Madras Presidency

The Madras Presidency, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, later the Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India and later its successor, the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of South India, including all of present-day Andhra Pradesh, almost all of Tamil Nadu and northern parts of Kerala, parts of Karnataka, Odisha and Telangana in the modern day. The city of Madras (present-day Chennai) was the official and winter capital of the presidency and Udagamandalam (present-day Ooty) was the summer capital.

In 1639, the East India Company purchased the village of Madraspatnam and one year later it established the Agency of Fort St. George, precursor of the Madras Presidency, although there had been Company factories at Machilipatnam and Armagon since the very early 1600s. The agency was upgraded to a Presidency in 1652 before once more reverting to its previous status in 1655. In 1684, it was re-elevated to a Presidency and Elihu Yale was appointed as president. In 1785, under the provisions of Pitt's India Act, Madras became one of three presidencies established by the Company. Thereafter, the head of the area was styled "Governor" rather than "President" and became subordinate to the viceroy in Calcutta, with Madras' titulature that would persist until 1950. Judicial, legislative and executive powers rested with the Governor who was assisted by a Council whose constitution was modified by reforms enacted in 1861, 1909, 1919 and 1935. Regular elections were conducted in Madras up to the outbreak of the Second World War in 1938. By 1908, the province comprised twenty-two districts, each under a District Collector, and it was further sub-divided into taluks and firqas with villages making up the smallest unit of administration.