﻿ Thoothukudi District

Brief History



Thoothukudi became the citadel of freedom struggle in the early of the 20th century. It was in Thoothukudi that the illustrious patriot , V.O.Chidambaram established the first swadesi Stream Navigation Company, sailing the first steamer S.S.Gaelia to Thoothukudi on 1st June 1907.

The minor port of the Thoothukudi anchorage port with lighter age facilities has had flourished traffic for over a century. The first wooden Jetty of this port was commissioned in 1864. This port was being used for export of salt, cotton yarn, senna leaves, palmyrah stalks, palmyrah fibres, dry, dry fish, Country drugs etc. to neighboring countries and for import of coal, cotton, copra, pulses and grains. The minor port of the Thoothukudi hand the distinction of being intermediate port handling the highest traffic tonnage of over 1million per annuam.

The salient features of the district include its lengthy,curvy and scenic sea coast which was an international cynosure in the days of yore for its pearl fishery; beautiful coastel villages with their sacred temples, churches and mosques like Tiruchendur, Manappadu and Kayalpattinam respectively, Adhichanallur, one of the cradles of the ancient civilizations, Korkai, an ancient port of the Sangam Pandyas,Kayal, the confluence of the river Tamiraparani with the Bay of Bengal,one of the five illustrious rivers of Tamilnadu, Panchalamkurichi, the capital of Veerapandiya Kattabomman, an early martyr, for the cause of freedom, Ettayapuram, the birth place of the great poet Subramanya Bharathi, Ottapidaram the home town of V.O.Chidambaram Pillai,who dared to sail ships as a measure to combat British imperialism;Maniyachi, where Vanchinathan assassinated Ashe, the British Collector for this high –handedness against the leaders during Swadeshi Movement; Kulasekarapattinam and Kurumbur where patriots showed their anger against alien rule ,temple towns like Srivaikundam, Meignanapuram, one of the cradles of Christianity, Thoothukudi, besides being a major port, the earliest settlement of the Portuguese and the Dutch, the tall and dense palmyra groves and the bushy Odai trees, the Teris and the adjacent coral islands, Idayankudi and Manappadu and the adjacent places which became the headquarters of great missionaries like G.U.Pope, Veeramamunivar, Caldwell and others who, besides their missionary work,contributed a lot for the development of Tamil language and literature and above all the enterprising and hard working people who now constitute a major trading community in the State.

Contents provided by : District Collectorate, Thoothukudi
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