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{{Short description|Coastal region in South East India}}
{{About|a region of India|the region in New Zealand|Coromandel Peninsula|the town in Brazil|Coromandel, Minas Gerais|other uses|Coromandel (disambiguation){{!}}Coromandel}}
{{Coord|13.3667|N|80.3333|E|source:wikidata|display=title}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2013}}
[[File:India Coromandel Coast locator map.svg|thumb|upright=1.25|Districts along the Coromandel Coast]]
[[File:Coromandel Coast 1753.jpg|thumb|A 1735 French Map of the Coromandel coast]]

The '''Coromandel Coast''' is the southeastern coast region of the [[Indian subcontinent]], bounded by the [[Utkal Plains]] to the north, the Bay of Bengal to the east, the [[Kaveri]] delta to the south, and the [[Eastern Ghats]] to the west, extending over an area of about 22,800 square kilometres.<ref name=britannica>[https://www.britannica.com/place/Coromandel-Coast Encyclopædia Britannica entry on Coromandel Coast]</ref> Its definition can also include the northwestern coast of the island of [[Sri Lanka]].{{citation needed|date=November 2017}} The coast has an average elevation of 80 metres and is backed by the [[Eastern Ghats]], a chain of low, flat-topped hills.

In historical Muslim sources from the 12th century onward, the Coromandel Coast was called '''Maʿbar'''.<ref name="Brill">{{cite book |last1=Shokoohy |first1=Mehrdad |last2=Shokoohy |first2=Natalie H. |title=Encyclopedia of Islam |date=2020 |publisher=Brill |isbn=9789004435933 |edition=third |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/mabar-COM_35936 |access-date=9 March 2021 |chapter=Maʿbar}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The land of the [[Chola dynasty]] was called ''Cholamandalam'' (சோழ மண்டலம்) in [[Tamil language|Tamil]], translated as ''The realm of the Cholas'', from which the Portuguese derived the name ''Coromandel''.<ref name="TheLandoftheTamuliansandItsMissions">''The Land of the Tamulians and Its Missions'', by Eduard Raimund Baierlein, James Dunning Baker</ref><ref name="South Indian Coins - Page 61">South Indian Coins – Page 61 by T. Desikachari – Coins, Indic – 1984</ref><ref name="Indian History - Page 112">Indian History – Page 112</ref><ref name="Annals of Oriental Research - Page 1">''Annals of Oriental Research'' – Page 1 by University of Madras – 1960</ref><ref name="The Periplus of the Erythræan Sea">''The Periplus of the Erythræan Sea'' by [[Wilfred Harvey Schoff]]</ref> The name could also be derived from ''Karai mandalam'', meaning ''The realm of the Shores''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Edgar Thurston|title=The Madras Presidency with Mysore, Coorg and the Associated States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O4VLY1KcltcC&pg=PA11|year=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-60068-3|page=11}}</ref>

Coromondel is the Dutch pronunciation of the word "Karimandalam", a village in the [[Sriharikota|Sriharikota island]] in the north of [[Pazhaverkadu|Pazhavercadu]] (Pulecat Lake).<ref>Topographic Map of India "66C/7 & 66C/11" by Survey of India</ref> An Italian explorer, [[Ludovico di Varthema]], perhaps first gave the name Coromandel in 1510, which was then used on maps by the Portuguese, but it was the Dutch who took up serious trading there.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/how-a-coast-got-its-name/article21386207.ece |title=How A Coast Got Its Name |last=Allen |first=Charles |date=13 December 2017 |newspaper=The Hindu |department=Books|access-date=24 December 2020 }}</ref> Pazhavercadu (Pulicat) was an early Dutch settlement along with Masoolipatnam in present-day [[Andhra Pradesh]]. There is a Dutch cemetery belonging to the 17th century at Pulicat. It is said{{by whom|date=December 2020}} that the first Dutch ship stopped here for fresh drinking water, and upon asking the name of the place Karimanal was spelled as Coromondal (K replaced with C and d inserted).

==Description==
===Economy===
Agriculture is the mainstay of the coastal economy. Rice, pulses (legumes), sugarcane, cotton, and peanuts (groundnuts) are grown. Bananas and betel nuts are grown together with rice in the low-rainfall region of the interior. There are casuarina and coconut plantations along the coast.{{Citation needed|date= January 2020}}

Large-scale industries produce fertilizers, chemicals, film projectors, amplifiers, trucks, and automobiles. There is a [[Heavy Vehicles Factory|heavy vehicle and armoured car factory]] at Avadi and a [[Madras Atomic Power Station|nuclear power station]] at Kalpakkam.{{Citation needed|date= January 2020}}

Roads and railways linking Chennai, Cuddalore, Chidambaram, Chengalpattu, and Puducherry run parallel to the coast.{{Citation needed|date= January 2020}}

===Geography===
The coast is generally low, and punctuated by the deltas of several large rivers, including the [[Kaveri]], [[Palar River|Palar]], [[Penner River|Penner]], and [[Krishna River]], which rise in the highlands of the [[Western Ghats]] and flow across the [[Deccan Plateau]] to drain into the [[Bay of Bengal]]. The [[alluvial plains]] created by these rivers are fertile and favour agriculture. The rivers remain dry during most of the year. There is little forest cover, but marshes, swamps, scrub woodlands, and thorny thickets are common.{{Citation needed|date= January 2020}}

The coastline forms a part of [[Coastline of Tamil Nadu|Tamil Nadu]] and [[Coastline of Andhra Pradesh|Andhra Pradesh]]. The important ports include [[Chennai]], [[Thoothukkudi]], [[Nellore]], [[Ennore]] and [[Nagapattinam]], which take advantage of their close proximity with regions rich in natural and mineral resources and good transport infrastructure.{{Citation needed|date= January 2020}}

===Climate===
The Coromandel Coast falls in the [[rain shadow]] of the [[Western Ghats]] mountain range, and receives less rainfall during the summer [[southwest monsoon]]s, which contributes heavy rainfall in some parts of India.{{Citation needed|date= January 2020}} The region averages 800 mm/year, most of which falls between October and December. The topography of the Bay of Bengal, and the staggered weather pattern prevalent during the season favours [[northeast monsoon]]s, which have a tendency to cause [[cyclone]]s and [[hurricane]]s rather than a steady precipitation. As a result, the coast is hit by inclement weather almost every year between October and January.{{Citation needed|date= January 2020}}

The high variability of rainfall patterns is also responsible for [[water scarcity]] and famine in most areas not served by the great rivers. For example, the city of Chennai is one of the driest cities in the country in terms of potable water availability, despite high percentage of moisture in the air, due to the unpredictable, seasonal nature of the monsoon.{{Citation needed|date= January 2020}}

===Flora===
The Coromandel Coast is home to the [[East Deccan dry evergreen forests]] [[ecoregion]], which runs in a narrow strip along the coast. Unlike most of the other [[Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests|tropical dry forest]] [[Biome]] regions of India, where the trees lose their leaves during the dry season, the East Deccan dry evergreen forests retain their leathery leaves year round.{{Citation needed|date= March 2020}}

The Coromandel Coast is also home to extensive [[mangrove]] forests along the low-lying coast and [[river delta]]s, and several important [[wetland]]s, notably [[Kaliveli Lake]] and [[Pulicat Lake]], that provide habitat to thousands of migrating and resident birds.{{Citation needed|date= March 2020}}

==History==
[[File:Sarasa chintz.jpg|thumb|upright|Sarasa [[chintz]] from the Coromandel Coast, 17th or 18th century, made for the Japanese market. Private collection, [[Nara Prefecture]]. ]]
By late 1530 the Coromandel Coast was home to three Portuguese settlements at [[Nagapattinam]], [[Dioceses of Saint Thomas of Mylapore|São Tomé de Meliapore]], and [[Pulicat]] . In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Coromandel Coast was the scene of rivalries among European powers for control of the India trade. The British established themselves at [[Fort St George]] (Madras) and [[Masulipatnam]], the [[Dutch Coromandel|Dutch]] at Pulicat, [[Sadras]] and [[Covelong]], the French at [[Pondicherry (city)|Pondicherry]], [[Karaikal]] and [[Nizampatnam]], the [[Denmark|Danish]] in [[Tharangambadi|Dansborg]] at Tharangambadi.

The Coromandel Coast supplied [[Indian Muslim]] [[eunuch]]s to the Thai palace and court of [[History of Thailand|Siam]] (modern Thailand).<ref>Peletz (2009), p. 73 {{Google books|BFXpi5ZKKF8C|Gender Pluralism: Southeast Asia Since Early Modern Times|page=73}}</ref><ref>Peletz (2009), p. 73 {{Google books|-YnQJXxspJUC|Gender Pluralism: Southeast Asia Since Early Modern Times|page=73}}</ref> The Thai at times asked eunuchs from China to visit the court in Thailand and advise them on court ritual since they held them in high regard.<ref>Peletz (2009), p. 75 {{Google books|BFXpi5ZKKF8C|Gender Pluralism: Southeast Asia Since Early Modern Times|page=75}}</ref><ref>Peletz (2009), p. 75 {{Google books|-YnQJXxspJUC|Gender Pluralism: Southeast Asia Since Early Modern Times|page=75}}</ref>

Eventually the British won out, although France retained the tiny enclaves of [[Pondicherry district|Pondichéry]] and [[Karaikal district|Karaikal]] until 1954. [[China|Chinese]] [[Lacquerware|lacquer goods]], including boxes, screens, and chests, became known as "Coromandel" goods in the 18th century, because many Chinese exports were consolidated at the Coromandel ports.{{Citation needed|date= March 2020}}

Two of the famous books on the economic history of the Coromandel Coast are ''Merchants, companies, and commerce on the Coromandel Coast, 1650–1740'' (Arasaratnam, Oxford University Press, 1986) and ''The World of the Weaver in Northern Coromandel, c.1750-c.1850'' (P. Swarnalatha, Orient Longman, 2005).

On 26 December 2004, one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern history, the [[Indian Ocean earthquake]], struck off the western coast of [[Sumatra]] (Indonesia). The [[earthquake]] and subsequent tsunami reportedly killed over 220,000 people around the rim of the [[Indian Ocean]]. The tsunami devastated the Coromandel Coast, killing many and sweeping away many coastal communities.{{Citation needed|date= March 2020}}

==Applications of the name==
Four ships of the [[Royal Navy]] have borne the name {{HMS|Coromandel}} after the Indian coast. The [[Coromandel Peninsula]] in New Zealand was named after one of these ships, and the town of [[Coromandel, New Zealand]] was named after the peninsula. [[Coromandel Valley, South Australia]], and its neighbouring suburb, Coromandel East, gain their name from the ship ''[[Coromandel (1834 ship)|Coromandel]]'', which arrived in Holdfast Bay from London in 1837 with 156 English settlers. After the ship reached the shore, some of its sailors deserted, intending to remain behind in South Australia, and took refuge in the hills in the Coromandel Valley region.

In [[Slovenian language|Slovene]] the [[idiom]] ''Indija Koromandija'' (India Coromandel) means a land of plenty,<ref>{{cite web |work=Slovar slovenskega knjižnega jezika [Dictionary of Slovenian Literary Language] |url=http://bos.zrc-sazu.si/cgi/a03.exe?name=sskj_testa&expression=indija+koromandija&hs=1 |title=Indija Koromandija |quote=According to popular belief, a land where everything is enough, where it is very good: their grandmother told them about India Coromandel / expressing all of her India Coromandel collapsed imaginary, expected happiness |language=sl |access-date=December 24, 2020 }}</ref> a promised land, a utopia where "Houses are bleached with cheese and covered with cake".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://razvezanijezik.org/?page=indija+koromandija |title=Razvezani jezik - Indija koromandija |language=sl |work=Free dictionary of living Slovene |access-date=December 24, 2020 |quote= A folk song sings: India Koromandija! /They cook the porridge in a spoon, /the house are bleached with cheese,/ cover them with cake,/ and curd them with cottage cheese. It also houses the first Slovene anti-utopia, created by Anton Mahnič in In 1884 he published in Slovene, a political newspaper for the Slovene nation.}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Malabar Coast]]
*[[Presidency of Coromandel and Bengal Settlements]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{cite web |url=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/India.htm |work=World Statesman |title=India |quote=Search for Dutch India and French India for information on Coromandel coast |access-date=December 24, 2020 }}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/138164/Coromandel-Coast Encyclopædia Britannica: Coromandel Coast (region, India)]

{{GeoSouthAsia}}
{{Danish overseas empire}}
{{Dutch colonies}}
{{Former French colonies}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Coromandel Coast| ]]
[[Category:Coasts of India]]
[[Category:South India]]
[[Category:Regions of India]]
[[Category:Regions of Andhra Pradesh]]
[[Category:Regions of Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Landforms of Puducherry]]
[[Category:Landforms of Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Landforms of Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:Eastern Ghats]]
[[Category:Natural regions]]
[[Category:Colonial India]]
[[Category:Danish India]]
[[Category:Dutch India]]
[[Category:French India]]
[[Category:Former Dutch colonies]]
[[Category:Former French colonies]]

Coromandel Coast - Revision history

>GorgeCustersSabre at 06:01, 2 June 2021