Forts
built by british in india
Fort St George (or historically, White Town[1]) is the name of the first English (later British) fortress in India, founded in 1644[2] at the coastal city of Madras, the modern city
of Chennai. The construction of the fort provided the
impetus for further settlements and trading activity, in what was originally an
uninhabited land.[3] Thus, it is a feasible contention to say that
the city evolved around the fortress.[4] The fort currently houses the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly and other official buildings. The fort is one
of the 163 notified areas (megalithic sites) in the state of Tamil Nadu
The East India
Company (EIC), which had entered India around 1600 for
trading activities, had begun licensed trading at Surat, which was its initial bastion. However, to secure its trade
lines and commercial interests in the spice trade, it felt the necessity of a port closer to the Malaccan
Straits, and
succeeded in purchasing a piece of coastal land, originally called Chennirayarpattinam or Channapatnam,
from a Vijayanagar chieftain named Damerla
Chennappa Nayaka based in Chandragiri, where the Company began the construction of a
harbour and a fort. The fort was completed on 23 April 1644 at a cost of £3000,[7] coinciding with St George's Day, celebrated in honour of the patron saint of England. The fort, hence christened Fort St George,
faced the sea and some fishing villages, and it soon became the hub of merchant
activity. It gave birth to a new settlement area called George Town (historically referred to as Black Town), which
grew to envelop the villages and led to the formation of the city of Madras. It
also helped to establish English influence over the Carnatic and to keep the kings of Arcot and Srirangapatna, as well as the French forces based at Pondichéry, at bay. In 1665, after the EIC received word
of the formation of the new French
East India Company, the
fort was strengthened and enlarged while its garrison was increased.[8]
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