Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c13.s3.t2.119

v2.c13.s3.t2.119

Madras was the name of present-day Chennai, the fourth largest city of India, situated on its southeast coast. The name refers both to the former Madras Province or Madras Presidency of British-ruled India as well as to its capital city. The larger Madras Presidency included the present-day state of Tamil Nadu, the Malabar region of northern Kerala, coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalseema, as well as some parts of Odisha, Karnataka and the Lakshwadeep islands. The city of Madras grew out of the trading settlement established by the British East India Company as Fort St George in 1640. As such, it played a role in the British and Indian trade with Southeast Asia and China in the early modern era. In earlier centuries as well, this part of India (known as the Coromandel Coast) had extensive trading contacts with China, especially under the Chola rulers. The Government Museum at Egmore in Chennai today houses three important collections of Chinese coins unearthed in nearby parts of Tamil Nadu that testify the importance of trade with China in that period.