Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, was once a small fishing village. This region on the coast was previously under the control of the Pallava rulers of South India who used the port at Mylapore to trade in cloth and spices. The Portuguese East India Company built a fort called San Thome in this area in 1522. In 1612 the Dutch East India Company built a settlement in Pulicat further north.
The British East India Company required a convenient location where they could make a fortified compound in the region and so Francis Day and Andrew Cogan, two agents of the British East India Company leased the village of Chennaipatnam from the Raja of Chandragiri, the last ruler of what was left of the great Vijayanagar Kingdom in 1639. Fort St George was built on this location and as trade and commerce grew, the village of Chennaipatnam attracted more residents and grew in size, absorbing nearby settlements such as Triplicane, Chetput, Purasawalkarn and King Egmore. James II of England granted the town a municipal charter in 1688 and Chennai is therefore the earliest municipal corporation in India.
