CUDDALORE, a town of British India, the administrative headquarters of the South Arcot district of Madras, on the coast 125 m. S. of Madras by the South Indian railway. Pop. (1931) It lies low, but is regarded as exceptionally healthy. The principal exports are sugar, oilseeds and cake, and cotton goods. Trade is mostly coastal, and steamers lie 1 m. off-shore. The wharves, with a railway siding are on a backwater. Weaving and dyeing are carried on. There is a training school and an American mission. In the neighbourhood are the ruins of Fort St. David situated on the river Gadilam. As a small fort built by a Hindu merchant it fell into the hands of the Mahrattas after the capture of Gingi by Sivaji in 1677. From them it was purchased by the English in 1690, the purchase including not only the fort but the adjacent towns and villages "within ye randome shott of a piece of ordnance," and still spoken of as "cannon ball villages." The fortifications were greatly strengthened and in 1746 Fort St. David became the British headquarters for the south of India, and Dupleix' attack was successfully repulsed. Clive was appointed its governor in 1756. The French took it in 1758, abandoned it two years later, retook it, and withstood a British attack in 1783. In 1785 it finally passed into British possession.