CHINGLEPUT, a town 36 miles S. of Madras. It gives its name to a revenue division which lies between parallels of 13' and 13° 54' N. lat., and wraps round Madras. The several races of Maho medans number 23,192, and Hindus 899,686, of the Valala, Vania, Kamalar, Kaikalar sections, and a small number of Irular and Pariahs. It is known as the Jaghir, having been, in 1763, granted as a jaghir to the E. I. Co. by the nawab Muhammad Ali, for services rendered to his father Anwar-ud Din Khan and himself ; and in 1765 the grant was confirmed by the emperor of Dehli. It was twice overrun by Ryder Ali, in 1768 and in 1780 ; and in 1784 many parts presented only the bones of the persons who had been massacred, and the ruins of houses made desolate. It has small rivers.
The Palar, rising in Mysore, passes Arcot, Walajahbad, and Chingleput, and falls into the sea at Sadras. The Cheyar falls into the Palar
opposite Walajahbad ; the Adyar falls into the sea at Madras ; and the Corteliar flows into the marine lagoon at Ennore. There are four large tanks, of Chambrambaukum, Utramalur, Red Hills, and Karangoli. St. Thomas' Mount, a military cantonment eight miles south of Madras, is the headquarters of the artillery. It has two hills rising from a level plain. One of these is St. Thomas' Mount, 220 feet high, on which in 1547 the Portug,ueso had built a church, and another church on the Little Mount, a rocky hill two miles nearer Madras. , On tho Oth Feb ruary 1759, a battle was fought on this plain between the British under Captain Caliiaud, and the French. It lasted from 5 A.M. to 5 and the French, under Lally, withdrew. Between 1746 and 1872, 16 disastrous cyclones swept over it.