TANJORE, a city and district of British India in the Madras presidency. The city is situated on the right bank of the river Cauvery, and is an important junction on the South Indian rail way, 218 m. S. of Madras. Pop. (1931) 66,889. As last capital of the ancient Hindu dynasty of the Cholas, and in all ages one of the chief political, literary and religious centres of the south, the city is full of interesting associations. It was the scene of the earliest labours of Protestant missionaries in India. The modern history of Tanjore begins with its conquest by the Mahrattas in 1674. The British first came into contact with Tanjore by their expedition in 1749 with a view to the restoration of a deposed raja. In this they failed, and a subsequent expedition was bought off. The Mahrattas practically held Tanjore until 1799, when the district was ceded to the East India Company. The raja retained only the capital and a small tract of country round. He died in 1833 and was succeeded by his son Sivaji, on whose death in 1855 without an heir the house became extinct. Among buildings
may be mentioned the palace within the fort, and the great temple of the 11th century, enclosed in two courts, surmounted by a lofty tower and including the exquisitely decorated shrine of Subrahmanya. The city is famous for its silk brocade, jewelry, carpets, inlaid copper-work, modelling in pith, etc.
The DISTRICT OF TANJORE has an area of 3,742 sq.m. It is irrigated by an elaborate system of dams, cuts and canals and the soil is exceedingly productive. The delta of the Cauvery occupies the flat northern part, which is highly cultivated, dotted over with groves of coconut trees, and densely populated. The staple crop is rice, grown on some five-sevenths of the cultivated area, and rice-milling has developed recently. Soap and mats are made and fishing carried on. The district is traversed by the main line and several branches of the South Indian railway. The chief seaport is Negapatam. The population in 1931 was 2,385,92o.
See Tanjore District Gazetteer (Madras, 1906).