Coromandel Coast

The Coromandel Coast is a beautiful coastal region along the southeastern edge of the Indian peninsula. It stretches from the Krishna river mouth in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the east, ending at Point Calimere cape to the south. To the west, it is bordered by the Eastern Ghats, a range of low hills. Some people also include areas as far north as Ganjam. This coast covers roughly 22,800 square kilometres and sits about 80 metres above sea level on average.

Long ago, this land was known as Cholamandalam in Tamil, meaning "the realm of the Cholas" after the ruling Chola dynasty. Later, in Muslim writings from the 12th century, it was called the Maʿbar Coast. The Coromandel Coast has been an important part of India's history and culture for many centuries.

Etymology

The name "Coromandel" comes from old times. In Tamil, a language spoken in Tamil Nadu, the land of the Chola dynasty was called Cholamandalam, meaning "The realm of the Cholas". Portuguese traders later turned this into "Coromandel".

Another idea is that Dutch sailors stopped at a place called Karimanal near Pulicat. They may have misheard the name and called it 'Corimondal', and that name stayed. An Italian explorer, Ludovico di Varthema, wrote about the area in 1510, and soon maps showed the name Coromandel. The Dutch then began trading there.

History

By the late 1530s, the Coromandel Coast had three settlements where people from Portugal lived, at Negapatão, São Tomé de Meliapore, and Paliacate. During the 1600s and 1700s, many European countries wanted to control trade with India, and they built forts along the coast. The British built forts at Fort St George (Madras) and Masulipatnam, the Dutch at Pulicat and Sadras, the Belgians at Covelong, and the French at Pondicherry, Karaikal and Nizampatnam. The Danish also had a place called Dansborg or Tranquebar.

Eventually, the British became the strongest, but France kept small areas like Pondichéry and Karaikal until 1954. Special items from China, such as boxes and screens, were called “Coromandel” goods because many of them were sent out from ports along this coast.

On December 26, 2004, a very powerful earthquake under the ocean near Sumatra caused big waves that hurt many places along the coast, including the Coromandel Coast.

Vegetation

Flora

The Coromandel Coast has a special type of forest called the East Deccan dry evergreen forests. These forests grow in a narrow strip along the coast and are different from other dry forests in India because their trees keep their tough leaves all year, even when it’s dry.

The area also has large mangrove forests along the coast and river deltas. Important wetlands like Kaliveli Lake and Pulicat Lake give a home to many birds that travel there and live there year-round.

Applications of the name

Four ships in the Royal Navy were named after the Indian coast, called HMS Coromandel. Because of this, a place in New Zealand called the Coromandel Peninsula, and a nearby town named Coromandel, both got their names from one of these ships. In South Australia, a valley and a suburb are also named Coromandel Valley and Coromandel East, after a ship that arrived there in 1837 with settlers from England.

In Slovenia, there is a saying that means a wonderful, perfect place, calling it "India Coromandel." A famous poem by Edward Lear also begins with the words "On the Coast of Coromandel."

The Coromandel Express is a train in India that travels along the east coast between Shalimar railway station in West Bengal and Chennai Central railway station in Tamil Nadu.