Culture mapping connects Cooum to Chennai’s fabric
The Cooum — A Cultural Mapping, a project spearheaded by author and historian Venkatesh R, attempts to understand the river’s role in the evolution of Chennai.
By : migrator
Update:2016-03-29 22:26 IST
Chennai
Cities and histories, said Venkatesh, are built on the banks of rivers. “The Cooum must have some sort of a history. If we knew it better, we would treat the river a lot better. So, we decided to identify the history of the Cooum. We mapped every inch of this 72-km seasonal river in historical, social, religious and scientific perspectives,” said the historian.
TR Shashwath, an amateur historian and environmentalist involved with this project, pointed out, “Be it London, which was built on the banks of river Thames or Paris, which is situated on the Seine, rivers have always played a huge part in a city’s evolution. Though it is not much talked about, the Cooum too played a key role in Chennai’s development. During the last 2,000 years of existence, Chennai was deeply influenced by Cooum. A temple called Sivapuram, 65 kms away from the city, close to the origin of Cooum, has inscriptions which say that a channel was dug from River Ksheera (River of Milk) as the Cooum was known to the temple, to ensure there was water to perform the daily rituals.”
According to these historians, the British chose to settle on the banks of Cooum for the safety it accorded them. “The Fort St. George was built between the North River (roughly the Buckingham Canal) and the Cooum. A college was established in the fort for the incoming officers. This college was later shifted to the place where the DPI building now stands. The Governor of Fort St. George used to take a boat through the Cooum to visit the convocation ceremony at the college and returned through the river,” he revealed, adding that the country’s first recorded settlement was in Chintadripet. “The British insisted on a non-caste based setup, which was a first during those times,” he said.
River of many firsts
There have been many historic moments on the banks of the Cooum. “In 1910, the first plane was flown in Madras on an island in the Cooum by a Corsican baker D’Angelis. The first car and bus in India were made here. A number of important people lived near Cooum. For instance, Krupabai Satthianadhan, the first Indian woman to write a novel in English, lived in Chintadripet,” said Venkatesh.
Of kings and exiles
Many kings were sent to exile at the banks of Cooum. Venkatesh explained, “The Doveton House (now in Women’s Christian College), was where Tipu Sultan’s sons were exiled by the British. This old building is near the Cooum, with a high portico, which can allow an elephant with a howdaw on its back to enter. Malhar Rao Gaekwad, the Maharaja of Baroda, who tried to poison Robert Phayre using diamond dust, was caught and sent to exile in Doveton House. The last king of Burma was exiled nearby on College Road too.”
Battleground Cooum
- BATTLE OF PULLALUR (618) Mahendravarman, a Pallavan king, was ruling in Kanchi when Chalukya king Pulakesin II invaded. They met at Pullalur, south of Cooum. Mahendravarman’s army was thrashed and returned to Kanchi. Pulakesin II followed but he couldn’t get through the fort. So he went around the fort and was met by Mahendravarman’s son, who defeated Pulakesin II at Manimangalam near Tambaram.
- BATTLE OF THAKKOLAM (949) Rajaditya Chola, the governor of Kanchi, was sent to Thakkolam, because they feared an attack. The Chola army met the Rastrakutas at Thakkolam, where the Chola army was decimated. Rajaditya died in the battle.
- FIRST AND SECOND BATTLES OF POLLILUR (1780 AND 1781) The British were defending Kanchi against Hyder Ali. He joined forces with Tipu Sultan and defeated the British Relief Column going to Kanchi. This was the biggest defeat the British suffered before 1857.
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