5/5 Pankaj D. 3 years ago on Google
Fort
St
George (or
historically, White
Town)
is
the
first English (later British)
fortress
in India,
founded
in
1639 at
the
coastal
city
of
Madras,
the
modern
city
of Chennai.
The
construction
of
the
fort
provided
the
impetus
for
further
settlements
and
trading
activity,
in
what
was
originally
an
uninhabited
land. Thus,
it
is
a
feasible
contention
to
say
that
the
city
evolved
around
the
fortress.
The
fort
currently
houses
the Tamil
Nadu
legislative
assembly and
other
official
buildings.
The East
India
Company (EIC),
which
had
entered
India
around
1600
for
trading
activities,
had
begun
licensed
trading
at Surat,
which
was
its
initial
bastion.
However,
to
secure
its
trade
lines
and
commercial
interests
in
the spice
trade,
it
felt
the
necessity
of
a
port
closer
to
the Malaccan
Straits,
and
succeeded
in
purchasing
a
piece
of
coastal
land,
originally
called Chennirayarpattinam or Channapatnam,
where
the
Company
began
the
construction
of
a
harbour
and
a
fort.
The
fort
was
completed
on
23
April
1644
at
a
cost
of
£3,000, coinciding
with St
George's
Day,
celebrated
in
honour
of
the
patron
saint
of England.
The
fort,
hence
christened
Fort
St
George,
faced
the
sea
and
some
fishing
villages,
and
it
soon
became
the
hub
of
merchant
activity.
It
gave
birth
to
a
new
settlement
area
called George
Town (historically
referred
to
as
Black
Town),
which
grew
to
envelop
the
villages
and
led
to
the
formation
of
the
city
of
Madras.
It
also
helped
to
establish English influence
over
the Carnatic and
to
keep
the
kings
of Arcot and Srirangapatna,
as
well
as
the French forces
based
at Pondichéry,
at
bay.
In
1665,
after
the
EIC
received
word
of
the
formation
of
the
new French
East
India
Company,
the
fort
was
strengthened
and
enlarged
while
its
garrison
was
increased.
According
to
the
17th
century
traveller Thomas
Bowrey,
Fort
St.
George
was:
"without
all
dispute
a
beneficiall
place
to
the
Honourable
English
India
Company,
and
with
all
the
Residence
of
theire
Honourable
Agent
and
Governour
all
of
their
Affaires
Upon
this
Coast
and
the
Coast
of
Gingalee,
the
Kingdoms
also
of
Orixa,
(Orissa)
Bengala
(Bengal),
and
Pattana
(Patna),
the
said
Governour
and
his
Councell
here
resideigne,
for
the
Honour
of
our
English
Nation
keepinge
and
maintainneinge
the
place
in
great
Splendour,
Civil
and
good
Government,
Entertaineinge
nobly
all
Foraign
Embassadors,
and
provideinge
great
quantities
of
Muzlinge
(Muslin)
Callicoes
(Calico)
&c.
to
be
yearly
transported
to
England."
The
Fort
is
a
stronghold
with
6
metres
(20 ft)
high
walls
that
withstood
a
number
of
assaults
in
the
18th
century.
It
briefly
passed
into
the
possession
of
the
French
from
1746
to
1749,
but
was
restored
to Great
Britain under
the Treaty
of
Aix-la-Chapelle,
which
ended
the War
of
the
Austrian
Succession.
The
Fort
now
serves
as
one
of
the
administrative
headquarters
for
the legislative
assembly of Tamil
Nadu state
and
it
still
houses
a
garrison
of
troops
in
transit
to
various
locations
at
South
India
and
the Andamans.
The
Fort
Museum
contains
many
relics
of
the Raj era,
including
portraits
of
many
of
the Governors
of
Madras.
The
fort
is
maintained
by
the Archaeological
Survey
of
India,
with
the
administrative
support
of
Indian
Army.
The
church
St
Mary's
Church is
the
oldest Anglican church
in
India.
It
was
built
between
1678
and
1680
on
the
orders
of
the
then
Agent
of
Madras Streynsham
Master. The
tombstones
in
its
graveyard
are
the
oldest
English
or
British
tombstones
in
India.
This
ancient
prayer
house
solemnised
the
marriages
of Robert
Clive and
Governor Elihu
Yale,
who
later
became
the
first
benefactor
of Yale
University in
the
United
States.
The
Fort
Museum,
which
is
the
only
ticketed
institution
of
Archaeological
Survey
of
India
in
the
complex,
exhibits
many
items
of
the
period
of
English
and
later
British
rule.
This
building
was
completed
in
1795
and
first
housed
the
office
of
the
Madras
Bank.
The
hall
upstairs
was
the
Public
Exchange
Hall
and
served
as
a
place
for
public
meetings,
lottery
draws
and
occasional
entertainment.
These
relics
are
reminders
of
British
rule
in
India.
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