Safarnama
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Chennai

Chennai is Madras the port layered over Mylapore the sacred town: Fort St George and its colonial core on one side, the Kapaleeshwarar gopuram and the Pallava shore temples on the other.

Marina

7th c.

Mylapore

Pallava hymns name the Kapaleeshwarar shrine.

1639

Fort St George

The East India Company buys its strip of coast.

1858

Crown rule

The Crown takes Madras over from the Company.

1969

Chennai

Madras state becomes Tamil Nadu; the city later takes its Tamil name.