The city of Chennai in India has had a long history from ancient South Indian empires through colonialism to its evolution in the 20th century.

Pre-1500

The region currently occupied by Chennai has served as an important administrative,military, and economic center as far back as the 1st century, where records indicate that the ancient province of Tondaimandalam had its capital and military headquarters at Puzhal , which today is a small village on the northwest fringe of Chennai.

The apostle St. Thomas is believed to have immigrated to India in 52 to preach the teachings of Jesus. In Chennai, he is described to have preached from a hillock in the southwest part of the city. He was subsequently assassinated around the year 70. A small church was subsequently built on the beach, in what is today the locality of San Thome .

Over the centuries the region changed hands many times as various South Indian empires gained power in the region. The Pallavas were the most notable. They built several large temples in and around Chennai, including the Kapaleeshwarar temple at Mylapore and the Shore Temple in Mahabalipuram.

Early European settlers

Modern Chennai had its origins as a colonial city and its initial growth was closely tied to its importance as an artificial harbour and trading centre. The Portuguese were the first to establish a port, that of Sao Tome or San Thome in 1522, pushing back the ancient Pallava port of Mylapore. By most accounts, they disinterred St Thomas from the beach church and buried him on top of the hillock where he used to preach from. The Portuguese also built two churches - one on the site of the original beach church at San Thome, and one on the hill where St Thomas was buried. (According to one hypothesis, they destroyed the Kapaleeshwarar temple and built the church on top ^[1], but this hypothesis has been rejected by most historians of Chennai). The first church was rebuilt by the British again in 1893 and that version is now called the San Thome Basilica. The other church, built in 1523, still stands today on top of the hill, which is now called St. Thomas Mount .

Arrival of the British

By 1612, the Dutch established themselves in Pulicat to the north. Modern Chennai grew out of a small village when in 1639 a fishing hamlet called Madraspatnam was selected by early English merchants of the British East India Company as a site for a settlement. It is believed that there were two hamlets called Madraspatnam and Chennaipatnam, which eventually merged due to expansion of the city. Some believe that the British favoured the name "Madraspatnam" while the locals called it "Chennaipatnam", but this hypothesis is disputed. In 1639 the British East India Company was granted land between these settlements by the Nayak of Vandavasi, where they built Fort St George in 1640. The Fort was intended to strike shock and awe into opponents of British presence in India. It became the nucleus around which the colonial city grew. The Fort still stands today, and a part of it is used to house the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and the Office of the Chief Minister.

In 1746, Fort St George and Madras were captured by the French under General La Bourdonnais, who used to be the Governor of Mauritius. The French are then described to have plundered the village of Chepauk and demolished Blacktown, the locality across from the port where all the dockyard labourers used to live ^[2]. The British regained control in 1749 through the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. They then strengthened and expanded Fort St George over the next thirty years to bear subsequent attacks, the strongest of which came from the French (1759, under Thomas Arthur, Comte de Lally), and Hyder Ali, the Sultan of Mysore (1767). The 1783 version of Fort St George is what still stands today.

In the latter half of the 18th century, Madras became an important English naval base, and the administrative centre of the growing British dominions in southern India. The British fought with various European powers, notably the French at Vandavasi (Wandiwash) in 1760, where de Lally was defeated by Sir Eyre Coote, and the Danish at Tharangambadi (Tranquebar). The British eventually dominated, driving the French, the Dutch and the Danes away entirely, and reducing the French dominions in India to four tiny coastal enclaves. The British also fought four wars with the Kingdom of Mysore under Hyder Ali and later his son Tipu Sultan, which led to their eventual domination of India's south. Madras was the capital of the Madras Presidency, also called Madras Province.

Post-independence

After India became independent, the city became the administrative and legislative capital of Madras State. It has grown in economic importance since then, and is today one of the larger cities in India.

In 1996, the Government of Tamil Nadu renamed the city from "Madras" to "Chennai". According to most accounts, this was in accordance with "Madraspatnam" and "Chennaipatnam", but this hypothesis is disputed by some.