Madras State was a state in the
Indian Republic, which was in existence during the mid-20th century as a successor to the
Madras Presidency
The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...
of
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...
. The state came into existence on 26 January 1950 when the
Constitution of India
The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India, legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures ...
was adopted and included the present-day
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
,
Kerala
Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
and parts of neighbouring states of
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
and
Karnataka
Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
.
Andhra state
Andhra State (IAST: ; ), created in 1953, was the official name of the State of Andhra Pradesh until 1956. The state was formed from Telugu-speaking districts of the erstwhile Madras State, which form two distinct cultural regions – Rayalas ...
was separated in 1953 and the state was further re-organized when states were redrawn linguistically in
1956
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years.
* January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...
. On 14 January 1969, the state was renamed as Tamil Nadu.
Pre-history
Archaeological evidence points to the region being inhabited by hominids more than 400 millennia ago. Ancient
Tamilakam
Tamilakam () also known as ancient Tamil country as was the geographical region inhabited by the ancient Tamil people, covering the southernmost region of the Indian subcontinent. Tamilakam covered today's Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, La ...
, a region roughly on par with the Madras state, was ruled by a
triumvirate
A triumvirate () or a triarchy is a political institution ruled or dominated by three individuals, known as triumvirs (). The arrangement can be formal or informal. Though the three leaders in a triumvirate are notionally equal, the actual distr ...
of monarchical states,
Cheras,
Cholas and
Pandyas. The kingdoms had significant diplomatic and trade contacts with other kingdoms to the north and
Romans. The region was later ruled by
Kalabhras,
Pallavas,
Hoysalas and
Vijayanagara
Vijayanagara () is a city located in Vijayanagara district of Karnataka state in India.[Vijayanagara](_blank) .
Europeans started to establish trade centers from the 16th century along the eastern coast. By the middle of the 18th century, the
French and the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
were involved in a protracted struggle for military control over South India. After the
Fourth Anglo-Mysore War in 1799 and the end of the
Second Polygar war in 1801, the
British Indians consolidated their power over much of the region and established the Madras State with Madras (
Chennai
Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
) as the capital. The
British Raj
The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent,
*
* lasting from 1858 to 1947.
*
* It is also called Crown rule ...
took control of the region from the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
in 1857. Failure of the summer monsoons and administrative shortcomings of the
Ryotwari
The ryotwari system was a land revenue system in Company rule in India, British India introduced by Thomas Munro, 1st Baronet, Thomas Munro, which allowed the government to deal directly with the cultivator ('ryot') for revenue collection and gav ...
system resulted in two severe famines in the Madras State, the
Great Indian Famine of 1876–1878 and the
Indian famine of 1896–97 which killed millions and the migration to other British countries. The
Indian Independence Movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed.
The first nationalistic ...
gathered momentum in the early 20th century.
Post-independence
After the
Indian Independence in 1947, the erstwhile Madras presidency was integrated into the
Union of India as Madras Province.
The province became Madras state following the adoption of the
Constitution of India
The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India, legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures ...
on 26 January 1950. The state was split in 1953 and further re-organized in 1956.
On 14 January 1969, Madras State was renamed Tamil Nadu.
Geography
Madras state covered an area of and consisted of the present-day
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
and
Kerala
Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
,
Rayalaseema and
Coastal Andhra
Coastal Andhra, also known as Kosta Andhra (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: Kōstā Āndhra), is a geographic region in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, comprising the coastal districts of the state between the East ...
of
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
and
South Canara
South Canara (South Kannada) was a district of the Madras Presidency of British Raj, located at . It comprised the towns of Kassergode and Udipi and adjacent villages, with the administration at Mangalore city. South Canara was one of the mos ...
of
Karnataka
Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
. It was located on the south of the
Indian peninsula, straddled by the
Western Ghats in the west, separated from the
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...
by
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 ...
, 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 ...
in the north-east, the
Eastern Coastal Plains
The Eastern Coastal Plains is a stretch of landmass lying between the eastern part of the Deccan plateau and the Bay of Bengal in India. The plains stretch from the Mahanadi delta to Kaniyakumari at the southern tip of the Indian peninsula with ...
lining the
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region.
Many South Asian and Southe ...
in the east, the
Gulf of Mannar and the
Palk Strait to the south-east, 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), ...
at the southern
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 ...
of the peninsula.
It enclosed
Puducherry and shares an international
maritime border
A maritime boundary is a conceptual division of Earth's water surface areas using physiographical or geopolitical criteria. As such, it usually bounds areas of exclusive national rights over mineral and biological resources,VLIZ Maritime Boun ...
with the
Northern Province of
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
at
Pamban Island. The
Palk Strait and the chain of low sandbars and islands known as
Rama's Bridge separate the region from
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
, which lies off the southeastern coast. The southernmost tip of mainland India is at
Kanyakumari where the Indian Ocean meets the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.
Andhra state
Andhra State (IAST: ; ), created in 1953, was the official name of the State of Andhra Pradesh until 1956. The state was formed from Telugu-speaking districts of the erstwhile Madras State, which form two distinct cultural regions – Rayalas ...
was split from the state in 1953 and the state was further re-organized in
1956
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years.
* January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...
when
Kerala
Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
was formed by the merger of
Travancore-Cochin state (except
Sengottai taluk) with the
Malabar district
Malabar District, also known as British Malabar or simply Malabar was an administrative district on the southwestern Malabar Coast of Bombay Presidency (1792–1800), Madras Presidency (1800–1950) and finally, Madras State (1950–1956) in ...
and
Kasaragod taluk of South Canara district. The southern part of
Travancore-Cochin,
Kanyakumari district, along with Taluk, was transferred to Madras State. The
Laccadive and
Minicoy
Minicoy, locally known as Maliku (), is an island in Lakshadweep, India. Along with Viringili, it is on Maliku atoll, the southernmost atoll of Lakshadweep archipelago. Administratively, it is a census town in the Indian States and territories ...
Islands were separated from
Malabar District
Malabar District, also known as British Malabar or simply Malabar was an administrative district on the southwestern Malabar Coast of Bombay Presidency (1792–1800), Madras Presidency (1800–1950) and finally, Madras State (1950–1956) in ...
to form a new Union Territory namely
Laccadive,
Amindivi, and
Minicoy
Minicoy, locally known as Maliku (), is an island in Lakshadweep, India. Along with Viringili, it is on Maliku atoll, the southernmost atoll of Lakshadweep archipelago. Administratively, it is a census town in the Indian States and territories ...
Islands.
The area shrank to and in 1956.
Demographics
As per the
1951 census, the state had a population of 57,016,002 which later became 35,734,489 in 1953 after the split of Andhra and 30,119,047 in 1956.
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
was the major religion with 86.8% followed by
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
at 9% and
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
at 4%.
After 1953,
Tamil was the major language followed by
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
(spoken in Malabar district before re-organization in 1956) and
Telugu.
Administration and Politics
Early years (1947-54)
O. P. Ramaswamy Reddiyar was the
Premier of Madras Presidency during the Independence and served till 6 April 1949.
P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja was the chief minister till April 1952 till the first elections were held in
1952
Events January–February
* January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses.
* February 6
** Princess Elizabeth, ...
. As laid down by the constitution, the state had 375 seats in the assembly.
In 1952 elections, the
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...
emerged as the single largest party in the
assembly and formed the government with
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972), popularly known as Rajaji or C.R., also known as Mootharignar Rajaji (Rajaji'', the Scholar Emeritus''), was an Indian statesman, writer, lawyer, and Indian independence ...
as the chief minister.
In 1953,
Potti Sriramulu went on a fast until death calling for a separate state for
Telugu speaking people, which led to riots post his death.
Andhra state
Andhra State (IAST: ; ), created in 1953, was the official name of the State of Andhra Pradesh until 1956. The state was formed from Telugu-speaking districts of the erstwhile Madras State, which form two distinct cultural regions – Rayalas ...
was carved out of the Madras state in 1953.
Rajaji removed controls on food grains and introduced a
new education policy based on family vocation in 1953. According to this policy, students had to go to school in the morning and to compulsorily learn the family vocation practiced by their parents after school. It was opposed as casteist and opposed by
Periyar
Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 187924 December 1973), commonly known as Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician. He was the organizer of the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam and is considered the architect o ...
. It was put on hold on 29 July 1953 and dropped altogether on 18 May 1954.
Kamaraj era
On 13 April 1954, K. Kamaraj became the chief minister of Madras state.
The state boundaries were re-organized further in 1956.
Kamaraj opened a primary school for every square mile and eventually made school education free. He expanded the
Midday Meal Scheme
The Mid Day Meal Scheme, officially PM-POSHAN, is a mandatory free school meal programme in India designed to better the nutritional status of school-age children nationwide. The programme supplies free lunches on working days for children in g ...
to cover all public schools. He introduced free school uniforms to weed out caste, creed and class distinctions among school children. The
literacy rate
Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...
went up from 19% to 37% during his tenure.
Major irrigation schemes were planned in Kamaraj's period and more than ten dams and irrigation canals were built across the state.
He established more than 13 industrial estates and brought many industries and research facilities to the state including
Neyveli Lignite Corporation,
BHEL at
Trichy,
Integral Coach Factory and
IIT Madras
The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras or IIT-M) is a public technical university located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the eight public Institutes of Eminence of India. As an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), ...
.
Kamaraj remained chief minister for
three consecutive terms, winning elections in
1957
Events January
* January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany.
* January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch.
* January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...
and
1962
The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War.
Events January
* January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...
.
In 1949,
C. N. Annadurai, a follower of Periyar, formed the
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; ; DMK) is an Indian political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu, where it is currently the ruling party, and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry, where it is currently the main ...
(DMK). On 2 October 1963, he resigned as the chief minister and proposed that all senior Congress leaders should resign from their posts to devote all their energy to the re-vitalization of the congress party which would later be known as the ''Kamaraj Plan''.
Later years (1962-69)
M. Bhaktavatsalam
Minjur Bhakthavatsalam (9 October 1897 – 13 February 1987) was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the chief minister of Madras State from 2 October 1963 to 6 March 1967. He was the last Congress chief minister of T ...
became the chief minister post the resignation of Kamaraj.
During his tenure, the state witnessed
Anti-Hindi agitations in response to the
Union Government's
Official Languages Act passed in 1963 which planned to introduce
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
as compulsory language and to rejected the demands to make Tamil the medium of instruction in colleges. On 7 March 1964, Bhaktavatsalam recommended the introduction of a
three-language formula comprising English, Hindi and Tamil.
The amendment to the original act was passed in November 1967, accepting the three language formula where-in
English will continue to be an additional language used for official communications. The
Anti-Hindi agitations of Tamil Nadu led to the rise of Dravidian parties that formed Tamil Nadu's first government in
1967
Events January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...
.
In 1967, the DMK won the elections and formed the first non-Congress government under Annadurai. The 1967 elections also resulted in an
electoral fusion
Electoral fusion in the United States is an arrangement where two or more United States political parties on a ballot list the same candidate, allowing that candidate to receive votes on multiple party lines in the same election.
Electoral fus ...
among the non-
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
parties to avoid a split in the
Opposition votes with former chief minister Rajagopalachari leaving the Congress to found the right-wing
Swatantra Party
The Swatantra Party was an Indian classical liberal political party that existed from 1959 to 1974. It was founded by C. Rajagopalachari in reaction to what he felt was the Jawaharlal Nehru-dominated Indian National Congress's increasingly so ...
. In 1967, the state government legalized
self-respect marriages and announced the distribution of
rice
Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...
at subsidized prices through the
public distribution system.
In 1969, the state government proposed renaming the state to Tamil Nadu and on 14 January 1969, the state was renamed Tamil Nadu.
See also
*
List of chief ministers of Tamil Nadu
The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the head of government, chief executive of the Indian Federated state, state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the Governor (India), governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de ...
References
{{States of India on 26 January 1950
Former states and territories of India
History of Tamil Nadu (1947–present)
1950 establishments in India
1969 disestablishments in India