea were the only signs of human life, and the breakers that sported
on the beach were the only manifestations of activity. But the years
have gone by--wild times and quiet times, years of war and years of
peaceful progress--and the scene has changed, and great is the
transformation. In place of the scattered huts there are huge
buildings on the beach, and behind them is a great and ever greater
city. The catamarans have not disappeared, but great ships pass to and
fro in the offing or lie within the shelter of the harbour walls. The
little 'Factory' in the Fort, within which the Company transacted its
mercantile business, has gone; but elsewhere in its stead there are
big offices of numerous commercial firms; and, moreover, there are
large 'factories' of the modern kind, such as are denoted by tall
chimneys and the perpetual roar of whirring wheels.
The growth of Madras is a remarkable testimony to British enterprise,
energy, and perseverance, and also to Indian appreciation of the
new-comers and of their methods; and it is a matter of satisfaction
that many illustrious Indians have played an energetic and conspicuous
part in the development of the city and the promotion of its welfare.
In many respects the conditions were altogether unfavorable for the
foundation of a maritime city. There was no natural harbour, and the
breakers beat continually on the shore; and the so-called river was of
little practical use. The nearest Indian towns were a good many miles
away, and the Portuguese merchants in the neighbouring settlement of
Mylapore were commercial rivals, who might have been supposed to have
absorbed all the trade that was to be had. Yet Madras is now a large
city, with more than half a million inhabitants; and its commerce and
its industries have been so successful that its population is still
increasing rapidly. Houses are being built everywhere, yet the demand
increases. Not only are the suburbs being extended, but moreover the
gardens of existing houses are being everywhere divided, so as to
provide further building-sites; and two houses or more now stand
within grounds that were formerly occupied by only one.
But it is well for Madras that, except in respect of some of its
streets and particular localities, it is not a crowded city, and that
there is therefore room for such additions. Madras has been called the
'City of Distances,' and it still deserves the name; for within its
limits there are some magnificent spaces, and in the garden of many a
private house the resident can sit of an evening and imagine himself
in a rural retreat, far from the madding crowd.
Like all cities, Madras has its drab--very drab!--quarters and its
mean--very mean!--and straggling streets. Madras was not laid out on
any definite plan. Like ancient Rome, it had in the beginning to
attract outsiders to come and live there, and outsiders had to be
given much license to do things their own way, and the city was
allowed to grow just as it would; and in respect of many of its parts
there is much room for criticism. But Madras is a fine city
nevertheless, with a number of stately buildings, both public and
private, and with great possibilities; and its 'Marina' can truly be
called magnificent.
But the greatest charm of Madras lies in its history. It was here that
the foundations of the Indian Empire may be said to have been laid.
The history of Madras is not a story of aggressive warfare. The
settlers were gentle merchants, whose weapon was not the sword but the
pen, and whose only desire it was to be left alone to carry on their
business in peace. But the rising city was a continual mark for the
hostility of commercial and political rivals, both European and
Indian. It was a storm-centre, and the storms were often fierce; and
the merchants were often compelled to meet force with force. Moreover,
the merchants were men, and their doings therefore were by no means
always without reproach; but, with due allowance for human weakness,
the history of Madras is a history of which Madras may be proud. The
city has grown from strength to strength, and in its story there is
much inspiration. This little book has merely told the story in part;
but it will have served its purpose if it has in any way helped the
reader to realize that the story of Madras is the story of no mean
city.
INDEX
_The figures refer to the pages_
Admiralty House, 85
Agri-Horticultural Society, 108
Aix-la-Chapelle (Treaty), 28, 39
Amir Mahal, 67
Anderson, Dr. J., 107
Anderson, Rev. J., 95
Appar, 61
Arcot, Siege of, 64
Arcot, Prince of, 67
Armagaum, 2, 5, 9
Armenians, 19, 20
Armenian street, 19, 59
Assumption Church, 56
Aurangzeb, 39, 64
Bantam, 8
Bentinck (Governor-General), 94
Biden House, 86
Black Town (Old), 19, 22, 25, 26, 29
Black Town (New), 29, 31, 32
Bound Hedge, The, 41
Bourchier (Governor), 76
Brahman Widows' Home, 109, 110
Carew (R. C. Bishop), 95
Carnatic, The, 63
Cassa Verona, 39
Chandragiri (Rajah), 6, 7, 63, 64
Chepauk, 22
Chepauk Palace, 22, 63-68
China, 22
China Bazaar, 22
Chintadripet, 23
Christian College, 87, 95
Clive (Governor), 76, 77
Clive, Robert, 17, 28, 64, 81
Cochrane's Canal, 35
Cogan, Andrew, 7, 9
Convent Schools, 97, 98
Cooum River, 6, 9, 12
Coral trade, 20
Corrie, Bishop, 101
Corporation of Madras, 90
Cyclone, 78, 79
Dalhousie (Governor-General), 67, 98
Danish Lutheran Mission, 92
Da-ud Khan, 13, 14, 22
Day, Francis, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 111
De Haviland, Major, 104 (Note)
Diamond trade, 20
Doveton College, 98, 99
Dupleix, 27, 39
DuPre, Mr., 31, 32
Dutch, The, 2, 5, 13, 39, 56
Egmore, 1, 21, 31, (acquisition), 35, 41, (the Egmore Fort), 43-46
Elliot, Hugh (Governor), 103
Elphinstone Park, 38
Engineering College, 87
'English Burying Place', 51, 52
Ephraim, Father, 57-59, 88, 89
'Factory,' The, 12, 69, 71
'Female Boarding School', 93
Flag (E. India Co.), 81
Fort St. George, 12-19, 27, 30
French, The, 14, 15, 26, 27-31, 50
'Garden-Houses', 70
Gentoos (Telugus), 19, 89
Georgetown, 29
Georgetown Convent, 97
Goa, 1, 58
Golconda, King of, 13, 22, 35, 39, 64
Government House, Madras, 74-77
Government House, Guindy, 77
Gyfford (Governor), 72
Haidar Ali, 15, 22, 31-33, 40, 65
Harbour, The, 79
Harris High School, 99
Hastings, Warren, 65, 78
High Court, 104
Hindu High School, 99
Holmes, John, 92, 93
Hyderabad, Nizam of, 64
Hynmers, Joseph, 53
Ice-House, The, 109
Jews in Madras, 20, 21, 25
Kuppam, 1
Labourdonnais, 27
Lally, 30, 31, 40, 50, 75
Langhorn (Governor), 58
Law College, 87
Literary Society, 108
Little Mount, 60, 61
Luz Church, The, 62
Macartney (Governor), 66
Macaulay, 94
Madras Literary Society, 108
Madre-de-Deus Church, 62
Male Asylum, 43, 44, 91
Manucci, 9 (Note)
Marina, The, 79, 87
Marmalong Bridge, 20
Mastan, 62
Masulipatam, 2, 7
Medical College, 87, 94
Miller, Rev. Dr., 95
Mohammed Ali (_See_ 'Walajah'), 64
Mohammedans, 21, 22
Mohammedan College, 87
'Moors', 21, 24
Murray, Mrs., 93
Museum, The, 108, 109
Mylapore, 1, 5, 6, 38, 61 (_See_ also San Thome)
Nattukottai Chetties, 21
Naval Hospital Road, 85
Nungumbaukam, 37, 41
Observatory, The, 107
'Old College', The, 99, 100
Orde, Ralph, 89, 90
Pachaiyappa's College, 87, 96, 97
Parthasarathy Temple, 1
Petrie, W., 107
Peyton, Capt., 27
Peyalvar, 61
Pitt (Governor), 73
Pondicherry, 15, 20, 21, 60
Poonamallee (Naik), 6, 7
Popham's Broadway, 9 (Note)
Portuguese, The, 1, 2, 5, 6, 39, 56, 58, 112
'Portuguese Burying Place', 59
Pottinger, Sir H., 96
Powney Family, The, 53
Presentation Nuns, 97
Presidency College, 87, 95, 96
Pulicat, 2
Pursewaukam, 35, 41
Queen Mary's College for Women, 87
Rajah Mahal (Chandragiri), 7
Royapettah, 22
St. Andrew's (The 'Kirk'), 103, 104
St. Andrew's Church (R. C.), 58, 59
St. Gabriel's High School, 95
St. George's Cathedral, 101
St. Mary's Cathedral (R. C.), 59, 60
St. Mary's Charity School, 91
St. Mary's Church (Fort), 17, 47-55
St. Mary's High School, 95
St. Matthias's Church, 20
St. Patrick's Orphanage, 88
St. Thomas's Mount, 61, 62
San Thome, 13, 31, 32,
(acquisition), 38-40,
(redoubt), 43,
Cathedral, 61, 104 (_See_ also 'Mylapore')
Saunders (Governor), 73
Sea-Gate, 80
Senate House, 87, 96
Slavery in Madras, 106
S.P.C.K., 91
Teachers' College, 98
Thomas, St., 38, 60, 61
Tipu Sultan, 31, 43, 65, 66, 75
Tiruvalluvar, 61
Tondiarpet, 35
Trincomalee, 27
Triplicane, 1, 21, 22, 32, (acquisition), 35
Triplicane River, 6, 8 (_See_ 'Cooum')
Triplicane Temple, 1
Umdat-ul-Umara, 66
University of Madras, 66
Uscan, Peter, 19, 20
Vepery, 1, (acquisition), 37-88
Vepery Convent School, 98
Walajah (Nawab), 22, 64-66
Wall Tax Road, 33
Warner, Rev. P., 58, 89
Washermanpet, 24
Weavers' Street, 23
White Town, 19, 25, 27
Widows' Home, The, 109
Yale (Governor), 16, 23, 35, 53, 57, 90
* * * * *