Factory Records: Fort St George (Madras)

Consultations, 1655-1704 Copies of letters despatched, 1661-1674 Copies of letters received, 1674-1704.

In the 1620s the Company extended its activities on the Coromandel coast, then based at Masulipatam, further to the south, because the chinzes it wanted to procure were cheaper in the territories there. A settlement was established at Armagon in 1626 but the site had practical disadvantages. Consequently, when the ruler of the district around Madraspatam invited the Company to establish a factory there, the Company eagerly accepted. Permission was given to fortify the factory and in 1640 the factors of Armagon moved there. The factory was named Fort St George and rapidly grew in importance as a centre for the Company's trading activity in the east. In 1682 it officially replaced Bantam as the headquarters of the eastern trade. In 1746 Madras was captured by the French and the seat of the Madras presidency was moved to Fort St David. Madras was restored to the British in 1748 by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. In 1773 the Government of Madras was placed under the overall control of the Government of Bengal.

Unrestricted

See also Miscellaneous Factory Records (G/40/9) The series of consultations continues in the Madras General Proceedings (P) The series of letters despatched and letters received continue in the Correspondence with India series (E/4)

The Madras Record Office published several calendars of its early records. See V/27/46/5-76 for details; William Foster, The Founding of Fort St George, Madras (London, 1902) describes the history of the settlement.