CHENNAI: Madras was said to be born in 1639 when the British bought the city from then local king and then later developed it. We even celebrated the city’s 378th birthday with much pomp and show recently. On the contrary, the stone inscription found near Krishnagiri provides evidences of a civilised Chennai 1,000 of years ago.
S Rajavelu, senior epigraphist and former member of the Archeological Survey of India, said “Chennai’s orignal name was Maadarasapattanam (cluster of cities and villages). Almost one lakh stone inscriptions have been found across the country of which almost 60,000 inscriptions belong to the Tamil community.”
The one found near the Pennar River near Krishnagiri was the inscription made by Kampana II a King of the Vijayanagara dynasty during the 13th Century. The king conquered the ports along Maadarasapattanam and taxes collected were used to build an artificial canal for irrigation. The stone was found many years ago and S Rajavelu deciphered the text which led to the untold history of the Dravidian culture.
The name Maadarasapattanam became Madarasapattinam and later became Madras. The name was found to be of non-Tamil origin by many and hence the name got changed to Chennai which was derived from the Chennapattnam. It was named after King Chennappanayagam who provided the land to the British.
Evidences also show that commerce from the Madras port happened till Alexandria, the then World Trade Center. Huge jars with Tamil names written over it were found in the excavation sites near the Red Sea. The Royapuram port was considered the main hub of trade among the 22 ports. The important goods exported during the 2nd century included teak, mustard, perfumes and woven dresses from Kancheepuram.
The previously found stone inscription of 1361 found near Neelankarai (then Neelakarai —blue shore) goes with the stone found near Krishnagiri. The inscription also explains the first election process, which happened in Uthramerur and also the expeditions that were made to the South Asian countries during the 2nd Century.