other · South Asia

Madras Presidency

1652 CE – 1947 CE · capital Madras

The British province of southern India governed from Fort St George at Madras, the East India Company's oldest presidency.

Origins

In 1639 the English East India Company obtained land at Madraspatnam from a local Nayaka and began building Fort St George there the following year. In 1652 the settlement was raised to the status of a presidency, independent of Bantam. Victories over the French in the Carnatic Wars and over the Kingdom of Mysore in 1799 extended it across most of southern India.

Rule and society

A governor and council ruled from Madras, under the Governor-General of Bengal from 1773. Thomas Munro introduced the ryotwari system, assessing land revenue directly on peasant cultivators. The presidency covered Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada areas. Railways, irrigation such as the Kaveri anicuts, universities and newspapers spread, while famines, notably in 1876 to 1878, caused great loss of life.

Decline and legacy

Madras became a province of British India under the British Raj, gained elected ministries from 1920 and joined the Dominion of India in 1947 as Madras State. It was divided on linguistic lines from 1953 to 1956, and the remainder was renamed Tamil Nadu in 1969.

Connections (3)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Madras Presidency. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/madras-presidency
MLA
“Madras Presidency.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/madras-presidency. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Madras Presidency.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/madras-presidency.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Madras Presidency’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/madras-presidency (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻