Wall Tax Road, Chennai

V. O. C. Salai
வா . உ. சி. சாலை
Wall Tax Road
Maintained by Corporation of Chennai
South end Poonamallee High Road—Chennai Central junction at Park Town, Chennai

Wall Tax Road, also known officially as V. O. C. Salai, is a road in Chennai, India, adjacent to the Chennai Central railway station. The road runs parallel to the railway tracks of the station and borders George Town on the west. The eastern entrance of the terminus lies on the road.[1] The road is named after the wall built as a protective measure by the British in 1772–1773, which still remains partially.

History

Plan of Fort St George and the city of Madras in 1726.

After being under the French control for a brief period from 1746 to 1748, the city of Madras was returned to the British following the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.[2][3] Soon after the treaty, the British began planning to strengthen Fort St. George and its protective Esplanade. The attacks by Hyder Ali in 1767 catalysed the process, which resulted in the building of a protective wall around the new Black Town, including the neighbourhoods such as Muthialpettah and Peddunaickenpettah (parts of the present-day George Town), located at the northern and western sides of the Fort.[4] The Black Town Wall, as it was known then, was conceived by the company's chief engineer John Call[5] and completed in 1772 by Paul Benfield,[6] a contractor with the British government bidding about ₹ 500,000. With the Fort to the south and the sea to the east, the wall with 17 bastions ran for about 3.5 miles.[5][7] Some of the remnants of the bastions, in which debtors and prisoners were believed to have been confined, are still found along Old Jail Road. The wall also had several gates, including Pully, Boatmen's, Trivatore, Ennore, Elephant, Chuckler's and Hospital gates. However, only one of them, the Elephant Gate, which was then used to load and unload goods transported in trams, remains today.[7] During the 1782 war with Hyder Ali, with the exception of Monegar Choultry, all buildings near the wall were destroyed by the government.[8]

The wall originally ran from Cochrane Canal on the northern side, now known as the Buckingham Canal, to the junction of Poonamalle High Road and Madras Central railway station on the southern side. The outer side of the wall had provisions measuring about 600 yards for setting up a clear field for fire in the event of a future attack,[9][10] which was later developed into People's Park and a railway goods shed named Salt Cotaurs in 1859. A mini-fort with gun emplacements was built at the sea-end side of the wall, and the fort was named Clive Battery, after Edward Clive, governor of Madras from 1799 to 1803, which was later demolished to build a flyover connecting Royapuram and Rajaji Salai.[10] A 50-feet road was built on the inner side of the wall to facilitate connectivity.[7] When the road was completed, the government decided to impose the cost of the newly laid road on the public in the form of tax, but the people refused to pay it. Thus, the tax was never collected.[11] This eventually lead to the road acquiring its name.[7]

The present-day road

Over the years, the area has been dominated by business community such as Chettiars, Naickers and North Indian community. The road remained the entertainment hub of pre-Independence era. There were three theatres on the road, namely, Otrai Vadai, Empress and Padmanabha. None of these is existent, with the closure of the last one, the Padmanabha theatre, in 2007.[7]

Today, the road remains partly commercial and partly residential. Commercial activities in and around the road include parcel services, hotels and lodges. There are several streets branching from the road and all enjoy similar business activities. Mint Street, which housed mint in the early 19th century, houses the government printing press. The road is also known for its prominence in bamboo products such as baskets, mats and other artefacts, a commercial activity established on the road since Independence. The Andhra Pradesh bus stand, which had been used by buses to Andhra Pradesh before the opening of Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus, is located opposite to Padmanabha Theatre and has now been converted into a government park. A sardine market, operating since the 1960s, is located at the Old Jail Road junction at the end of the road. However, it has been reduced in size over the years, especially after the closure of the Andhra Pradesh bus terminus.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Chennai Central stn on alert after intel warns of 'attack'". The Times of India. Chennai: The Times Group. 19 May 2010. Retrieved 25 Nov 2012.
  2. ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
  3. ↑ Sosin, Jack M., "Louisburg and the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748," The William and Mary Quarterly. Third Series, Vol. 14, No. 4 (October 1957): 516–535
  4. ↑ Fortescue, John William (1902). A history of the British army, Volume 3. Macmillan. pp. 431–432.
  5. 1 2 Muthiah, S. (26 March 2001). "Garden atop a historic wall". The Hindu. Chennai: The Hindu. Retrieved 11 Nov 2012.
  6. ↑  "Benfield, Paul". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Keerthana, R. (13 May 2012). "Walltax Road, then and now". The Hindu. Chennai: The Hindu. Retrieved 11 Nov 2012.
  8. ↑ Parthasarathy, Anusha (18 September 2012). "A roof for the roofless". The Hindu. Chennai: The Hindu. Retrieved 11 Nov 2012.
  9. ↑ TNN (27 August 2010). "Chennai High: Where history beckons". The Times of India. Chennai: The Times Group. Retrieved 19 Jan 2013.
  10. 1 2 Muthiah, S. (2 March 2009). "Madras' Clive locations". The Hindu. Chennai: The Hindu. Retrieved 11 Nov 2012.
  11. ↑ Nightingale, Carl H. (2012). Segregation: A Global History of Divided Cities. University of Chicago Press. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-226-58074-6.

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