Which came first — Madras or Chennai?
Madras and Chennai were first mentioned in Venkatadri Nayak’s land grant of 1639 . Madras was to the north of the fort, Chennapatnam was the name of the land on which Fort St. George came to be built . In 1672, a fresh grant was needed, this time from the new power, namely Golconda . By 1802, a Marathi manuscript reversed history and the fort became Madras .
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