Cuddalore, also spelt as Kadalur (), is a heavy industries hub, port city, and headquarters of the Cuddalore District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Situated 5.3 km south of Puducherry (union territory), the city was an important port city during the British Raj. Cuddalore district is famous for Pichavaram Mangrove Forest.
While the early history of Cuddalore remains unclear, the city first rose to prominence during the Pallavas' and Medieval Cholas' reign. After the fall of the Cholas, the town was ruled by various dynasties like Pandyas, Vijayanagar Empire, Madurai Nayaks, Thanjavur Nayaks, Thanjavur Marathas, Tipu Sultan, the French and the British Empire. Cuddalore was also a theatre of conflict in the Seven Years' War, witnessing the Battle of Cuddalore in 1758 between the French and British. It has been a part of independent India since 1947. During the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Cuddalore was one of the affected towns, with 572 recorded casualties.
Apart from fishing and port-related industries, Cuddalore houses chemical, pharmacological and energy industries in SIPCOT, an industrial estate set up by the state government. The city is administered by municipal corporation covering 101.6 km2 . It had a population of 308,781 in 2011. Cuddalore is a part of the Cuddalore legislative assembly constituency, which is a part of the Cuddalore Lok Sabha constituency. There are 25 schools, two science colleges and two engineering colleges in the city. There is one government hospital, six municipal maternity homes, and 42 other private hospitals that take care of the citizens' healthcare needs. Roadways are the primary means of transportation, while the town also has rail connectivity. The nearest airport is in Pondicherry Airport, located at 24 km (15 mi) away and the nearest international airport is Chennai International Airport, located 179 km (112 mi) away from the city, and another local airport is located in the district at Neyveli township is Neyveli Airport. The nearest seaport is Cuddalore Port where it handles small cargo ships, and the construction of port entry is underway. The closest major seaport is Karaikal port, located 100 km (62 mi) away from the town. Cuddalore is famous for its educational institutions and medical establishments.
Etymology Before the English took control, Cuddalore (anglicised) was called கூடலூர், Kūṭalūr meaning confluence in Tamil. It is situated on the backwater formed by the confluent estuaries of the rivers viz., Ponnaiyar (South Pennar river flowing through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu), Kedilam, Uppanar and Paravanar. The Cuddalore district historically consisted of Chola Nadu and Nadu Naadu. The name Nadu Naadu meaning middle country may originate from its location between Chola Nadu and Tondaimandalam; or between the Pallavas and the Cholas; or between central territories and the ocean.
History
From ancient times the old town has been a seaport. For two centuries, Cuddalore was subject to several foreign powers including the Netherlands, Portugal, France, and the British. In 1758 Cuddalore was under British control. Later, Britain ruled a significant part of South India (entire Tamil Nadu, parts of present Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka) from this fort (St. David).
In the early 17th century, the Dutch obtained permission from the ruler of Cuddalore to build a fort there, but political pressure from their Portuguese rivals forced them to abandon it.
Later, the French and English came to Cuddalore for trade and business. The French established a trading post up the coast at Pondicherry in 1674, followed in 1690 Fort St. David by the British at Cuddalore.
During the 18th century, various wars between the European powers spilt over to their colonial empires, and their allies, including those in the Indian subcontinent. During this period the French and British fought several times in the area.
In 1746, during First Carnatic War, part of the Austrian Succession War, French forces besieged the British at Fort St. David for several months before being driven off in 1747.
In 1758, during the Seven Years' War, the French took the fort, and there was an inconclusive naval action, the Battle of Cuddalore, off the coast. The fort was later abandoned, in 1760, when the British attacked Pondicherry.
In 1782, during the Second Anglo-Mysore War, the French again took Cuddalore at the time of the American War of Independence and were besieged there in 1783 by the British. During the siege French and British naval forces again clashed off the Cuddalore coast. The siege failed, but the fort was returned to the British in 1795. There were five different naval actions off the coast during this period, all of which were indecisive.Jaques 2007, p. 275
Some Cuddalore streets retain their British names, such as Clive Street, Wellington Street, Sloper Street, Canning Street, Rope Street (Rope Street, Wellington Street, Sloper Street and Canning Street jointly known as Salangukara Village), Lawrence Road and Imperial Road. The Cuddalore Central Prison, opened in 1865, is a historically significant landmark. Subramania Bharati and other political leaders served prison terms there.
Among these, Sloper Street was named after Robert Sloper, a Counsellor of Fort St David, who died at Tranquebar in 1762; his widow Kitoria Sloper was buried in the street's cemetery in 1793. Clive Street recalls Cuddalore's close association with Robert Clive, who served as Deputy Governor of Fort St David in 1756.
The historic burial grounds of Cuddalore Old Town were likewise associated with its street pattern. Records of the British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia identify former cemeteries at Sloper–Wellington Street, Vannarpalayam and other locations in the town.
Colonial-era cemeteries and memorials
Cuddalore contains several historic burial grounds associated with the European commercial, military and administrative communities that developed around Fort St David and Cuddalore Old Town. The surviving inscriptions range from the late seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries and include officials of the East India Company, military officers, merchants, missionaries and individuals connected with the French and Danish settlements of the Coromandel Coast.
Historical cemeteries and memorials of Cuddalore Site Period represented Selected burials or memorials Historical context Erusappa Chetty Street Cemetery Late 17th–early 19th century Mary and Catharine Davis; Vicesimus Griffith; William Read; Robert Misenor; John Hallyburton; Mary Floyer One of the earliest surviving burial grounds of the English settlement. The monuments include members of the Fort St David administration, Company military personnel and individuals connected with the Anglo-French conflicts. Vannarpalayam Cemetery, Pallikuppam 18th century James Hugonin; Sarah De Morgan; John Chisholm Includes James Hugonin, associated with the 1713 crisis at Fort St David during the rebellion of Deputy Governor Richard Raworth, and military burials connected with the wars around Pondicherry. Sloper Street Cemetery Late 18th–early 19th century Unidentified Ordonnateur de Karikal; Kitoria Sloper; Francis Lloyd; John Dougherty; Patrick Gorman Contains a rare French inscription dated 1782 and preserves the name of Robert Sloper, Counsellor of Fort St David, after whom Sloper Street was named. Christ Church, Old Town Late 18th–mid-19th century Robert Rollo; Hamilton Maxwell; R. D. Munro; M. P. Sterling; John Dupont Memorials record military officers, East India Company officials and residents associated with Cuddalore and neighbouring Pondicherry after the destruction of Fort St David. Church of England Cemetery, Old Town 1768–1880 Henry Eden; Elizabeth Cosby; George Gilbert Keble; Ernest William Fallowfield; Immanuel Gottfried Holzberg; Octavius Butler Irvine The cemetery documents the later British civil, military, commercial and missionary community at Cuddalore. Several burials also connect the town with Madras, Tanjore, Tranquebar, Pondicherry and other Company settlements.
Tsunami waves that followed the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake near Sumatra hit India's eastern coast on 26 December 2004 at 8:32 a.m. (IST), resulting in 572 casualties. Several fishing hamlets disappeared, while Silver Beach and the historically significant Cuddalore Port was devastated. Fort St. David survived without damage. On 30 December 2011, Cyclone Thane caused widespread damage to crops and buildings.
Geography Cuddalore is located at 11°45′N 79°45′E / 11.75°N 79.75°E / 11.75; 79.75. It has an average elevation of 6 m (20 ft). The land is completely flat with large black and alluvial soil inland and coarse sand near the seashore. The sandstone deposits in the town are popular. The Pennayar River runs north of the town, while Gadilam River runs across it. Cuddalore is situated at 200 km (120 mi) from the state capital Chennai and 18 km (11 mi) from Puducherry, the neighbouring union territory. The city is nearly equidistant from the Tropic of Cancer and the Equator.
Geology The Cuddalore Formation of the Cauvery Basin received siliciclastic detritus from inland areas of the Southern Granulite Terrain (SGT). It represented continental–fluvial sedimentation in the eastern continental margin of South India during the Miocene. Indian Summer Monsoon was thought to be initiated in the early Miocene and intensified during the middle Miocene causing major climatic shifts in the Indian subcontinent. In the present work, detailed mineralogical and geochemical studies on the siliciclastic Cuddalore Formation have been carried out to understand the provenance and paleoclimatic conditions during the Miocene. The paleocurrent direction, textural immaturity and framework detrital modes of sandstones suggest rapid uplift of basement and sediment source from nearby Madras Block of SGT. Various diagnostic immobile trace element ratios such as Th/Sc, Co/Th, La/Sc, La/Co suggest a tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite–charnockite provenance, and somewhat more felsic composition of source area compared to the present upper continental crust (UCC).
Climate Cuddalore experiences a tropical wet and dry climate (As) under the Köppen climate classification. Cuddalore witnesses heavy rainfall during the North-East monsoon. The weather is pleasant from December to February in Cuddalore, with a climate full of warm days and cool nights. The onset of summer is from March, with the mercury reaching its peak by the end of May and June. The average temperatures range from 37 °C (99 °F) in January to 22.5 °C (72.5 °F) in May and June. Summer rains are sparse and the first monsoon, the South-West monsoon, sets in June and continues till September. North-East monsoon sets in October and continues till January. The rainfall during the South-West monsoon period is much lower than that of North-East monsoon. The average rainfall is 1,400 mm (55 in), most of which is contributed by the North-East monsoon. The highest 24-hour rainfall recorded in Cuddalore was 570 mm on 18 May 1943.
Demographics
According to 2011 census, Cuddalore had a population of 173,636 with a sex-ratio of 1,026 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 17,403 were under the age of six, constituting 8,869 males and 8,534 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 13.22% and 0.3% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the city was 78.92%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The city had a total of 42,174 households. There were a total of 62,115 workers, comprising 561 cultivators, 1,856 main agricultural labourers, 1,464 in household industries, 48,337 other workers, 9,897 marginal workers, 139 marginal cultivators, 952 marginal agricultural labourers, 771 marginal workers in household industries and 8,035 other marginal workers.