Welcome back to ILF Radio! In today’s episode, we set sail to “the gateway of South India”, to the shores of Madras, presently known as Chennai, where in 1639, a small strip of land on the Coromandel coast was given to the British East India company to set up a warehouse for traded goods. On this unremarkable strip of land was eventually established Fort St. George – the seat of British colonial power in South India!

The establishment of Fort St. George was the cornerstone that laid the foundation for the city of Madras which grew into one of India’s very first metropolitan cities. The story of its development from an obscure fishing hamlet into the first British Presidency in India is quite puzzling yet most remarkable. We’re most delighted to have with us Ashmitha Athreya, operations head and lead story teller at Madras Inherited to walk us through this opening chapter of the history of Madras!

Links to key heritage sites from today’s episode:

- Plan of Fort St. George: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/FortStGeorgePophamColonyJohnHuntMap.gif

- Artistic representations of the early fort on the Coromandel Coast: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/South_East_View_of_Fort_St_George%2C_Madras_-_British_Library_P942.jpg

-Tamil Nadu Legislative assembly building

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Fort_St._George%2C_Chennai_2.jpg

- Clive House

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Clive_House.jpg

- St Mary’s Church

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/St._Mary%27s_Church%2C_Chennai_%281%29.jpg

- View of the fort from the beach showing St. Mary’s steeple (date unknown)

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