MADRAS, the capital of Madras presidency, and the chief seaport on the eastern coast of India and third city of India, is sit uated in 4' N. and 8o° 17' E. The city, with its suburbs, ex tends nine miles along the sea and nearly four miles inland, inter sected by the little river Cooum. Area, 27 sq.m. ; pop. (1931), 645,586, of whom about five-sixths are Hindus. In the decade 1911-1921 the deaths were over I 1% more numerous than the births, owing to the high infantile death rate.
Although at first sight the city presents a disappointing ap pearance, and has no handsome streets, it has several fine build ings and many spots of historical interest. It is spread over a very wide area, and many parts of it are almost rural in character. Roughly speaking, the city consists of the following divisions : (I) George Town (formerly Black Town, but renamed after the visit of the Prince of Wales in 1906), an ill-built, densely-popu lated block, about a mile square, is the business part of the town, containing the banks, custom house and high court. The mercan tile offices lie along the beach and on the sea-face are the pier and the new harbour. Immediately south of George Town there is (2) an open space which contains Fort St. George, the Marina, a promenade by the seashore, Government house, and several public buildings on the sea-face. (3) West and south of this lung of the city are crowded quarters which bend to the sea again at the old town of Saint Thome. (4) To the west of George Town are the quarters of Veperi and Pudupet, chiefly inhabited by Eurasians, and the European suburbs of Egmore, Nangam bakam and Perambur. (5) South-west and south lie the Euro pean quarters of Tanampet and aristocratic Adyar. Notable buildings are the cathedral, general hospital, Government house, Pachayappa's hall, high court and Chepauk palace (now the rev enue board). The city has drainage works and a filtered water supply.
Madras possesses no special industries. There are several large cotton mills, engineering, dyeing and cement works, iron foun dries and cigar factories. Large sums of money have from time to time been spent upon the harbour, which is entirely artificial.
It is screened by breakwaters enclosing 200 ac. of calm water, dredged to a depth of 3o ft., and is thoroughly equipped. A deep water quay was in process of construction in 1926. The sea bottom is unusually flat, reaching a depth of ten fathoms only at about 2 miles from the shore. Madras conducts about 46% of the seashore trade of the presidency. The chief exports are hides and skins, oil seeds, cotton, chrome and magnesite, and the imports timber, coal and oil, grain and machinery. Madras is the centre on which all the great military roads converge, and the terminal station of two lines of railway, the Madras & Southern Mahratta line and the Madras & Tanjore section of the South Indian railway. The municipal corporation, which is the oldest in India, consists of 5o councillors of whom 41 are elected under an annually elected president. The Madras uni versity was constituted in 1857 as an examining body. The chief educational institutions in Madras city are the Presidency col lege; missionary and native colleges; the medical, engineering, law and veterinary colleges; the teachers' college in Saidapet and the school of arts.
The foundation of Madras dates from 164o, when Francis Day, chief of the East India Company's settlement at Armagon, obtained a grant of the present site of the city from a native ruler. A fort was constructed, and a gradually increasing popu lation settled around its walls. In 1653 Madras, which had previ ously been subordinate to the settlement of Bantam in Java, was made an independent presidency. In 17o2 Daud Khan, Au rangzeb's general, blockaded the town for a few weeks, and in 1741 the Mahrattas unsuccessfully attacked the place. In 1746 La Bourdonnais bombarded and captured Madras. The settle ment was restored to the English two years later by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, but the government of the presidency did not return to Madras till 1762. In 1758 the French under Lally occu pied the Black Town and invested the fort. After two months an English fleet relieved the garrison. Saint Thome, now part of Madras, founded and fortified by the Portuguese in 1504, was held by the French from 1672 to 1674.