Chennai district
District of Tamil Nadu in India
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Through India, East India Company and Tehsil
Chennai district was originally created as Madras district by the British East India Company in 1798 for the revenue administration of the presidency town of Madras. The district has been existence since then barring a short period between 1860 and 1870 when the Madras district was abolished and its area administered as part of Chingleput district. Chennai district comprises only a single municipal body - the Greater Chennai Corporation and for most its history, it has been the smallest, most populous, most urbanised as well as the most densely populated district in the state.
As of 2011, the district had a population of 67,48,026 with a sex ratio of 989 females for every 1,000 males. In 2018, the district's limits were expanded, aligning with that of the newly expanded Greater Chennai Corporation, which had annexed adjacent municipalities. This resulted in the area being increased from 175 square kilometres (68 mi2) to 426 square kilometres (164 mi2). The district is divided into three revenue divisions and sixteen taluks.
Etymology
The name Chennai was derived from Damarla Chennappa Nayak, the father of a general of the Vijayanagar Empire.
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Geography
Chennai district covers an area of 426 km2 located on the Eastern Coastal Plains of India. It is situated on the northeastern corner of Tamil Nadu along the Coramandel coast, a region bounded by the Bay of Bengal and is surrounded inland by the districts of Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram and Chengalpattu. It lies between 12°59' and 13°9' of the northern latitude and 80°12' and 80°19' of the eastern longitude at an average altitude of 6 metres above sea level on a 'sandy shelving breaker swept' beach. Terrain slope varies from 1:5000 to 1:10,000. The terrain is very flat with contours ranging from 2 m to 10 m above mean sea level with a few isolated hillocks in the southwest beyond the district limits at St. Thomas Mount, Pallavaram and Tambaram.
The district runs inland in a rugged semi-circular fashion and its coastline is about 25.60 km (2.5% of the total coastline of Tamil Nadu). Because of its strategic location and economic importance, it is referred to as the "Gateway of South India." The drainage system includes two rivers, namely, Cooum (flowing in the northern part) and Adyar (flowing in the southern part), a canal (the Buckingham), and a stream (the Otteri Nullah) slicing the district into several islands.
The district falls under Seismic Zone III indicating a moderate risk of earthquake. Geologically the district is divided into three regions, namely, sandy, clayey and hard-rock regions. The soil comprises clay, shale and sandstone.
Of the total land area, reserved forests cover 2.71 km2 and is concentrated in and around the Guindy National Park region, one of the few national parks in the world located within a city. The forest cover of the district is as follows:
Climate
Chennai has a Tropical savanna climate (Köppen: As, bordering Aw).
History
On 2 November 1798, the territory under the Corporation of Madras and the villages of the jaghire of Chingleput that formed part of the jurisdiction of the Recorder's Court at Madras were made the charge of a separate Sheristadar directly subordinate to the Board of Revenue. A few years later, the Sheristadar, originally called "Land Customer", was elevated to the status of a District Collector with his duties having been extended to the collection of abkari and sea customs, which were previously under a "Sea Customer".The arrangement lasted till 1860, when the district of Madras was merged with that of Chingleput. The old boundaries were subsequently restored in July 1870.
The Collectorate of Madras District functioned from 1807 to 1992 from Bentinck Building, named after Lord William Bentinck, who served as Governor of Madras from 1803 to 1807 and Governor-General of India from 1834 to 1835. In 1992, the building - a heritage structure on Rajaji Salai was demolished. A new collectorate building, M. Singaravelar Maligai named in honour of a trade union leader was built at the same spot.
Until 2011, the boundaries of Chennai district were co-terminus with that of the Greater Chennai Corporation. However, on 1 October 2011, the Chennai Corporation was expanded to include 25 village and 8 town panchayats and 9 municipalities from Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur districts while the revenue administrations of these newly-incorporated areas continued under existing arrangements. However, due to coordination issues, in 2018, the boundaries of Chennai district were regularized by incorporating the revenue administrations of these areas in Chennai district.
The city district of Madras originally consisted of a single taluk but in 1951, for administrative reasons, was sub-divided into a Madras North and Madras South taluks with the Poonamallee High Road forming the boundary between the two taluks and a sub-taluk (firka) comprising of 30 revenue villages including the taluk headquarters that had been transferred to Madras District from the Saidapet taluk of Chingleput district in 1946.In 1971, the number of taluks was increased to five - Madras North-West, Madras North-East, Madras Central, Madras South-West and Madras South-East. The taluks were subsequently renamed as Egmore-Nungambakam, Fort-Tondiarpet, Mambalam-Guindy, Mylapore-Triplicane and Perambur-Purasawalkam. The district was completely reorganized into 10 taluks in 2013. In 2018, with the addition of revenue villages from the Tiruvallur and Kanchipuram districts and expansion of the city district's boundaries, the number of taluks was increased to 16.
Demographics
According to 2011 census, Chennai district had a population of 4,646,732 in unexpanded old limits area of 176 sq.km. with a sex ratio of 989 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 16.78% and 0.22% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the district was 81.27%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. With the expanded limits to 426 sq. km. Chennai district had a population of 6,748,026 as per 2011 census data.
The district had a total of 1,154,982 households. There were a total of 1,817,297 workers, being 10,210 cultivators, 10,251 main agricultural labourers, 29,143 in household industries, 1,569,950 other workers, 197,743 marginal workers, 4,244 marginal cultivators, 3,423 marginal agricultural labourers, 8,202 marginal workers in household industries and 181,874 other marginal workers.
Religion
Administration and politics
In 2013, five taluks on the district were split to create five new ones: Velachery, Purasawalkam, Ayanavaram, Aminjikarai and Guindy.
In January 2018, the state government announced that the district will be expanded to match the boundaries of the Greater Chennai Corporation. This integrated six additional taluks from Tiruvallur and Kanchipuram districts into the Chennai district. The new divisions and taluks of the district are:
Revenue divisions and taluks
- North Chennai Revenue Division, headquartered at Tondiarpet, contains taluks of Tiruvottiyur, Madhavaram, Perambur, Tondiarpet, and Purasaiwalkam.
- Central Chennai Revenue Division, headquartered at Ambattur, contains the taluks of Mambalam, Egmore, Aminjikarai, Ayanavaram, Kolathur, Ambattur, and Maduravoyal.
- South Chennai Revenue Division, headquartered at Guindy, contains the taluks of Mylapore, Guindy, Velachery, Alandur, and Sholinganallur.