Madras Presidency facts for kids
The Madras Presidency was a large area in southern India that was ruled by the British. It was like a big province or state under British control. At its biggest, it covered most of southern India. This included all of today's Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. It also included parts of Odisha, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, and the Lakshadweep islands.
The main city of Madras was the winter capital. Ootacamund, or Ooty, was the summer capital. The island of Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon) was also part of the Madras Presidency for a short time, from 1793 to 1798.
Many important people who fought for India's independence came from the Madras Presidency in the early 1900s. After India became independent in 1947, the Madras Presidency became the Madras State. Later, it was renamed Tamil Nadu when C. N. Annadurai was the chief minister.
People and Languages
The first official count of people in the Madras Presidency happened in 1822. It showed a population of about 13.5 million people. The last count under British rule in 1941 found about 49.3 million people living there.
A census in 1871 showed the main languages spoken. About 14.7 million people spoke Tamil. Around 11.6 million people spoke Telugu. Malayalam was spoken by about 2.3 million people. About 1.7 million people spoke Kannada. Oriya was spoken by 640,000 people, and Tulu by 29,400.
Images for kids
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Annie Besant in 1922
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Chakravarti Rajagopalachari at a rally in 1937. His party, the Indian National Congress, came to power that year.
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Madras province (North), 1909
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Madras province (South), 1909
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Linguistic map of the Madras Presidency
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Vaishnavite Brahmin students at a Gurukulam in Tanjore, around 1909.
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A Muslim boy, around 1914.
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A British officer in the Madras Light Cavalry.
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A Jamadar of the 20th Deccan Horse.
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Statue of Sir Thomas Munro. He started the "Ryotwari System" in the Madras Presidency.
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A 1936 map of rice stations in Madras Presidency.
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The Mullaperiyar Dam was built across the Periyar river to make electricity.
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The port of Tuticorin.
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Textile showroom of M. V. Cunniah Chetty and Sons, around 1914.
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Weaving on Handlooms, around 1913.
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Parry & Co. sugar refineries at Samalkota, around 1914.
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Workshops of the Madras Automobiles Ltd., around 1904.
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Map of the Madras and South Mahratta Railway lines.
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The Nilgiri Mountain Railway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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The Pamban railway bridge connects Pamban island with the Indian mainland. It was built in 1914.
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A backwater and canal in Malabar, around 1913.
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A middle-class urban Tamil Brahmin couple, around 1945.
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Tamil film actor M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar.
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Hindu devotees in a procession around the temple at Tirupparankunram, around 1909.
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Telugu bride and groom from the Kapu caste, around 1909.
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A Mangalorean Catholic gentleman from the Bamonn caste, around 1938.
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Refreshment stall at a railway station in the Madras Presidency, around 1895.
See also
In Spanish: Presidencia de Madrás para niños
