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The Coromandel Coast is a coastal region along the southeastern front of the
Indian peninsula The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...
. Its delimitations are numerous, but generally admitted to be bounded by the
Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...
river
mouth A mouth also referred to as the oral is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and animal communication#Auditory, vocalize. The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or in Latin), is also t ...
to the north, the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Point Calimere
cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used th ...
to the south, and the
Eastern Ghats The Eastern Ghats is a mountain range that stretches along the East Coast of India, eastern coast of the Indian peninsula. Covering an area of , it traverses the states and union territories of India, states of Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Prade ...
to the west. Some may definite its northern boundaries up to
Ganjam Ganjam is a town and a notified area council in Ganjam district in the state of Odisha, India. Brahmapur, Odisha, Brahmapur, one of the major city of Odisha, is situated in this district on the eastern coastline. Geography Ganjam is located at ...
. 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 The Eastern Ghats is a mountain range that stretches along the East Coast of India, eastern coast of the Indian peninsula. Covering an area of , it traverses the states and union territories of India, states of Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Prade ...
, a chain of low lying and flat-topped hills. The land of the
Chola dynasty The Chola dynasty () was a Tamil dynasty originating from Southern India. At its height, it ruled over the Chola Empire, an expansive maritime empire. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd cen ...
was called Cholamandalam in
Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
, literally translated as " 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 Maʿbar Coast.


Etymology

The land of the
Chola dynasty The Chola dynasty () was a Tamil dynasty originating from Southern India. At its height, it ruled over the Chola Empire, an expansive maritime empire. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd cen ...
was called ''Cholamandalam'' (சோழ மண்டலம்) in
Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
, translated as ''The realm of the Cholas'', from which the Portuguese derived the name ''Coromandel''.''The Land of the Tamulians and Its Missions'', by Eduard Raimund Baierlein, James Dunning BakerSouth Indian Coins – Page 61 by T. Desikachari – Coins, Indic – 1984Indian History – Page 112''Annals of Oriental Research'' – Page 1 by University of Madras – 1960''The Periplus of the Erythræan Sea'' by
Wilfred Harvey Schoff Wilfred Harvey Schoff (1874–1932) was an early twentieth-century American antiquarian and classical scholar. Career Schoff was responsible for translating a number of important ancient texts. Among these works was the 1st century CE Greco ...
The name could also be derived from ''Karai mandalam'', meaning ''The realm of the shores''. Another theory is that the first Dutch ship to India stopped at Karimanal, an island village to the north of
Pulicat Pulicat or Pazhaverkadu is a historic seashore town in Chennai Metropolitan Area at Thiruvallur District, of Tamil Nadu states and territories of India, state, India. It is about north of Chennai and from Elavur, on the southern periphery of ...
. The sailors aboard the ship mispronounced the village's name as 'Corimondal' and the name stuck thereafter. An Italian explorer,
Ludovico di Varthema Ludovico di Varthema, also known as Barthema and Vertomannus (c. 1470 – 1517), was an Italian traveller, diarist and aristocrat known for being one of the first non-Muslim Europeans to enter Mecca as a Hajj, pilgrim. Nearly everything that is ...
, perhaps first gave the name Coromandel in 1510, which was then used on maps by the Portuguese, but it was the Dutch who took up serious trading there.


History

By late 1530 the Coromandel Coast was home to three Portuguese settlements at Negapatão,
São Tomé de Meliapore São Tomé de Meliapore was a province of Portuguese India which existed from 1523 to 1749. Administered by a Captain-Major, it covered most of Mylapore, a present-day Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in In ...
, and Paliacate. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Coromandel Coast was the scene of rivalries among European powers for control of the India trade. The British established themselves at
Fort St George Fort St. George (or historically, White Town) is a fortress at the coastal city of Chennai, India. Founded in 1639, it was the first English overseas possessions, English (later British Empire, British) fortress in India. The construction ...
(
Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), 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 ce ...
) and
Masulipatnam 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 mandal headqua ...
, the
Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...
at Pulicat,
Sadras Sadras is a fortress town located on India's Coromandel Coast in Chengalpattu district, 70 km south of Chennai in Tamil Nadu state. ''Sadras'' is the anglicised form of the ancient town of ''Sadurangapattinam''. History and etymology An in ...
, the
Belgians Belgians ( ; ; ) are people identified with the Kingdom of Belgium, a federal state in Western Europe. As Belgium is a multinational state, this connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural rather than ethnic. The majority ...
at
Covelong Covelong (Kovalam) is a fishing village in Chennai, India, 40 kilometres south of Chennai, on the East Coast Road en route to Mahabalipuram. Covelong (Cabelon in French = Kovalam) was a port town developed in the 1720s by the Ostend Company ...
, the French at
Pondicherry Pondicherry, officially known as Puducherry, is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of the Puducherry (union territory), Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the southeast coast of Indi ...
,
Karaikal Karaikal (, , Help:IPA/French, /kaʁikal/) is a port city of the Indian States and territories of India, Union Territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry. It is the administrative headquarters of the Karaikal district, Karaikal Di ...
and
Nizampatnam Nizampatnam is a village in Bapatla district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the mandal headquarters of Nizampatnam mandal in Repalle revenue division. The Dutch occupied the city for trading from 1606−1668. Etymology Named ...
, the Danish in '' Dansborg'' or
Tranquebar Tharangambadi (), formerly Tranquebar (, ), is a town in the Mayiladuthurai district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu on the Coromandel Coast. It lies north of Karaikal, near the mouth of a distributary named Uppanar of the Kaveri River. It wa ...
. The Coromandel Coast supplied
Indian Muslim Islam is India's Religion in India, second-largest religion, with 14.2% of the country's population, or approximately 172.2 million people, identifying as adherents of Islam in a 2011 census. India also has the Islam by country, third-larg ...
eunuch A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...
s to the Thai palace and court of
Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
(modern Thailand). The Thai at times asked eunuchs from China to visit the court in Thailand and advise them on court ritual since they held them in high regard. Eventually the British won out, although France retained the tiny enclaves of
Pondichéry Pondicherry, officially known as Puducherry, is the capital and most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the southeast coast of India and is surrounded by the Bay of Bengal to ...
and
Karaikal Karaikal (, , Help:IPA/French, /kaʁikal/) is a port city of the Indian States and territories of India, Union Territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry. It is the administrative headquarters of the Karaikal district, Karaikal Di ...
until 1954.
Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
lacquer goods, including boxes, screens, and chests, became known as "Coromandel" goods in the 18th century, because many Chinese exports were consolidated at the Coromandel ports. Two of the famous books on the economic history of the Coromandel Coast are ''Merchants, companies, and commerce on the Coromandel Coast, 1650–1740'' (Arasaratnam, Oxford University Press, 1986) and ''The World of the Weaver in Northern Coromandel, '' (P. Swarnalatha, Orient Longman, 2005). On 26 December 2004, one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern history, the
Indian Ocean earthquake Indian Ocean earthquake may refer to: * 2000 Indian Ocean earthquake, magnitude 7.8 * 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, estimated magnitude 9.1–9.3 * 2005 Indian Ocean earthquake, magnitude 8.6 * 2006 Indian Ocean earthquake, magnitude 7.7 * 2012 I ...
, struck off the western coast of
Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...
(Indonesia). The
earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...
and subsequent tsunami reportedly killed over 220,000 people around the rim of the
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
. The tsunami devastated the Coromandel Coast, killing many and sweeping away many coastal communities.


Vegetation


Flora

The Coromandel Coast is home to the
East Deccan dry evergreen forests The East Deccan dry evergreen forests is an ecoregion of southeastern India. The ecoregion includes the coastal region behind the Coromandel Coast on the Bay of Bengal, between the Eastern Ghats and the sea. It covers eastern Tamil Nadu, part ...
ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...
, which runs in a narrow strip along the coast. Unlike most of the other
tropical dry forest The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...
Biome A biome () is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. In 1935, Tansley added the ...
regions of India, where the trees lose their leaves during the dry season, the East Deccan dry evergreen forests retain their leathery leaves year round. The Coromandel Coast is also home to extensive
mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...
forests along the low-lying coast and
river delta A river delta is a landform, archetypically triangular, created by the deposition of the sediments that are carried by the waters of a river, where the river merges with a body of slow-moving water or with a body of stagnant water. The creat ...
s, and several important
wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...
s, notably
Kaliveli Lake Kaliveli Lake (Kaliveli Lagoon) or Kazhuveli wetland, is a coastal lake and lagoon with wetlands in the Viluppuram District of Tamil Nadu state, in eastern South India. It is the home of Kaliveli Bird Sanctuary. This lake is on the Coromandel ...
and
Pulicat Lake Pulicat Lake is the second-largest brackish-water lagoon in India (after Chilika Lake), measuring . A major part of the lagoon lies in the Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh. The lagoon is one of three important wetlands that attracts northea ...
, that provide habitat to thousands of migrating and resident birds.


Applications of the name

Four ships of the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
have borne the name after the Indian coast. The
Coromandel Peninsula The Coromandel Peninsula () on the North Island of New Zealand extends north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier protecting the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the west from the Pacific Ocean ...
in New Zealand was named after one of these ships, and the town of
Coromandel, New Zealand Coromandel, () also called Coromandel Town to distinguish it from the wider district, is a town on the Coromandel Harbour, on the western side of the Coromandel Peninsula, which is in the North Island of New Zealand. It is 75 kilometres east of ...
was named after the peninsula.
Coromandel Valley, South Australia Coromandel Valley, referred to locally as Coro, is a semirural south-eastern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It straddles the City of Mitcham and the City of Onkaparinga council areas, with the Sturt River, Adelaide, Sturt River being the b ...
, and its neighbouring suburb, Coromandel East, gained their names from the ship ''
Coromandel Coromandel may refer to: Places India *Coromandel Coast, India ** Presidency of Coromandel and Bengal Settlements **Dutch Coromandel * Coromandel, KGF, Karnataka, India New Zealand *Coromandel, New Zealand, a town on the Coromandel Peninsula *Cor ...
'', which arrived in Holdfast Bay from London in 1837 with 156 English settlers. After the ship reached the shore, some of its sailors deserted, intending to remain behind in South Australia, and took refuge in the hills in the Coromandel Valley region. In Slovene, the
idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that largely or exclusively carries a Literal and figurative language, figurative or non-literal meaning (linguistic), meaning, rather than making any literal sense. Categorized as formulaic speech, formulaic ...
''Indija Koromandija'' (India Coromandel) means a land of plenty, a promised land, a utopia where "Houses are bleached with cheese and covered with cake".
Edward Lear Edward Lear (12 May 1812 – 29 January 1888) was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, who is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limerick (poetry), limericks, a form he popularised. ...
situates his nonsense poem ''The Yonghy Bonghy Bo'' by citing Coromandel on the first line: ''On the Coast of Coromandel''. The
Coromandel Express The Coromandel Express is a superfast express train of Indian Railways. The train runs down the east coast of India between Shalimar railway station, West Bengal, and M. G. R Chennai Central railway station, Tamil Nadu. The train service is ...
is a train of the Indian Railways. The daily train runs down the east coast of India between
Shalimar railway station Shalimar railway station (SHM) is a Railway Terminus located in Shibpur, Howrah of West Bengal. It is one of five large intercity railway stations serving the Kolkata metropolitan region, India. The other stations are Sealdah, Howrah, Kolkat ...
, West Bengal, and
Chennai Central railway station Chennai Central (officially Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station, formerly Madras Central) (station code: MAS), is an NSG–1 category Indian railway station in Chennai railway division of Southern Railway zone. ...
, Tamil Nadu.


See also

*
Coastline of Tamil Nadu The coastline of Tamil Nadu is located on the southeast coast of Indian Peninsula, and forms a part of Coromandel Coast of Bay of Bengal through Pearl Fishery Coast of Indian Ocean and ends near Malabar Coast. It is 1076 km long and is the seco ...
*
Malabar Coast The Malabar Coast () is the southwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. It generally refers to the West Coast of India, western coastline of India stretching from Konkan to Kanyakumari. Geographically, it comprises one of the wettest regio ...
*
Presidency of Coromandel and Bengal Settlements The Presidency of Coromandel and Bengal Settlements was an administrative division of British India, established by the East India Company on 17 July 1682. History In 1658, all the settlements in Bengal and on the Coromandel coast were made sub ...


References


Further reading


External links


Encyclopædia Britannica: Coromandel Coast (region, India)
{{Authority control Coasts of India South India Regions of India Regions of Andhra Pradesh Regions of Tamil Nadu Landforms of Puducherry Landforms of Tamil Nadu Eastern Ghats Natural regions of India Colonial India Danish India Dutch India French India Former Dutch colonies Former French colonies