Tanjore District (Madras Presidency)

Tanjore District
District of the Madras Presidency
←
1799–1950 →

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Capital Negapatam(1799-1845)
Tranquebar(1845-1860)
Tanjore (1860-1950)
History
 • Establishment of the district 1799
 • Modern Thanjavur District 1950

Tanjore District was one of the districts in the erstwhile Madras Presidency of British India. It covered the area of the present-day districts of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam and the Aranthangi taluk of Pudukkottai District in Tamil Nadu. Apart from being a bedrock of Hindu orthodoxy, Tanjore was a centre of Chola cultural heritage and one of the richest and most prosperous districts in Madras Presidency.

Tanjore district was constituted in 1799 when the Thanjavur Maratha ruler Serfoji II ceded most of his kingdom to the British East India Company in return for his restitution on the throne. Tanjore district, which is situated on the Cauvery Delta, is one of the richest rice-growing regions in South India. It was scarcely affected by famines such as the Great Famine of 1876–78.

Geography

The Tanjore District was bounded by the districts of South Arcot in the north, Trichinopoly to the west and south and the Pudukkottai State and Madura and later, Ramnad districts to the south-east. The Kollidam River formed the long northern boundary with South Arcot. The Bay of Bengal bounded it on the east.

The district was made of four well-marked physical tracts - the fertile plains to the north between the Kollidam and the Kaveri known as the "Old Delta" which was naturally irrigated by the rivers through a system of anaicuts and comprising the whole of the taluks of Shiyali, Mayavaram and Kumbakonam, the northern part of Mannargudi and Nannilam and the eastern part of Tanjore taluk; the plains to the south of the Kaveri river covering the southern part of Nannilam and Mannargudi taluks known as the "New Delta" for the reason that these tracts were only recently brought under irrigation by numerous manmade canals from the Kaveri and Kollidam and its tributaries and which were less fertile than the Old Delta; the arid Vallam plateau which covered the western part of Tanjore and Pattukkottai taluks and the Vedaranyam salt pans the largest of its kind in the Madras Presidency that extended for about thirty miles in length and four or five miles in width from Point Calimere to Adiramapatnam covering the southern portion of Thiruthiraipoondi taluk and eastern half of Pattukkottai taluk. There were two inhabited islands situated within the confines of the district - those of Devicottah situated at the mouth of the Kollidam and Vinayagateru near Kumbakonam.

Most of the landholdings in Tanjore District were inam or mirasdari land, the district had the largest proportion of land under mirasdars. There were few large zamindaris, like Gandharvakottai, Kallakottai and Konur situated near the Pudukkottai border, and Ukkadai and Poondi, all of them ruled by descendants of Kallar chieftains to whom they were givens as fiefs by the Thanjavur Nayak or Thanjavur Maratha kings. But the bulk of land was held by mirasdars who leased it on regular tenures to pannaiyals or tenants who in turn cultivated the land with the help of labourers.

History

The Brihadeeswara Temple at Tanjore

Tanjore District was inhabited at least since the first millennium B. C. and was the traditional homeland of the Chola Dynasty. The Early Cholas ruled Tanjore from the 3rd century B. C. to the 3rd century A. D. The town of Poompuhar or Kaveripoompattinam served as an important port trading with Rome. Following the Kalabhra interregnum, Tanjore recovered its past glory under the Pallavas and reached the zenith of its prosperity under the Medieval Cholas and Later Cholas. In the 13th century, Tanjore was annexed by the Pandyas who were later defeated by Malik Kafur. Tanjore was ruled for brief periods by the Delhi Sultanate and the Madurai Sultanate, till the 15th century, when it was conquered by the Vijayanagar kings under whom it recovered much of its glory. Tanjore was a part of the Vijayanagar Empire and its successors, the Madurai Nayaks and the Thanjavur Nayaks, until 1674, when it was conquered by Venkoji a brother of Chattrapathi Shivaji, who founded the Thanjavur Maratha kingdom. The British East India Company began to play a major part in the affairs of the region from 1749 onwards. In the 1760s and 1770s, the Thanjavur Maratha ruler, the Nawab of Carnatic and other major powers of the region were brought under the British sphere of influence. In 1799, the British East India Company assisted the deposed Thanjavur Maratha king Serfoji II in regaining his throne. In return for British assistance, Serfoji II retained his hold over Tanjore city and ceded the rest of his kingdom to the British East India Company. Tanjore city was eventually annexed by the British as per the Doctrine of Lapse in 1855 on the death of his son Shivaji without a surviving male heir. Tanjore District was created in about 1800, its limits almost the same as that of the preceding Thanjavur Maratha kingdom.

Demographics

Vaishnavite Brahmin students at a Gurukulam in Tanjore, c.a. 1909
Historical population
YearPop.±%
1871 1,973,731—    
1881 2,130,383+7.9%
1891 2,228,114+4.6%
1901 2,245,029+0.8%
1911 2,362,239+5.2%
Sources:
  • Imperial Gazetter of India, Volume 23. Clarendon Press. 1908. 

Tanjore District covered a total area of 9,600 square kilometres (3,710 sq mi). It had a population of 2,245,029 in 1901. The population density was 234 inhabitants per square kilometre (605/sq mi). As per the 1901 census statistics, Tanjore was the fifth most populous district in the Madras Presidency and the second most densely populated after Madras city. It also had the third highest adult literacy rate (10%) in the Presidency after Madras and Nilgiris, second highest male literacy rate (21%) after Madras city and the seventh highest female literacy rate.

According to the 1901 census, 91 percent of the population was Hindu, 5 percent Muslim and 4 percent Christian. Among Hindus, Paraiyars (310,391), Vanniyars (235,406), Vellalars (212,168), Kallars (188,463), Pallars (159,855), Valaiyars (137,216), and Brahmins (118,882) were the most numerous. Kallars were mainly found in the western part of Tanjore and Pattukkottai taluks. Tanjore had the third highest Brahmin population in the Madras Presidency (more than 6%) after South Canara and Ganjam and the highest among the Tamil-speaking districts. Most of the Muslims were Marakkayars or Labbais and concentrated in Kumbakonam taluk where they formed the majority in the towns of Ayyampettai, Rajagiri and Pandaravadai apart from Koothanallur in Mannargudi taluk. They were also found in large numbers in the Negapatam and Pattukkottai taluks. More than a third of the total Christian population of the district lived in Tanjore taluk. There were a total of about 600 Jains chiefly concentrated in the Tanjore and Mannargudi taluks. The district was known for its Hindu orthodoxy and several historic Chola temples dedicated to Agamic gods and most of the Padal Petra Sthalams, shrines sung about in the devotional hymns of the Saivite Nayanmars were located here. There was an Advaitic Sankara mutt in Kumbakonam and Saivite mutts in Thiruvaduthurai, Thiruppanandal and Dharmapuram apart from many Veda pathashalas. The chief Muslim places of worship were located in Tanjore and Muttupet apart from the Nagore dargah.

Tamil was spoken as mother tongue by an overwhelming majority of the population while Telugu was spoken by about 3%. Other languages spoken include Marathi (13,651) and Saurashtrian or Patnuli.

Taluks

A 1928 Map of the Thanjavur Maratha kingdom. The boundaries correlate almost exactly with that of the Tanjore District of British India.

As of 1901, Tanjore District was made up of nine taluks.

Administration

The administration of the district was under a District Collector who was from the Indian Civil Service. The District Collector of Tanjore resided at Vallam. The district was sub-divided into six divisions, some of them administered by British civil servants and the rest by Indian Deputy-Collectors. The following were the sub-divisions of the district

As of 1901, there were five municipalities in the district: Kumbakonam, Tanjore, Mannargudi, Mayavaram and Negapatam. From 1800 to 1840, the District Collector of Tanjore was also the agent of Pudukkottai state. However, Pudukkottai was later transferred to the jurisdiction of Madura and then Trichinopoly.

Economy

During British times, Tanjore District was famous for its metal work. Brass, copper and silver utensils were manufactured in large quantities. The South Indian Railway Workshops were established at Negapatam in the 1860s. The chief centres of land trade were Tanjore, Kumbakonam, Mayavaram and Mannargudi while the chief centres of sea trade were Tranquebar, Muttupet, Negapatam, Adiramapattinam and Ammapatam. The town of Kumbakonam was known for its silk sarees and rice and flour mills. It was also one of the leading producers of betel leaves and nuts. Tanjore city was known for silk-weaving, lace, embroidery, jewellery, pithwork and manufacture of metal work and musical instruments.

List of Collectors

The list of district collectors of Tanjore from its formation in December 1799 till the abolition of Madras Province and its conversion to a state on January 26, 1950 is given below:

Sources

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