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128-1042: Koyambedu Junction , also called the Koyambedu Roundtana , is an important road junction in Chennai , Tamil Nadu , India . It is located north of the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus at the junction of the Inner Ring Road and the Poonamallee High Road (NH4) in the Koyambedu area/locality. The junction is a part of the Golden Quadrilateral project taken up under the National Highways Development Project . An elevated Parclo interchange has been constructed by

256-468: A civilizing mission to cultivate land and life, based on beliefs of entitlement and superiority, historically often rooted in the belief of a Christian mission . Because of this broad impact different instances of colonialism have been identified from around the world and in history, starting with when colonization was developed by developing colonies and metropoles , the base colonial separation and characteristic. Decolonization , which started in

384-666: A tsunami lashed the shores of Chennai, killing 206 people in Chennai and permanently altering the coastline. The 2015 Chennai Floods submerged major portions of the city, killing 269 people and resulting in damages of ₹ 86.4 billion (US$ 1 billion). Chennai is located on the southeastern coast of India in the northeastern part of Tamil Nadu on a flat coastal plain known as the Eastern Coastal Plains with an average elevation of 6.7 m (22 ft) and highest point at 60 m (200 ft). Chennai's soil

512-452: A banana leaf. Eating on a banana leaf is an old custom and imparts a unique flavour to the food and is considered healthy. Idly and dosa are popular breakfast dishes. Chennai has an active street food culture and various cuisine options for dining including North Indian , Chinese and continental . The influx of industries in the early 21st century also bought distinct cuisines from other countries such as Japanese and Korean to

640-679: A classical dance form that originated in Tamil Nadu and is the oldest dance in India. Cultural centres in the city include Kalakshetra and Government Music College. Chennai is also home to some choirs, who during the Christmas season stage various carol performances across the city in Tamil and English. Chennai is home to many museums, galleries, and other institutions that engage in arts research and are major tourist attractions. Established in

768-487: A combination of various folk music, is sung mainly in the working-class area of North Chennai. Chennai Sangamam , an art festival showcasing various arts of South India is held every year. Chennai has been featured in UNESCO Creative Cities Network list since October 2017 for its old musical tradition. Chennai has a diverse theatre scene and is a prominent centre for  Bharata Natyam ,

896-513: A dry-summer tropical wet and dry climate which is designated As under the Köppen climate classification . The city lies on the thermal equator and as it is also located on the coast, there is no extreme variation in seasonal temperature. The hottest time of the year is from April to June with an average temperature of 35–40 °C (95–104 °F). The highest recorded temperature was 45 °C (113 °F) on 31 May 2003. The coldest time of

1024-446: A foreign ruling state... The ruling state monopolizes political power and keeps the subordinated society and its people in a legally inferior position." He also writes, "colonialism depends first and foremost upon the declaration of sovereignty and/or territorial seizure by a core state over another territory and its inhabitants who are classified as inferior subjects rather than equal citizens." According to David Strang, decolonization

1152-552: A house. There are about 1,131 slums in the city housing more than 300,000 households. The city is governed by the Greater Chennai Corporation (formerly "Corporation of Madras"), which was established on 29 September 1688. It is the oldest surviving municipal corporation in India and the second oldest surviving corporation in the world. In 2011, the jurisdiction of the Chennai Corporation

1280-574: A lot in military costs while private investors pocketed the benefits. In other cases the colonial powers managed to move the burden of administrative costs to the colonies themselves by imposing taxes. After World War I (1914–1918), the victorious Allies divided up the German colonial empire and much of the Ottoman Empire between themselves as League of Nations mandates , grouping these territories into three classes according to how quickly it

1408-403: A nation seeking to extend or retain its authority over other people or territories". The Merriam-Webster Dictionary offers four definitions, including "something characteristic of a colony" and "control by one power over a dependent area or people". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy uses the term "to describe the process of European settlement and political control over the rest of

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1536-458: A system of indentured servitude. Indentured servants consented to a contract with the European colonisers. Under their contract, the servant would work for an employer for a term of at least a year, while the employer agreed to pay for the servant's voyage to the colony, possibly pay for the return to the country of origin, and pay the employee a wage as well. The employees became "indentured" to

1664-1021: Is a division of the Tamil Nadu Police , the administrative control of which lies with the Home ministry of the Government of Tamil Nadu. Greater Chennai Traffic Police (GCTP) is responsible for the traffic management in the city. The metropolitan suburbs are policed by the Chennai Metropolitan Police , headed by the Chennai Police Commissionerate , and the outer district areas of the CMDA are policed by respective police departments of Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu and Ranipet districts. As of 2021 , Greater Chennai had 135 police stations across four zones with 20,000 police personnel. As of 2021 ,

1792-553: Is a major centre for music, art and dance in India. The city is called the Cultural Capital of South India. Madras Music Season , initiated by Madras Music Academy in 1927, is celebrated every year during the month of December and features performances of traditional Carnatic music by artists from the city. Madras University introduced a course of music, as part of the Bachelor of Arts curriculum in 1930. Gaana ,

1920-446: Is about 120 cm (47 in). The highest annual rainfall recorded was 257 cm (101 in) in 2005. Prevailing winds in Chennai are usually southwesterly between April and October and northeasterly during the rest of the year. The city relies on the annual monsoon rains to replenish water reservoirs. Cyclones and depressions are common features during the season. Water inundation and flooding happen in low-lying areas during

2048-879: Is achieved through the attainment of sovereign statehood with de jure recognition by the international community or through full incorporation into an existing sovereign state. The Times once quipped that there were three types of colonial empire: "The English, which consists in making colonies with colonists; the German, which collects colonists without colonies; the French, which sets up colonies without colonists." Modern studies of colonialism have often distinguished between various overlapping categories of colonialism, broadly classified into four types: settler colonialism , exploitation colonialism , surrogate colonialism , and internal colonialism . Some historians have identified other forms of colonialism, including national and trade forms. When colonists settled in pre-populated areas,

2176-481: Is allocated. To explain the different colonial cases, we thus need to look first into the political institutions that shaped the economic institutions. For example, one interesting observation is "the Reversal of Fortune" – the less developed civilisations in 1500, like North America, Australia, and New Zealand, are now much richer than those countries who used to be in the prosperous civilisations in 1500 before

2304-644: Is among the largest small-scale industrial estates in the country. Chennai contributes more than 50 per cent of India's leather exports. Chennai is a major electronics hardware exporter. The city is home to the Madras Stock Exchange , India's third-largest by trading volume behind the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India . Madras Bank, the first European-style banking system in India,

2432-465: Is among the major information technology (IT) hubs of India. Tidel Park established in 2000 was amongst the first and largest IT parks in Asia. The presence of SEZs and government policies have contributed to the growth of the sector which has attracted foreign investments and job seekers from other parts of the country. In the 2020s, the city has become a major provider of SaaS and has been dubbed

2560-540: Is amongst the top export districts in the country with more than US$ 2563 billion in exports. The city has a permanent exhibition complex Chennai Trade Centre at Nandambakkam . The city hosts the Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet , a business summit organized by the Government of Tamil Nadu. With about 62% of the population classified as affluent with less than 1% asset-poor, Chennai has the fifth highest number of millionaires. Chennai

2688-573: Is characterized by a mix of regional and national political parties. During the 1920s and 1930s, the Self-Respect Movement , spearheaded by Theagaroya Chetty and E. V. Ramaswamy emerged in Madras. Congress dominated the political scene post Independence in the 1950s and 1960s under C. Rajagopalachari and later K. Kamaraj . The Anti-Hindi agitations led to the rise of Dravidian parties with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) forming

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2816-436: Is estimated to be around 64.06 km (24.73 sq mi) with 121 recorded species belonging to 94 genera and 42 families. Major species include Copper pod , Indian beech , Gulmohar , Raintree , Neem , and Tropical Almond . The city's marine and inland water bodies house a number of fresh water and salt water fishes, and marine organisms. Chennai had many lakes spread across the city, but urbanization has led to

2944-672: Is mostly clay , shale and sandstone . Clay underlies most of the city with sandy areas found along the river banks and coasts where rainwater runoff percolates quickly through the soil. Certain areas in South Chennai have a hard rock surface. As of 2018, the city had a green cover of 14.9 per cent, with a per capita green cover of 8.5 square metres against the World Health Organization recommendation of nine square metres. As of 2017 , water bodies cover an estimated 3.2 km (1.2 sq mi) area of

3072-496: Is situated in Seismic Zone III , indicating a moderate risk of damage from earthquakes . Owing to the tectonic zone the city falls in, the city is considered a potential geothermal energy site. The crust has old granite rocks dating back nearly a billion years indicating volcanic activities in the past with expected temperatures of 200–300 °C (392–572 °F) at 4–5 km (2.5–3.1 mi) depth. Chennai has

3200-723: Is spread across five constituencies. It elects 28 MLAs to the state legislature. Being the capital of the Madras Province that covered a large area of the Deccan region, Chennai remained the centre of politics during the British colonial era. Chennai is the birthplace of the idea of the Indian National Congress , which was founded by the members of the Theosophical Society movement based on

3328-600: Is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu , the southernmost state of India . It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal . According to the 2011 Indian census , Chennai is the sixth-most populous city in India and forms the fourth-most populous urban agglomeration . Incorporated in 1688, the Greater Chennai Corporation is the oldest municipal corporation in India and

3456-555: Is the base for Tamil cinema , nicknamed Kollywood, alluding to the neighbourhood of Kodambakkam where several film studios are located. The history of cinema in South India started in 1897 when a European exhibitor first screened a selection of silent short films at the Victoria Public Hall in the city. Swamikannu Vincent purchased a film projector and erected tents for screening films which became popular in

3584-454: Is the existence of colonies, which are by definition governed differently from other territories such as protectorates or informal spheres of influence." In the book, Osterhammel asks, "How can 'colonialism' be defined independently from 'colony? ' " He settles on a three-sentence definition: Colonialism is a relationship between an indigenous (or forcibly imported) majority and a minority of foreign invaders. The fundamental decisions affecting

3712-604: The AVANI , headquartered in Chennai manufactures Armoured fighting vehicles , Main battle tanks , tank engines and armoured clothing for the use of the Indian Armed Forces . ISRO , the premier Indian space agency primarily responsible for performing tasks related to space exploration operates research facilities in the city. Chennai is the third-most visited city in India by international tourists according to Euromonitor. Medical tourism forms an important part of

3840-679: The Chennai Central and Chennai Egmore railway stations. The Santhome Church , which was originally built by the Portuguese in 1523 and is believed to house the remains of the apostle St. Thomas , was rebuilt in 1893, in neo-Gothic style. By the early 20th century, the art deco made its entry upon the city's urban landscape with buildings in George Town including the United India building (presently housing LIC ) and

3968-676: The Chepauk Palace designed by Paul Benfield amongst the first Indo-Saracenic buildings in India. Other buildings in the city from the era designed in this style of architecture include Fort St. George (1640), Amir Mahal (1798), Government Museum (1854), Senate House of the University of Madras (1879), Victoria Public Hall (1886), Madras High Court (1892), Bharat Insurance Building (1897), Ripon Building (1913), College of Engineering (1920) and Southern Railway headquarters (1921). Gothic revival-style buildings include

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4096-528: The Dutch East Indies (later Indonesia ) the vast majority of "Dutch" settlers were in fact Eurasians known as Indo-Europeans , formally belonging to the European legal class in the colony. Activity that could be called colonialism has a long history, starting at least as early as the ancient Egyptians . Phoenicians , Greeks , and Romans founded colonies in antiquity . Phoenicia had an enterprising maritime trading-culture that spread across

4224-550: The Globalization and World Cities Research Network , Chennai is amongst the most integrated with the global economy, classified as a beta-city . As of 2023 , Chennai metropolitan area had an estimated GDP of $ 143.9 billion, ranking it among the most productive metro areas in India. Chennai has a diversified industrial base anchored by different sectors including automobiles , software services , hardware , healthcare and financial services . As of 2021 , Chennai

4352-572: The Government of Tamil Nadu officially changed the name from Madras to Chennai. The name "Madras" continues to be used occasionally for the city as well as for places or things named after the city in the past. Stone Age implements have been found near Pallavaram in Chennai and according to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Pallavaram was a megalithic cultural establishment, and pre-historic communities resided in

4480-637: The Hindu temples consisted of large mantapas with gate-pyramids called gopurams in quadrangular enclosures that surround the temple. The Gopuram, a monumental tower usually ornate at the entrance of the temple forms a prominent feature of Koils and whose origins can be traced back to the Pallavas who built the group of monuments in Mamallapuram . The associated Agraharam architecture, which consists of traditional row houses can still be seen in

4608-620: The Madras Presidency with Madras as the capital. The city became a major naval base and became the central administrative centre for the British in South India. The city was the baseline for the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India , which was started on 10 April 1802. With the advent of railways in India in the 19th century, the city was connected to other major cities such as Bombay and Calcutta , promoting increased communication and trade with

4736-496: The National Highways Authority of India to decongest the junction which is heavily utilised by interstate buses. This design of parclo grade separator has three arms of the cloverleaf interchange. The construction of the flyover was delayed due to problems in acquiring land that was owned by Tamil Nadu MLA Vijayakanth . Koyambedu Junction intersects two major roads, viz. Poonamallee High Road (NH 4) and

4864-873: The Scramble for Africa . The world's colonial population at the outbreak of the First World War (1914) – a high point for colonialism – totalled about 560 million people, of whom 70% lived in British possessions, 10% in French possessions, 9% in Dutch possessions, 4% in Japanese possessions, 2% in German possessions, 2% in American possessions, 3% in Portuguese possessions, 1% in Belgian possessions and 0.5% in Italian possessions. The domestic domains of

4992-547: The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle and strengthened the town's fortress wall to withstand further attacks from the French and Hyder Ali , the king of Mysore . They resisted a French siege attempt in 1759. In 1769, the city was threatened by Hyder Ali during the First Anglo-Mysore War with the Treaty of Madras ending the conflict. By the 18th century, the British had conquered most of the region and established

5120-432: The hinterland . After India gained its independence in 1947, the city became the capital of Madras State , the predecessor of the current state of Tamil Nadu. The city was the location of the hunger strike and death of Potti Sreeramulu which resulted in the formation of Andhra State in 1953 and eventually the re-organization of Indian states based on linguistic boundaries in 1956. In 1965, agitations against

5248-427: The imposition of Hindi and in support of continuing English as a medium of communication arose which marked a major shift in the political dynamics of the city and eventually led to English being retained as an official language of India alongside Hindi. On 17 July 1996, the city was officially renamed from Madras to Chennai, in line with then a nationwide trend to using less Anglicised names. On 26 December 2004,

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5376-671: The mestizos of the Americas, as well as racially divided populations such as those found in French Algeria or in Southern Rhodesia . In fact, everywhere where colonial powers established a consistent and continued presence, hybrid communities existed. Notable examples in Asia include the Anglo-Burmese , Anglo-Indian , Burgher , Eurasian Singaporean , Filipino mestizo , Kristang , and Macanese peoples . In

5504-561: The south zonal office of the Reserve Bank of India , the country's central bank, along with its zonal training centre and staff College, one of the two colleges run by the bank. The city also houses a permanent back office of the World Bank . About 400 financial industry businesses are headquartered in the city. DRDO , India's premier defence research agency operates various facilities in Chennai. Heavy Vehicles Factory of

5632-484: The weather radar at the Chennai Port prohibited the construction of buildings taller than 60 m around a radius of 10 km till 2009. This resulted in the central business district expanding horizontally, unlike other metropolitan cities, while the peripheral regions began experiencing vertical growth with the construction of taller buildings with the tallest building at 161 metres (528 ft). Chennai

5760-467: The "SaaS Capital of India". The automotive industry in Chennai accounts for more than 35% of India's overall automotive components and automobile output, earning the nickname " Detroit of India ". A large number of automotive companies have their manufacturing bases in the city. Integral Coach Factory in Chennai manufactures railway coaches and other rolling stock for Indian Railways . Ambattur Industrial Estate housing various manufacturing units

5888-650: The 15th century CE. The Portuguese arrived in 1522 and built a port named São Tomé after the Christian apostle, St. Thomas , who is believed to have preached in the area between 52 and 70 CE. In 1612, the Dutch established themselves near Pulicat , north of Chennai. On 20 August 1639, Francis Day of the British East India Company along with the Nayak of Kalahasti Chennappa Nayaka met with

6016-523: The 16th century. The British, French and Dutch joined in the slave trade in subsequent centuries. The European colonial system took approximately 11 million Africans to the Caribbean and to North and South America as slaves. Abolitionists in Europe and Americas protested the inhumane treatment of African slaves, which led to the elimination of the slave trade (and later, of most forms of slavery) by

6144-453: The 18th century, gradually led to the independence of colonies in waves, with a particular large wave of decolonizations happening in the aftermath of World War II between 1945 and 1975. Colonialism has a persistent impact on a wide range of modern outcomes, as scholars have shown that variations in colonial institutions can account for variations in economic development , regime types , and state capacity . Some academics have used

6272-656: The 9th century Vikings ( Norsemen ) such as Leif Erikson established colonies in Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, North America, present-day Russia and Ukraine, France (Normandy) and Sicily. In the 9th century a new wave of Mediterranean colonisation began, with competitors such as the Venetians , Genovese and Amalfians infiltrating the wealthy previously Byzantine or Eastern Roman islands and lands. European Crusaders set up colonial regimes in Outremer (in

6400-510: The Adyar, Cooum and Kosathaliyar rivers, and the Buckingham canal are heavily polluted with effluents and waste from domestic and commercial sources. The encroachment of urban development on wetlands has hampered the sustainability of water bodies and was a major contributor to the floods in 2015 and 2023 and water scarcity crisis in 2019 . The Chennai River Restoration Trust set up by

6528-617: The Americas with the Spanish American wars of independence (1808–1833). Empire-builders established several new colonies after this time, including in the German colonial empire and Belgian colonial empire . Starting with the end of the French Revolution European authors such as Johann Gottfried Herder , August von Kotzebue , and Heinrich von Kleist prolifically published so as to conjure up sympathy for

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6656-738: The Bering Strait. From the 1860s onwards the Empire of Japan modelled itself on European colonial empires and expanded its territories in the Pacific and on the Asian mainland. The Empire of Brazil fought for hegemony in South America. The United States gained overseas territories after the 1898 Spanish–American War , hence, the coining of the term " American imperialism ". In the late 19th century, many European powers became involved in

6784-428: The Buckingham Canal at Basin Bridge . The groundwater table in Chennai is at 4–5 m (13–16 ft) below ground level on average and is replenished mainly by rainwater. Of the 24.87 km (15.45 mi) coastline of the city, 3.08 km (1.91 mi) experiences erosion, with sand accretion along the shoreline at the Marina beach and the area between the Ennore Port and Kosasthalaiyar river . Chennai

6912-406: The Burma Shell building (presently the Chennai House), both built in the 1930s, and the Dare House built in 1940 examples of this architecture. After Independence , the city witnessed a rise in the Modernism and the completion of the LIC Building in 1959, the tallest building in the country at that time marked the transition from lime-and-brick construction to concrete columns. The presence of

7040-402: The Inner Ring Road (Jawaharlal Nehru Road). In 2013, the highways department begun work to landscape the 20,000 sq m space at a cost of ₹ 11 million. Landscaping work has been completed. Rest of the interchanges in Chennai are also being planned to get landscaping similar to the one which is there at Koyambedu Interchange. In 2019, a police surveillance booth was constructed under

7168-450: The Levant , 1097–1291) and in the Baltic littoral (12th century onwards). Venice began to dominate Dalmatia and reached its greatest nominal colonial extent at the conclusion of the Fourth Crusade in 1204, with the declaration of the acquisition of three octaves of the Byzantine Empire. The European early modern period began with the Turkish colonization of Anatolia . After the Ottoman Empire conquered Constantinople in 1453,

7296-420: The Mediterranean from 1550 BC to 300 BC; later the Persian Empire and various Greek city-states continued on this line of setting up colonies. The Romans would soon follow, setting up coloniae throughout the Mediterranean, in North Africa, and in Western Asia. Beginning in the 7th century, Arabs colonized a substantial portion of the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of Asia and Europe. From

7424-500: The Tamil originally spoken by the native people of the city. Korean , Japanese , French , Mandarin Chinese , German and Spanish are spoken by foreign expatriates residing in the city. Chennai is home to a diverse population of ethno-religious communities. As per census of 2011, Chennai's population was majority Hindu (80.73%) with 9.45% Muslim , 7.72% Christian , 1.27% others and 0.83% with no religion or not indicating any religious preference. Tamils form majority of

7552-405: The United Kingdom, and the United States abstained). The word " neocolonialism " originated from Jean-Paul Sartre in 1956, to refer to a variety of contexts since the decolonisation that took place after World War II . Generally it does not refer to a type of direct colonisation – rather to colonialism or colonial-style exploitation by other means. Specifically, neocolonialism may refer to

7680-401: The Vijayanager Emperor Peda Venkata Raya at Chandragiri and obtained a grant for land on the Coromandel coast on which the company could build a factory and warehouse for their trading activities. On 22 August, he secured the grant for a strip of land about 9.7 km (6 mi) long and 1.6 km (1 mi) inland in return for a yearly sum of five hundred lakh pagodas . The region

7808-405: The adjoining suburbs constitutes the Chennai Metropolitan Area , the 35th-largest urban area in the world by population and one of the largest metropolitan economies of India. Chennai has the fifth-largest urban economy and the third-largest expatriate population in India. As a gateway to South India, Chennai is among the most-visited Indian cities ranking 36th among the most-visited cities in

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7936-407: The areas surrounding the temples. Chennai has the second highest number of heritage buildings in the country. With the Mugals influence in mediaeval times and the British later, the city saw a rise in a blend of Hindu , Islamic and Gothic revival styles, resulting in the distinct Indo-Saracenic architecture. The architecture for several institutions followed the Indo-Saracenic style with

8064-540: The armies of all three empires, Mocha coffee to Delhi and Belgrade , Persian silk to India and Istanbul . Aztec civilisation developed into an extensive empire that, much like the Roman Empire, had the goal of exacting tribute from the conquered colonial areas. For the Aztecs, a significant tribute was the acquisition of sacrificial victims for their religious rituals. On the other hand, European colonial empires sometimes attempted to channel, restrict and impede trade involving their colonies, funneling activity through

8192-426: The beginning of World War I . European colonialism employed mercantilism and chartered companies , and established coloniality , which keeps the colonized socio-economically othered and subaltern through modern biopolitics of sexuality , gender , race , disability and class , among others, resulting in intersectional violence and discrimination . Colonialism has been justified with beliefs of having

8320-442: The birth of the Dutch Empire and French colonial empire , as well as the English overseas possessions , which later became the British Empire . It also saw the establishment of Danish overseas colonies and Swedish overseas colonies . A first wave of separatism started with the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), initiating the Rise of the "Second" British Empire (1783–1815). The Spanish Empire largely collapsed in

8448-419: The city houses the state executive and legislative headquarters primarily in the secretariat buildings in Fort St George. Madras High Court is the highest judicial authority in the state, whose jurisdiction extends across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry . The Greater Chennai Police (GCP) is the primary law enforcement agency in the city and is headed by a commissioner of police . The Greater Chennai Police

8576-439: The city through 27 water distribution stations. The city receives 530 million litres per day (mld) of water from Krishna River through Telugu Ganga project and 180 mld of water from the Veeranam lake project. 100 million litres of treated water per day is produced from the Minjur desalination plant, the country's largest seawater desalination plant. Chennai is predicted to face a deficit of 713 mld of water by 2026 as

8704-420: The city to 426 km (164 sq mi), the Chennai Municipal Corporation was renamed as Greater Chennai Corporation and the population including the new city limits as per the 2011 census was 6,748,026. As of 2019 , 40 per cent of the 1.788 million families in the city live below the poverty line . As of 2017 , the city had 2.2 million households, with 40 per cent of the residents not owning

8832-421: The city's economy with more than 40% of total medical tourists visiting India making it to Chennai. The city's water supply and sewage treatment are managed by the Chennai MetroWater Supply and Sewage Board . Water is drawn from Red Hills Lake and Chembarambakkam Lake , the major water reservoirs in the city and treated at water treatment plants located at Kilpauk , Puzhal , Chembarambakkam and supplied to

8960-439: The city. Chennai was the only South Asian city to be ranked among National Geographic 's "Top 10 food cities" in 2015. The economy of Chennai consistently exceeded national average growth rates due to reform-oriented economic policies in the 1970s. With the presence of two major ports, an international airport, and a converging road and rail networks, Chennai is often referred to as the "Gateway of South India". According to

9088-471: The city. Two major rivers flow through Chennai, the Cooum River (or Koovam ) through the centre and the Adyar River to the south. A section of the Buckingham Canal built in 1877-78, runs parallel to the Bay of Bengal coast, linking the two rivers. Kosasthalaiyar River traverses through the northern fringes of the city before draining into the Bay of Bengal, at Ennore Creek . The Otteri Nullah , an east–west stream, runs through north Chennai and meets

9216-416: The colonial era. Indentured servants from India travelled to British colonies in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, and also to French and Portuguese colonies, while Chinese servants travelled to British and Dutch colonies. Between 1830 and 1930, around 30 million indentured servants migrated from India, and 24 million returned to India. China sent more indentured servants to European colonies, and around

9344-522: The colonial powers had a total population of about 370 million people. Outside Europe, few areas had remained without coming under formal colonial tutorship – and even Siam , China , Japan , Nepal , Afghanistan , Persia , and Abyssinia had felt varying degrees of Western colonial-style influence – concessions , unequal treaties , extraterritoriality and the like. Asking whether colonies paid, economic historian Grover Clark (1891–1938) argues an emphatic "No!" He reports that in every case

9472-510: The colonised peoples can also have a powerful influence on the imperial country. With respect to international borders, Britain and France traced close to 40% of the entire length of the world's international boundaries. Economic expansion, sometimes described as the colonial surplus , has accompanied imperial expansion since ancient times. Greek trade networks spread throughout the Mediterranean region while Roman trade expanded with

9600-546: The colonists came, like the Mughals in India and the Incas in the Americas. One explanation offered by the paper focuses on the political institutions of the various colonies: it was less likely for European colonists to introduce economic institutions where they could benefit quickly from the extraction of resources in the area. Therefore, given a more developed civilisation and denser population, European colonists would rather keep

9728-757: The country. With the history of Chennai dating back centuries, the architecture of Chennai ranges in a wide chronology. The oldest buildings in the city date from the 6th to 8th centuries CE, which include the Kapaleeshwarar Temple in Mylapore and the Parthasarathy Temple in Triplicane , built in the Dravidian architecture encompassing various styles developed during the reigns of different empires. In Dravidian architecture ,

9856-411: The crime rate in the city was 101.2 per hundred thousand people. In 2009, Madras Central Prison , the major prison and one of the oldest in India was demolished with the prisoners moved to the newly constructed Puzhal Central Prison . While the major part of the city falls under three parliamentary constituencies ( Chennai North , Chennai Central and Chennai South ), the Chennai metropolitan area

9984-534: The demand is projected at 2,248 mld and supply estimated at 1,535 mld. The city's sewer system was designed in 1910, with some modifications in 1958. Colonialism Colonialism is the exploitation of people and of resources by a foreign group. Colonizers monopolize political power and hold conquered societies and their people to be inferior to their conquerors in legal, administrative, social, cultural, or biological terms. While frequently advanced as an imperialist regime, colonialism can also take

10112-424: The difficulty of consistently distinguishing between the two terms, this entry will use colonialism broadly to refer to the project of European political domination from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries that ended with the national liberation movements of the 1960s". In his preface to Jürgen Osterhammel 's Colonialism: A Theoretical Overview , Roger Tignor says "For Osterhammel, the essence of colonialism

10240-582: The early 18th century, the Government Museum and the National Art Gallery are amongst the oldest in the country. The museum inside the premises of Fort St. George maintains a collection of objects of the British era. The museum is managed by the Archaeological Survey of India and has in its possession, the first Flag of India hoisted at Fort St George after the declaration of India's Independence on 15 August 1947 . Chennai

10368-731: The early 19th century played a part in ending slave-taking and slave-keeping among the indigenous Māori . On the other hand, British colonial administration in Southern Africa , when it officially abolished slavery in the 1830s, caused rifts in society which arguably perpetuated slavery in the Boer Republics and fed into the philosophy of apartheid . The labour shortages that resulted from abolition inspired European colonisers in Queensland, British Guaiana and Fiji (for example) to develop new sources of labour, re-adopting

10496-517: The early 20th century. Keechaka Vadham , the first film in South India was produced in the city and released in 1917. Gemini and Vijaya Vauhini studios were established in the 1940s, amongst the largest and earliest in the country. Chennai hosts many major film studios, including AVM Productions , the oldest surviving studio in India. Chennai cuisine is predominantly South Indian with rice as its base. Most local restaurants still retain their rural flavour, with many restaurants serving food over

10624-447: The employer because they owed a debt back to the employer for their travel expense to the colony, which they were expected to pay through their wages. In practice, indentured servants were exploited through terrible working conditions and burdensome debts imposed by the employers, with whom the servants had no means of negotiating the debt once they arrived in the colony. India and China were the largest source of indentured servants during

10752-438: The existing economic systems than introduce an entirely new system; while in places with little to extract, European colonists would rather establish new economic institutions to protect their interests. Political institutions thus gave rise to different types of economic systems, which determined the colonial economic performance. European colonisation and development also changed gendered systems of power already in place around

10880-600: The first British fortress in India. The city was made the winter capital of the Madras Presidency , a colonial province of the British Raj in the Indian subcontinent . After India gained independence in 1947, Madras continued as the capital city of the Madras State and present-day Tamil Nadu. The city was officially renamed as Chennai in 1996. The city is coterminous with Chennai district , which together with

11008-700: The first government under C. N. Annadurai in 1967. In 1972, a split in the DMK resulted in the formation of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) led by M. G. Ramachandran . The two Dravidian parties continue to dominate electoral politics, the national parties usually aligning as junior partners to the two major Dravidian parties. Many film personalities became politicians and later chief ministers, including C. N. Annadurai, M. Karunanidhi , M. G. Ramachandran, Janaki Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa . Tamil  is

11136-448: The form of settler colonialism , whereby colonial settlers invade and occupy territory to permanently replace an existing society with that of the colonizers, possibly towards a genocide of native populations . Colonialism developed as a concept describing European colonial empires of the modern era , which spread globally from the 15th century to the mid-20th century, spanning 35% of Earth 's land by 1800 and peaking at 84% by

11264-462: The government of Tamil Nadu is working on the restoration of the Adyar River. The Environmentalist Foundation of India is a volunteering group working towards wildlife conservation and habitat restoration. A resident of Chennai is called a Chennaite . According to 2011 census , the city had a population of 4,646,732, within an area of 174 km (67 sq mi). Post expansion of

11392-548: The grade separator to patrol the surroundings. It is staffed by four police personnel with assistance from a regular police patrol team. This city of Chennai location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about transport in India is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Chennai Chennai ( / ˈ tʃ ɛ n aɪ / ; Tamil: [ˈt͡ɕenːaɪ̯] , ISO : Ceṉṉai ), formerly known as Madras ,

11520-481: The huge discrepancies in previous European colonies, for example, between West African colonies like Sierra Leone and Hong Kong and Singapore . According to the paper, economic institutions are the determinant of the colonial success because they determine their financial performance and order for the distribution of resources. At the same time, these institutions are also consequences of political institutions – especially how de facto and de jure political power

11648-690: The idea conceived in a private meeting after a Theosophical convention held in the city in December 1884. The city has hosted yearly conferences of the Congress seven times, playing a major part in the Indian independence movement . Chennai is also the birthplace of regional political parties such as the South Indian Welfare Association in 1916 which later became the Justice Party and Dravidar Kazhagam . Politics

11776-588: The landowner and trapped in servitude. The earliest uses of colonialism referred to plantations that men emigrated to and settled. The term expanded its meaning in the early 20th century to primarily refer to European imperial expansion and the imperial subjection of Asian and African peoples. Collins English Dictionary defines colonialism as "the practice by which a powerful country directly controls less powerful countries and uses their resources to increase its own power and wealth". Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary defines colonialism as "the system or policy of

11904-464: The language spoken by most of Chennai's population; English is largely spoken by white-collar workers . As per the 2011 census, Tamil is the most spoken language with 3,640,389 (78.3%) of speakers followed by Telugu (432,295), Urdu (198,505), Hindi (159,474) and Malayalam (104,994). Madras Bashai is a variety of the Tamil spoken by people in the city. It originated with words introduced from other languages such as English and Telugu on

12032-646: The late 19th century. One (disputed) school of thought points to the role of abolitionism in the American Revolution : while the British colonial metropole started to move towards outlawing slavery, slave-owning elites in the Thirteen Colonies saw this as one of the reasons to fight for their post-colonial independence and for the right to develop and continue a largely slave-based economy. British colonising activity in New Zealand from

12160-415: The lives of the colonised people are made and implemented by the colonial rulers in pursuit of interests that are often defined in a distant metropolis. Rejecting cultural compromises with the colonised population, the colonisers are convinced of their own superiority and their ordained mandate to rule. According to Julian Go, "Colonialism refers to the direct political control of a society and its people by

12288-402: The metropole and taxing accordingly. Despite the general trend of economic expansion, the economic performance of former European colonies varies significantly. In "Institutions as a Fundamental Cause of Long-run Growth", economists Daron Acemoglu , Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson compare the economic influences of the European colonists on different colonies and study what could explain

12416-487: The monsoon and winter. The southern stretch of Chennai's coast from Tiruvanmiyur to Neelangarai are favoured by the endangered olive ridley sea turtles to lay eggs every winter. Guindy National Park is a protected area within the city limits and wildlife conservation and research activities take place at Arignar Anna Zoological Park . Madras Crocodile Bank Trust is a herpetology research station, located 40 km (25 mi) south of Chennai. The city's tree cover

12544-683: The name was in August 1639 in a sale deed to Francis Day of the East India Company. A land grant was given to the Chennakesava Perumal Temple in Chennapatanam later in 1646, which some scholars argue to be the first use of the name. The name Madras is of native origin, and has been shown to have been in use before the British established a presence in India. A Vijayanagara-era inscription found in 2015

12672-525: The oppressed native peoples and the slaves of the new world, thereby starting the idealization of native humans. The Habsburg monarchy , the Russian Empire , and the Ottoman Empire existed at the same time but did not expand over oceans. Rather, these empires expanded through the conquest of neighbouring territories. There was, though, some Russian colonization of North America across

12800-478: The planning and development of the Chennai Metropolitan Area , which is spread over an area of 1,189 km (459 sq mi), covering the Chennai district and parts of Tiruvallur , Kanchipuram and Chengalpattu districts. The metropolitan area consists of four municipal corporations , 12 municipalities and other smaller panchayats . As the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu,

12928-412: The population with minorities including Telugus , Marwaris , Gujaratis , Parsis , Sindhis , Odias , Goans , Kannadigas , Anglo-Indians , Bengalis , Punjabis , and Malayalees . The city also has a significant expatriate population. As of 2001 , out of the 2,937,000 migrants in the city, 61.5% were from other parts of the state, 33.8% were from rest of India and 3.7% were from outside

13056-527: The post–World War II period. The term "neocolonialism" became popular in ex-colonies in the late 20th century. While colonies of contiguous empires have been historically excluded, they can be seen as colonies. Contemporary expansion of colonies is seen by some in case of Russian imperialism and Chinese imperialism . There is also ongoing debate in academia about Zionism as settler colonialism . The impacts of colonisation are immense and pervasive. Various effects, both immediate and protracted, include

13184-578: The primary goal of directing tribute from the colonised areas towards the Roman metropole. According to Strabo , by the time of emperor Augustus , up to 120 Roman ships would set sail every year from Myos Hormos in Roman Egypt to India. With the development of trade routes under the Ottoman Empire , Gujari Hindus, Syrian Muslims, Jews, Armenians, Christians from south and central Europe operated trading routes that supplied Persian and Arab horses to

13312-541: The region. Pallavas of Kanchi became independent rulers of the region from 3rd to 9th century CE and the areas of Mahabalipuram and Pallavaram were built during the reign of Mahendravarman I . In 879, Pallavas were defeated by the Later Cholas led by Aditya I and Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan later brought the region under the Pandya rule in 1264. The region came under the influence of Vijayanagara Empire in

13440-411: The rise of European colonialism came a large push for development and industrialisation of most economic systems. When working to improve productivity, Europeans focused mostly on male workers. Foreign aid arrived in the form of loans, land, credit, and tools to speed up development, but were only allocated to men. In a more European fashion, women were expected to serve on a more domestic level. The result

13568-736: The sea routes discovered by Portuguese Prince Henry the Navigator (1394–1460) became central to trade , and helped fuel the Age of Discovery . The Crown of Castile encountered the Americas in 1492 through sea travel and built trading posts or conquered large extents of land. The Treaty of Tordesillas divided the areas of these "new" lands between the Spanish Empire and the Portuguese Empire in 1494. The 17th century saw

13696-413: The season with significant flooding in 2015 and 2023 . </ref> A protected estuary on the Adyar River forms a natural habitat for several species of birds and animals. Chennai is also a popular city for birding with more than 130 recorded species of birds have been recorded in the city. Marshy wetlands such as Pallikaranai and inland lakes also host a number of migratory birds during

13824-494: The second oldest in the world after London . Historically, the region was part of the Chola , Pandya , Pallava and Vijayanagara kingdoms during various eras. The coastal land which then contained the fishing village Madrasapattinam, was purchased by the British East India Company from the Nayak ruler Chennapa Nayaka in the 17th century. The British garrison established the Madras city and port and built Fort St. George ,

13952-473: The settlement. The region around Chennai was an important administrative, military, and economic centre for many centuries. During the 1st century CE , Tamil poet named Thiruvalluvar lived in the town of Mylapore , a neighbourhood of present-day Chennai. The region was part of Tondaimandalam which was ruled by the Early Cholas in the 2nd century CE by subduing Kurumbas , the original inhabitants of

14080-466: The shrinkage of water bodies and wetlands. The water bodies have shrunk from an estimated 12.6 km (4.9 sq mi) in 1893 to 3.2 km (1.2 sq mi) in 2017. The number of wetlands in the city has decreased from 650 in 1970 to 27 in 2015. Nearly half of the native plant species in the city's wetlands have disappeared with only 25 per cent of the erstwhile area covered with aquatic plants still viable. The major water bodies including

14208-507: The societies and cultures of the people in those areas permanently changed. Colonial practices directly and indirectly forced the colonized peoples to abandon their traditional cultures. For example, European colonizers in the United States implemented the residential schools program to force native children to assimilate into the hegemonic culture. Cultural colonialism gave rise to culturally and ethnically mixed populations such as

14336-423: The spread of virulent diseases , unequal social relations , detribalization , exploitation , enslavement , medical advances , the creation of new institutions, abolitionism , improved infrastructure, and technological progress. Colonial practices also spur the spread of conquerors' languages, literature and cultural institutions, while endangering or obliterating those of Indigenous peoples. The cultures of

14464-472: The support cost, especially the military system necessary to support and defend colonies, outran the total trade they produced. Apart from the British Empire, they did not provide favoured destinations for the immigration of surplus metropole populations. The question of whether colonies paid is a complicated one when recognizing the multiplicity of interests involved. In some cases colonial powers paid

14592-522: The term neocolonialism to describe the continuation or imposition of elements of colonial rule through indirect means in the contemporary period. Colonialism is etymologically rooted in the Latin word " Colonus ", which was used to describe tenant farmers in the Roman Empire . The coloni sharecroppers started as tenants of landlords, but as the system evolved they became permanently indebted to

14720-615: The theory that former or existing economic relationships, such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the Central American Free Trade Agreement , or the operations of companies (such as Royal Dutch Shell in Nigeria and Brunei ) fostered by former colonial powers were or are used to maintain control of former colonies and dependencies after the colonial independence movements of

14848-644: The war significantly weakened the major colonial powers, and they quickly lost control of colonies such as Singapore, India, and Libya. In addition, the United Nations shows support for decolonisation in its 1945 charter . In 1960, the UN issued the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples , which affirmed its stance (though notably, colonial empires such as France, Spain,

14976-616: The world in 2019. Ranked as a beta-level city in the Global Cities Index , Chennai regularly features among the best cities to live in India and is amongst the safest cities in India. Chennai is a major centre for medical tourism and is termed "India's health capital". Chennai houses a major portion of India's automobile industry, hence the name " Detroit of India". It was the only South Asian city to be ranked among National Geographic 's "Top 10 food cities" in 2015 and ranked ninth on Lonely Planet 's best cosmopolitan cities in

15104-438: The world, including the Americas, Australia, and parts of Africa and Asia". It discusses the distinction between colonialism, imperialism and conquest and states that "[t]he difficulty of defining colonialism stems from the fact that the term is often used as a synonym for imperialism. Both colonialism and imperialism were forms of conquest that were expected to benefit Europe economically and strategically," and continues "given

15232-740: The world. In October 2017, Chennai was added to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) list. It is a major film production centre and home to the Tamil-language film industry . The name Chennai was derived from the name of Chennappa Nayaka , a Nayak ruler who served as a general under Venkata Raya of the Vijayanagara Empire from whom the British East India Company acquired the town in 1639. The first official use of

15360-509: The world. In many pre-colonialist areas, women maintained power, prestige, or authority through reproductive or agricultural control. For example, in certain parts of sub-Saharan Africa women maintained farmland in which they had usage rights. While men would make political and communal decisions for a community, the women would control the village's food supply or their individual family's land. This allowed women to achieve power and autonomy, even in patrilineal and patriarchal societies. Through

15488-476: The year is in December–January, with average temperature of 19–25 °C (66–77 °F) and the lowest recorded temperature of 13.9 °C (57.0 °F) on 11 December 1895 and 29 January 1905. Chennai receives most of its rainfall from the northeast monsoon between October and December while smaller amounts of rain come from the southwest monsoon between June and September. The average annual rainfall

15616-464: Was a technologic, economic, and class-based gender gap that widened over time. Within a colony, the presence of extractive colonial institutions in a given area has been found have effects on the modern day economic development, institutions and infrastructure of these areas. European nations entered their imperial projects with the goal of enriching the European metropoles. Exploitation of non-Europeans and of other Europeans to support imperial goals

15744-598: Was acceptable to the colonisers. Two outgrowths of this imperial agenda were the extension of slavery and indentured servitude. In the 17th century, nearly two-thirds of English settlers came to North America as indentured servants. European slave traders brought large numbers of African slaves to the Americas by sail. Spain and Portugal had brought African slaves to work in African colonies such as Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe , and then in Latin America, by

15872-402: Was dated to the year 1367 and mentions the port of Mādarasanpattanam, along with other small ports on the east coast, and it was theorized that the aforementioned port is the fishing port of Royapuram . Madras might have been derived from Madraspattinam, a fishing village north of Fort St. George but it is uncertain whether the name was in use before the arrival of Europeans. In July 1996,

16000-515: Was deemed that they could prepare for independence. The empires of Russia and Austria collapsed in 1917–1918, and the Soviet empire started. Nazi Germany set up short-lived colonial systems ( Reichskommissariate , Generalgouvernement ) in Eastern Europe in the early 1940s. In the aftermath of World War II (1939–1945), decolonisation progressed rapidly. The tumultuous upheaval of

16128-475: Was established on 21 June 1683 followed by first commercial banks such as Bank of Hindustan (1770) and General Bank of India (1786). Bank of Madras merged with two other presidency banks to form Imperial Bank of India in 1921 which in 1955 became the State Bank of India , the largest bank in India. Chennai is the headquarters of nationalized banks Indian Bank and Indian Overseas Bank . Chennai hosts

16256-400: Was expanded from 174 km (67 sq mi) to an area of 426 km (164 sq mi), divided into three regions North, South and Central covering 200 wards . The corporation is headed by a mayor , elected by the councillors , who are elected through a popular vote by the residents. The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) is the nodal agency responsible for

16384-569: Was then formerly a fishing village known as "Madraspatnam". A year later, the company built Fort St. George , the first major English settlement in India, which became the nucleus of the growing colonial city and urban Chennai. In 1746, Fort St. George and the town were captured by the French under General La Bourdonnais , the Governor of Mauritius , who plundered the town and its outlying villages. The British regained control in 1749 through

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