Fort St. George, the earliest settlement of the british in india, is the place from where the city of madras, or chennai, began to expand into its present form. the fort complex has some of the important and interesting spots associated with the colonial history of the city - the first part of a walk around fort st.george is here. lets continue our little peek around the fort with some more spots in this second part.
robert clive, who arrived as a teenager in madras in 1744, spent his early years in the fort as a junior clerk for the east india company. after enlisting in the british army and quickly making his mark, he married his friend's sister in st mary's church and lived in what was known as the 'Great House', right across the church, inside fort. st george.
the house was originally built by an armenian merchant in the early 1700s, and was let out to clive and his wife in 1753. after he left back to england, the east india company bought the house and it was used as the admiralty court, resulting in the house being called both 'admiralty house' or 'clive house'. it was subsequently also the governor's residence in the fort and state functions were held there.
the house is presently one of the most well preserved buildings inside the fort, and the archaelogical society of india maintains it well and uses it for its offices. when one sees the high ceilings and giant pillars of the hall in the first floor, it is easy to understand why this would have been called the 'great house'. the square paned windows open up to a view of the st marys church opposite the house.
another well known occupant of the fort was arthur wellesley. wellesley, who was already serving in the british army, came to madras in 1797/98 when his brother was the governor general of india. arthur's regiment was part of the troops that were chosen to march on srirangapatnam for the final battle with tipu sultan, where the latter was defeated and killed. returning to england with the prominence and wealth amassed from all his military campaigns in india, he would subsequently be the one to defeat napolean at the historic battle of waterloo, and later become the british prime minister. all that remains now of the big house he lived in, is just crumbling ruins and the roots of a banyan tree keeping it company.
the clive house and wellesley house both stand in charles street, which should have been an important one in its heyday. going further down charles street, at its end, stands the santhome gate. fort st. george had a total of six gates, in different directions. the southernmost gate was the san thomé gate. (we learn that it is san thomé, pronounced like san-tho-may, and not as san-'thom', as most of us in chennai are used to saying.) this gate led to san thomé, the portugese settlement south of the fort st george, which was older than the british settlement inside the fort. the gate served as access to people going back and forth between the two settlements, like traders, visitors, etc. today the gate is permanently closed and is under the control of the indian army.
walking up till the northwestern part of the fort brings us to st. george's gate. this is one of the places in the fort where you can see the ramparts really up close, for there are stairs on two sides leading up the walls. once you climb up you can walk up a stretch of the wall and see the tree lined periphery of the fort. (and get the satisfaction that there is, after all, still so much of green cover left in this city.)
by the time of reaching the arsenal and subsequently, this st george's gate, the rain came down with such a force that is rarely seen in this city, making everyone soaked to the bone despite umbrellas.
the much needed rains made everyone happy of course, but unfortunately meant that not much time could be spent around the last couple of spots, and not that good pics to be had either - but it was nevertheless a very interesting and well spent morning.
please note : the fort is the headquarters of the tamil nadu government, and houses its state assembly and offices of ministers and bureaucrats. many parts are also under the control of the army or navy. visitors to the fort are allowed, but the most accessible areas are the fort museum and the church. for the rest of the areas, please follow directions from the authorities. the photos posted here were taken during an organised heritage walk of the fort, so not all the areas above may be accessible to the public on any given day. see part 1 of the fort walk here .
robert clive, who arrived as a teenager in madras in 1744, spent his early years in the fort as a junior clerk for the east india company. after enlisting in the british army and quickly making his mark, he married his friend's sister in st mary's church and lived in what was known as the 'Great House', right across the church, inside fort. st george.
the 'clive house' or the admiralty house inside fort st.george
the great hall in the first floor of the clive house
another well known occupant of the fort was arthur wellesley. wellesley, who was already serving in the british army, came to madras in 1797/98 when his brother was the governor general of india. arthur's regiment was part of the troops that were chosen to march on srirangapatnam for the final battle with tipu sultan, where the latter was defeated and killed. returning to england with the prominence and wealth amassed from all his military campaigns in india, he would subsequently be the one to defeat napolean at the historic battle of waterloo, and later become the british prime minister. all that remains now of the big house he lived in, is just crumbling ruins and the roots of a banyan tree keeping it company.
the crumbling ruins of arthur wellesley's house.
the san thomé gate, on the southern side of the fort which once led to the portugese settlement outside.
one of those buildings that seem to be in hearteningly good shape inside the fort is the arsenal. The approach to the arsenal is from what seems to be the rear side of the building, and on walking through a small tunnel entrance, one reaches the other side which has a tree lined courtyard. The building is a big one extending on both sides as one stands in the courtyard, and on turning around you see the front facade with a beautiful staircase rising on either side. There is a plaque in the centre which says it was the madras arsenal from 1772 to 1931, and later belonging to the military engineering services.
the madras arsenal building. there is a similar staircase on the side of the tunnel entrance, not seen in the pic.
by the time of reaching the arsenal and subsequently, this st george's gate, the rain came down with such a force that is rarely seen in this city, making everyone soaked to the bone despite umbrellas.
st george's gate / wall
the much needed rains made everyone happy of course, but unfortunately meant that not much time could be spent around the last couple of spots, and not that good pics to be had either - but it was nevertheless a very interesting and well spent morning.
please note : the fort is the headquarters of the tamil nadu government, and houses its state assembly and offices of ministers and bureaucrats. many parts are also under the control of the army or navy. visitors to the fort are allowed, but the most accessible areas are the fort museum and the church. for the rest of the areas, please follow directions from the authorities. the photos posted here were taken during an organised heritage walk of the fort, so not all the areas above may be accessible to the public on any given day. see part 1 of the fort walk here .
Wellesley also fought the Mahrattas at the Battle of Assaye, which he called the fiercest battle in his life. He didnt play a major role in the battle again Tipu (there is a story that he got lost and was rescued by Col. Colin Mackenzie)
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