Fort St George & Madras Town, Antique Plan 1746

Antique 1746 plan of British era Fort St George & Madras town. This is a hand-colored antique copper engraved plan on handmade paper, it measures 39 x 26cm. Madras (Chennai) got its name from Madraspatnam. Which was a tiny fishing village in the southern part of India where the British settlement first began on the eastern coast. Around 5 km to the south was the Portuguese settlement of San Thome. Because of fierce trade and military rivalries from the Portuguese, French, and Dutch, the British decided to build a fort in 1653.

Chiefly to protect their interest, and named it Fort St George. In 1746 the French attacked and seized the Fort and captured the city. After a treaty held in Europe in 1749, the Fort and the city were returned to the British. The French attempted to repeat the same feat in 1759 but were badly repulsed by this time the well-armed Britishers. The Portuguese settlement that was further south to Fort St George came under the control of the British in around 1749.

Read more about Fort St. George. See my post- Antique Map San Thome Fort Madras

Did you know- from a tiny fishing village in 1639 Chennai, today is a bustling metropolis.