Madurai District was one of the districts of the Madras Presidency of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. It covered the present-day districts of

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

Dindigul Dindigul, also spelt Thindukkal (), is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of the Dindigul district. Dindigul is located southwest from the state capital, Chennai, away from Tiruchirappalli, away ...

Theni Theni is a valley town situated in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu at the foothills of Western Ghats. It is the headquarters of the Theni district, located in a distance of 70km from Madurai. It is known for the large-scale trading of garlic, c ...

Ramanathapuram Ramanathapuram (), also known as Ramnad, is a town and a municipality in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Ramanathapuram district and the second largest town (by population) in ...

Sivagangai Sivaganga () is a city and headquarters of the Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Sivaganga is a rani velunachiyar kingdom of Tamil Nadu. It is an important city in this district for official and commercial purposes. Its ni ...

and parts of

Virudhunagar District Virudhunagar District is a district (an administrative district) of Tamil Nadu state in south India. Virudhunagar is the district headquarters of Virudhunagar district. Virudhunagar district was formed by the separation of Old Ramanathapuram D ...

in the Indian state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

History

Madura is a district were the centre of the Pandya kingdom and its capital city of

was flourishing ever since the

Sangam period The Sangam period or age (, ), particularly referring to the third Sangam period, is the period of the history of ancient Tamil Nadu, Kerala and parts of Sri Lanka (then known as Tamilakam) spanning from c. 6th century BCE to c. 3rd century CE. ...

. In the 10th century AD, the region was conquered by the rising Chola power. The Pandyas governed as subordinate from the 10th to the 13th century AD when they asserted their independence and established their supremacy over the declining Cholas. After a short and progressive rule, the Pandyas were defeated by the Delhi Sultanate whose ruled

Alauddin Khalji Alaud-Dīn Khaljī, also called Alauddin Khilji or Alauddin Ghilji (), born Ali Gurshasp, was an emperor of the Khalji dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate in the Indian subcontinent. Alauddin instituted a number of significant administrativ ...

sacked Madura. The region was ruled by the

Madurai Sultanate Ma'bar Sultanate ( fa, ), unofficially known as the Madurai Sultanate, was a short lived kingdom based in the city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, India. The sultanate was proclaimed in 1335 led by Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan declared his independenc ...

for some time before it was conquered by the

Vijayanagar Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana and ...

. The Vijayanagar kings were succeeded by the Madurai Nayak kingdom whose demise in 1736 left behind a huge void. After a short period of anarchy, Madura was conquered by the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

and the district of Madura was carved out.

Taluks

Madurai district was sub-divided into 15 taluks, including 5 ''zamindari'' taluks of

Ramnad estate The Kingdom of Ramnad or Ramnad estate was a permanently settled kingdom and later ''zamindari'' estate that existed in the Ramnad subdivision of the Madurai district and later Ramnad district of the erstwhile Madras Presidency in British Indi ...

and 3 ''zamindari'' taluks of

Sivaganga estate The estate of Sivaganga ( ta, சிவகங்கை ஜமீன்), as per British records also known as Kingdom of the Lesser Marava, was a permanently settled ''zamindari'' estate in the Ramnad sub-division of Madura district, Madras P ...

. *

(Area: ; Headquarters: Dindigul) *

Kodaikanal Kodaikanal () is a hill station which is located in Dindigul district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Its name in the Tamil language means "The Gift of the Forest". Kodaikanal is referred to as the "Princess of Hill stations" and has a long ...

(Area: ; Headquarters: Madura) *

Melur Melur is the Northern entrance of Madurai district. It is the town and municipality in the Madurai North in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Melur Old Name is Called Naduvi Nadu. The name Melur name comes from "Mela Nadu". Melur is called Thaigra ...

(Area: ; Headquarters: Melur) *

Mudukulathur Mudukulathur is a panchayat town in the Ramanathapuram district of the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu Demography India census, Mudukulathur had a population of 13,130. Males constituted 50% of the population and fe ...

(Part of

) *

Palani Palani ( or ''Palni'' as in British records, is a town and a taluk headquarters in Dindigul district of the western part of Tamil Nadu state in India. It is located about south-east of Coimbatore and north-west of Madurai, from Kodaikan ...

Paramakudi Paramakudi, also Paramagudi, is the largest town in the district of Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu, with a population of over 95,579 (2011 census). It has been the taluk headquarters since 1918, i.e. from the date of formation of Ramanathapura ...

(Part of Ramnad estate) *

Periyakulam Periyakulam () is a major town and a municipality in Theni district, in the Madurai Region, South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. As of 2011, the town had a population of 42,976. Periyakulam is the northern gateway of the district. Etymology ...

(Area: ; Headquarters: Periyakulam) *

Ramnad Ramanathapuram (), also known as Ramnad, is a town and a municipality in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Ramanathapuram district and the second largest town (by population) in ...

(Part of Ramnad estate) *

Sivaganga Sivaganga () is a city and headquarters of the Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Sivaganga is a rani velunachiyar kingdom of Tamil Nadu. It is an important city in this district for official and commercial purposes. Its ni ...

(Part of

) * Tiruchuli (Part of Ramnad estate) * Tirumangalam (Area: ; Headquarters: Tirumangalam) *

Tirupattur Tirupathur or Tirupattur is the headquarters of Tirupathur district in the state of Tamil Nadu in India and is one of the oldest inhabited places in the state, with a history of over 1,600 years. The town is known for an abundance of sandalwood ...

(Part of Sivaganga estate) * Tiruppuvanam (Part of Sivaganga estate) *

Tiruvadanai Tiruvadanai or Thiruvadanai is a town and a taluk headquarters of the Ramanathapuram district, in Tamil Nadu, India. The town is known for the Adhi Ratneswarar Temple and is mentioned in the Thevaram hymns. It is situated about 70 km away ...

(Part of Ramnad estate) .

Administration

As of 1901, for the purposes of administration,

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

was divided into four sub-divisions, Madura and Melur sub-divisions being assigned to one Deputy Collector each: * Dindigul sub-division: Dindigul, Kodaikanal, Palni and Periyakulam taluks. * Ramnad sub-division:

and

. * Madura sub-division: Madura and Tirumangalam taluks. * Melur sub-division: Melur taluk.

Sources

* {{coord missing, Tamil Nadu Districts of the Madras Presidency