Pudukottai - History

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Pudukottai - History

Modern History

Major Blackburn

In 1812 the town was burnt down and rebuilt, at considerable expense, by Raja Vijaya Raghunatha at the instance of the Resident, Major Blackburn. The streets were laid out so as to intersect at right angles with the Raja's palace in the centre. In 1813, the town contained three palaces, six terraced houses, 300 tiled houses and 700 thatched houses, besides 21 tiled and 700 thatched houses at Thiruvappur, and 320 thatched houses at Thirugokarnam, the two suburbs of the town.

It is said that there were three chatram-s (choultries), one kept open only during Dassara in the town near the Pallavan-kulam (a tank), one, on the Kundaru (about 2 km south of the present bus stand) and one at Thirugokarnam. Even in those early days the town was attractive. Hamilton's East India Gazetteer (1820) refers to 'its wide, regular, and clean streets intersecting each other at right angles,' and to its stuccoed, whitened and tiled' houses. Pharaoh's Gazetteer of Southern India (1855) speaks of Pudukkottai as 'a populous town', and eulogizes its 'handsome pagoda', its 'grand high mosque', its 'tanks and wells of excellent water' and the 'large and commodious houses in the principal streets, with tiled roofs, several of them terraced'.

Dewan Sashiah-sastri

The expansion of the town since its rebuilding in 1812 has been steady and continuous, and received considerable impetus during the administration of Sir Sashiah-sastri (1878-1894). During his tenure new suburbs were built, the streets were re-laid, tanks were deepened and cleaned, and many public buildings were constructed.

Mythological Story of Origin

There is also mythological story about the origin. A General History of the Pudukkottai state (1916) recounts the following story. According to this, one Muchu-kunda-chakravarti, a Chozha king, who had his capital Thiruvarur in the Thanjavur district, in one of his tours through his dominions was so struck with the beauty of the tract to the north of the Vellaruthat he thought of building a town there. The Rishi Parasara fixed an auspicious hour for commencing operations, and alasa-mangalam, consisting of 'nine cities', (blocks) was brought into existence. The king Muchukunda applied for inhabitants to the God Kubera, who sent him 1,500 families.

Pudukottai - History

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