|
Michael Topping
Michael Topping (1747 – 7 January 1796) was the Chief Marine Surveyor of Fort St. George in Chennai (then Madras) responsible for founding the oldest modern technical school outside Europe. The Survey School was completed on 17 May 1794, with an initial intake of eight students. In 1858 it became the Civil Engineering School and the College of Engineering in 1861. Topping was also the first full-time modern professional surveyor of India having surveyed the seas off the Coromandel Coast, India's south-east coast. Topping came to Madras in 1785 as a marine surveyor aboard the East India Ship Walpole. On the suggestion of Alexander Dalrymple, he conducted a triangulation survey of the Coromandel Coast from Madras to Masulipatnam in 1788, making use of a sextant. Topping suggested that this triangulation could be done across India, however this approach was only taken up much later by William Lambton. Topping was appointed from 1794 to survey water reservoirs and in order to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fort St
A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ("strong") and ("to make"). From very early history to modern times, defensive walls have often been necessary for cities to survive in an ever-changing world of invasion and conquest. Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first small cities to be fortified. In ancient Greece, large cyclopean stone walls fitted without mortar had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae. A Greek '' phrourion'' was a fortified collection of buildings used as a military garrison, and is the equivalent of the Roman castellum or fortress. These constructions mainly served the purpose of a watch tower, to guard certain roads, passes, and borders. Though smaller than a real fortress, they acted as a border ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guindy Engineering College
The College of Engineering, Guindy (CEG) is a public engineering college situated in Chennai, India. It is Asia's oldest technical institution, founded in 1794. It is also the oldest technical institution to be established outside Europe. History Due to the growing need for surveyors by the East India Company, the 'School of Survey' was established in a building near Fort St. George on the suggestion of Michael Topping in 1794. This school was one of the first of its kind in the country and it started out with 8 students. It became the Civil Engineering School in 1858 and was renamed College of Engineering in 1859, with the inclusion of a mechanical engineering course. The college was shifted for a short period to Kalasa Mahal, Chepauk, before settling at its present location in 1920 as College of Engineering, Guindy. College of Engineering, Guindy is one of the first institutes in India to offer degrees in mechanical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, tele ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coromandel Coast
The Coromandel Coast is a coastal region along the southeastern front of the Indian peninsula. Its delimitations are numerous, but generally admitted to be bounded by the Krishna River, Krishna river River mouth, mouth to the north, the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Point Calimere Cape (geography), cape to the south, and the Eastern Ghats to the west. Some may definite its northern boundaries up to Ganjam. This region can be extending over an area of about 22,800 square kilometres. The coast has an average elevation of 80 metres and is backed by the Eastern Ghats, a chain of low lying and flat-topped hills. The land of the Chola dynasty was called Cholamandalam in Tamil language, Tamil, literally translated as "Mandala (political model), the realm of the Cholas", from which Coromandel is derived. In historical Muslim sources from the 12th century onward, the Coromandel Coast was notably called as Ma'bar Coast, Maʿbar Coast. Etymology The land of the Chola dynasty was called ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Dalrymple
Alexander Dalrymple (24 July 1737 – 19 June 1808) was a Scottish geographer, hydrographer, and publisher. He spent the greater part of his career with the British East India Company, starting as a writer in Madras at the age of 16. He studied the old records of the company, and soon became sufficiently knowledgeable to advise on shipping routes in the East Indies. He spent several years travelling, investigating possibilities of expanding the company's trade, and carried out extensive surveys around Borneo, the Philippines, and Indo-China. Returning to England, he published a range of works including charts, histories of past voyages, and proposals for exploration. He was one of the main proponents of the theory that there existed a great undiscovered continent in the South Pacific, Terra Australis Incognita. He was The Royal Society's first choice as leader of the exploration to observe the transit of Venus in 1769, a position taken by James Cook as the Navy would not ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Lambton
Lieutenant-Colonel William Lambton ( 1753 – 20 or 26 January 1823) was a British soldier, Surveyor (surveying), surveyor, and geographer who began a Triangulation (surveying), triangulation survey in 1800-1802 that was later called the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India. His initial survey was to measure the length of a degree of an arc of the meridian so as to establish the shape of the Earth and support a larger scale trigonometrical survey across the width of the peninsula of India between Madras and Mangalore. After Triangulation, triangulating across the peninsula, he continued surveys northwards for more than twenty years. He died during the course of the surveys in central India and is buried at Hinganghat in Wardha district of Maharashtra. He was succeeded by his assistant George Everest. Life Lambton was born around 1753 (1756 according to some sources) at Crosby Grange, near Northallerton, in North Yorkshire, the son of a farmer. He was extremely reserved about ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Petrie
William Petrie (1747 – 27 October 1816) was a British officer of the East India Company in Chennai (formerly Madras) during the 1780s, and was Governor of Prince of Wales Island (Penang Island) from 1812 to 1816. An amateur astronomer, Petrie helped found the first modern observatory outside Europe, the Madras Observatory. Life East India Company career The chronology of his advancement through the Honorable East India Company is as follows: * 1765 - Writer * 1771 - Factor * 1774 - Junior Merchant * 1776 - Senior Merchant; At Home * 1778 - In India * 1782 - At Home * 1790 - Member of the Council of the Governor * 1793 - At Home * 1800 - President of the Board of Revenue, and Member of the Council of the Governor * 1809 - Appointed Governor of the Prince of Wales Island * Died 27 October 1816, at Prince of Wales Island. Astronomy In 1786, Petrie set up a private observatory as a geographical and navigational aid in his residence in Egmore, Chennai, India,Cited by Ragh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madras Observatory
The Madras Observatory was an astronomical observatory which had its origins in a private observatory set up by William Petrie in 1786 and later moved and managed by the British East India Company from 1792 in Madras (now known as Chennai). The main purpose for establishing it was to assist in navigation and mapping by recording the latitude and maintaining time standards. In later years the observatory also made observations on stars and geomagnetism. The observatory ran from around 1792 to 1931 and a major work was the production of a comprehensive catalogue of stars. History The observatory was established due to the efforts of William Petrie, an amateur astronomer who had a small private observatory at Egmore in Madras. Petrie's original observatory was established in 1786 and was made of iron and timber. In 1789, Petrie gifted his instruments to the Madras Government before retiring to England. Sir Charles Oakley accepted Petrie's plea to establish an official observato ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nungambakkam
Nungambakkam is a locality in downtown Chennai, India. The neighborhood abounds with multinational commercial establishments, important government offices, foreign consulates, educational institutions, shopping malls, sporting facilities, tourist spots, star hotels, restaurants, and cultural centers. Nungambakkam is also a prime residential area in Chennai. The adjoining regions of Nungambakkam include Egmore, Chetpet (Chennai), Chetpet, T. Nagar, Kodambakkam and Choolaimedu. History Nungambakkam is one of the oldest parts of Chennai. It formed the western limits of Madras until the 1960s, and it was part of Madras since the 18th century. According to K.V. Raman's ''The Early History of the Madras Region'', Nungambakkam features in an 11th-century CE copper plate pertaining to Rajendra Chola. According to the Chennai Corporation's records, Nungambakkam village, which was under a Mughal Empire, Mughal firman, was handed over to the Great Britain, British along with four o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Machilipatnam
Machilipatnam (), also known as Masulipatnam and Bandar (), is a city in Krishna district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipal corporation and the administrative headquarters of Krishna district. It is also the Tehsil, mandal headquarters of Machilipatnam mandal in Machilipatnam revenue division of the district. The ancient port town served as the settlement of European traders from the 16th century, and it was a major trading port for the Portuguese Empire, Portuguese, British Empire, British, Dutch colonial empire, Dutch and French colonial empire, French in the 17th century. Etymology During the 17th century, it was known by the names ''Masulipatnam'', ''Masulipatam,'' ''Masula'' and ''Bandar'' (Bandar translates to 'port' in Persian language). The port town in the ancient times was also referred with the name ''Maesolia''. History The town has existed since at least the 3rd century BCE (Satavahana period) when, according to Ptolemy, it was known as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Goldingham
John Goldingham (1767 - July 1849) was the first official astronomer of the Madras Observatory, appointed in 1802. Goldingham was also an architect and surveyor who headed the Madras Survey School which later grew into the Guindy Engineering College and then Anna University. Born in London in 1767, Goldingham was first in the service of William Petrie at his private observatory and then hired by astronomer-sailor Michael Topping as his assistant in 1788. John Goldingham was a Dane. His original name was Johannes Guldenheim. He succeeded Michael Topping as the Astronomer posted in Madras. Goldingham was put in charge of building an observatory in 1792, and later appointed as the Presidency Civil Engineer in 1800. Although a mathematician, he managed to learn both astronomy and engineering. He worked at around the same time as Colonel William Lambton, Lambton began the Trigonometrical Survey. From 1787 observations were made on the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites. Using the time ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1747 Births
Events January–March * January 31 – The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital. * February 11 – King George's War: A combined French and Indian force, commanded by Captain Nicolas Antoine II Coulon de Villiers, attacks and defeats British troops at Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia. * March 7 – Juan de Arechederra the Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines, combines his forces with those of Sultan Azim ud-Din I of Sulu to suppress the rebellion of the Moros in the Visayas. * March 19 – Simon Fraser, the 79-year old Scottish Lord Lovat, is convicted of high treason for being one of the leaders of the Jacobite rising of 1745 against King George II of Great Britain and attempting to place the pretender Charles Edward Stuart on the throne. After a seven day trial of impeachment in the House of Lords and the verdict of guilt, Fraser is sentenced on the same day to be hanged, drawn and quartered; King George alters Fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
