Chennai is not a tamil but telugu word

[vsubbu48]

Share:

Facebook X Bluesky LinkedIn WhatsApp Email Share Link

Shri JBP More is a scholar in history with a doctorate in South Indian history. In his interview given to Rediff.com he has contended that Chennai is not a Tamil but Telugu word. Madras is a Tamil name and the name was wrongly changed to Chennai under the impression that it was a British name. Here is the link to the interesting interview.

'There's no word like Chennai in Tamil' - Rediff.com India News

 

[Naina_Marbus]

Shri JBP More is a scholar in history with a doctorate in South Indian history. In his interview given to Rediff.com he has contended that Chennai is not a Tamil but Telugu word. Madras is a Tamil name and the name was wrongly changed to Chennai under the impression that it was a British name. Here is the link to the interesting interview.

'There's no word like Chennai in Tamil' - Rediff.com India News

In Tamilnadu, 90% of the Tamil film directors of the 1950-s and 1960-s were Telugu-speaking: P.Pulliah, D.Yoganand, B.N.Reddy, Sridhar, K.S.Gopalakrishnan, Ch.Narayanamoorthy, L.V.Prasad, Madhavan, Y.V.Rao, K.S.Prakash Rao, T.Prakash Rao, Chanakya etc.

A large number of the Tamil movies’ Heroines from the 1950-s till today are Telugus. E.g.: Banumathy, Savitri, Kannamba, Jamuna, Anjali Devi, Devika……

In Tamil Nadu , influential rabble-rouser members of the DK and DMK parties are either Telugus (speak Telugu at home) or have Telugu background. Karunanidhi once made the ridiculous comment that Jayalalithaa is not a Tamil, but a Kannadiga, hiding the fact that he himself is not a Tamil and, in fact, had migrated from Andhra Pradesh. V.Goplasamy (vaiko) the firebrand pro-LTTE politician who thrives on Sri Lankan Tamils issue is not a Tamil, but is from a Telugu-speaking family. All his family members speak Telugu. Actor-turned-politician Vijayakanth, leader of the Desiya Murpokki Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) is also one of Telugu origin.

Take any of these politicians and look at his or her statements. They give the impression that he or she lives and dies for the Tamil language and the Tamil-speaking people. Any one wanting to win an election takes an extreme position on the twin-issues of primacy of Tamil language and Tamilian aspirations.
It is no surprise that when Karunanidhi was in power, he was surrounded by a coterie of Telugus, and clearly had a vested interest in changing the name of Madras to a Telugu name Chennai, while pretending to cater to the aspirations of the Tamils.

The situation is unprecedented anywhere else in India.[FONT=&quot]The No.1 Tamil movie star until recently was MGR, a keralite. Today's No.1 Rajnikanth, is a Maharashtrian.[/FONT] Non-Hindi politicians cannot make it in any of the Hindi-speaking states. Non-Marathi actors can not make it in Marathi movies. A person whose mother tongue is not Bengali can never aspire to be the Chief Minister of West Bengal.

 

[Brahmanyan]

True, Chennai is not a Tamil word , nor Madras. Chennai is derived from Chennappattanam named after Chennappa Nayak father of Damarla Venkatapathy Nayak, Local chieftain under Rajah of Chandragiri, who controlled the entire coastal country from Pulicat in the north to the Portuguese settlement of Santhome. The settlement which had grown up around Fort St. George was named as Chennapatanam.

The name Madras has many stories for its origin. The one I would like to believe is the name must have some relation to Madre de Deus (Mother of God) church built by the wealthiest Portuguese family of the time in São Tomé de Meliapore – the Madeiros.dates back to XVI century, unfortunately demolished/replaced.

When the English East India Company came there was neither Chennapatnam, nor Madras Patnam existed. The place that was granted on two years lease to Francis Day and Andrew Cogan of East India Company by the Nayak to establish their factory and fort was called Narimedu Kuppam, a fisherman's settlement. The East India Company opened their establishment on 22 August 1639, ( exactly 375 years ago).

Interestingly on 22 August 2014 I was in Chennai to attend a wedding. My son and I used the opportunity to search for the oldest Church "Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Luz" (Our Lady of Light,) locally known as “Laz Church”. It is thought to be the oldest Portuguese church in Madras, built in 1516. I was happy to find, (with some difficulty) the oldest church in Madras/Chennai. I am only sorry the local population is oblivious of the history behind this beautiful church built by Portuguese, who occupied the Meliapor/São Tomé de Meliapor
in Mylapore in 1522 .

Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.

 

[tbs]

hi

even chennai tamil is not tamil....its something different tamil from madurai sangam tamil...

 

[Naina_Marbus]

Note that Madras is pronounced as med-ras.


[FONT=&quot]English records tell us that the area which was given to the East India Company in 1639 by the Telugu Nayak Damarla Venkatappa was known as ‘jackal’s ground’ or Nari Medu i.e. mound of jackals. The area given was perhaps a kuppam ( inside the Telugu Nayak’s ‘empire’) - hence Narimedu Kuppam. There probably was a prominent local tamil fisherman-chieftain in the area who was endearingly referred to by the local folks as Narimedu Rasa, or just Medu_Rasa. After acquiring the kuppam, when the English East India Company factotums settled in the area, they perforce needed local help to get around, and so perhaps ingratiated themselves with our friend Medu_Rasa. Frequent mention of medurasa’s name among themselves ( ie. among the East India Company personnel) got corrupted as Meduras, and subsequently also got transposed as the name of the locale. It was this founding of meduras kuppam by the English on the ‘medu’ in 1639 which led to the growth of Meduras-> Medras -> Madras into a big modern city.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]

Kuppam by definition is a small village of fishermen

 

[prasad1]

The original opinion quoted Vsubbuji is very exhaustive and to the point, with corroborating evidence. It is compelling argument, without too much speculation.

 

[vsubbu48]

Shri Brahmanyan,

Sir, this has been disputed by Dr More as he found no evidence in Tamil or Telugu inscriptions/ literatures of that period that the place was named after the Portugese church..

 

[Brahmanyan]

Shri Brahmanyan,

Sir, this has been disputed by Dr More as he found no evidence in Tamil or Telugu inscriptions/ literatures of that period that the place was named after the Portugese church..

Dear Sri Subbu,

I have been reading many sources on the rule of Portuguese in Madras/Chennai prior to arrival of Englishmen. But I have not maintained written notes of all the information collected. There are quite a number of speculative opinions given on the origin of the name Madras by Portuguese sources also. Portuguese were there One Hundred fifty years before the Englishmen came to Madras 1639. Interestingly " The Illustrated Guide of South Indian Railways" Published in 1926 gives another version by writing "There has been considerable speculation as to the origin of the word Madras, the most generally accepted theory being that it is derived from Madre dios, the supposed name of the old Armenian Church of St Mary in George Town". This seems to be factually wrong, since it is claimed that the Portuguese Church of "Madre Dios" was built in Mylapore (São Tomé de Meliapor) area by the rich Portuguese Madeira ("Madra") Family.

Warm Regards,
Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.

 

[vsubbu48]

Shri Brahmanyan.

Any way, it is good that Madras was not captured by the Portugese. The people escaped their cruel inquisition, which was inflicted on the Goans.

 

[dravidabarathiyar]

Andhra..Telengana..you name it...was an extended Madras presidency.