Cuddalore district

Cuddalore district is one of the 38 districts in the state of Tamil Nadu in India.

Since ancient times, the old town has been a seaport. Through the centuries, Cuddalore has been subject to a number of foreign powers including the Netherlands, Portugal, France and more recently, the British. In the 1600s, the French and English came to Cuddalore for trade and business. The French established a settlement at Pondicherry and the British at Cuddalore. The French and English, while engaged in the Seven Years' War, fought the naval Battle of Cuddalore on 29 April 1758. It was an indecisive battle between a British squadron, under Vice-Admiral George Pocock and a French squadron, under Comte d'Aché and the newly appointed Governor General Comte Thomas Lally. Cuddalore surrendered to French troops on 29 April 1758.^{[citation needed]}

From 1789 to 1794, there was further unrest in Cuddalore due to the War of American Independence and the Second Anglo-Mysore War culminating in the siege of Cuddalore, after which the town was returned to Britain as part of a peace treaty. In 1782, during the Second Anglo Mysore war, the French troops allied with Tipu Sultan and won over the British, after which Cuddalore became a chief port against the French. In 1783, General James Stuart (1735–1793) led his troops to fend off French troops. There were five different naval actions off the coast during the same year, all of which were indecisive.^{[citation needed]}

Some streets in Cuddalore retain British names such as Clive Street, Wellington Street, Sloper Street, Canning Street, Rope Street (Rope Street, Wellington Street, Sloper Street and Canning Street jointly known as Salangukara Village), Lawrence Road and Imperial Road. The Cuddalore Central Prison, opened in 1865, is an historically important landmark. Subramanya Bharathi and other political leaders served prison terms there.^{[citation needed]}

Cuddalore district is prone to natural calamities having experienced landfalls of major cyclones formed in the Bay of Bengal region. Apart from the cyclones, 2004 Tsunami caused massive damages to life and property in Cuddalore and its adjacent Nagapattinam district. Cyclone Thane, which made landfall here, caused major loss to life and property.

Tsunami waves that followed the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake near Sumatra hit the eastern coast of India on 26 December 2004 at 08:32 am, resulting in 572 casualties. Several fishing hamlets disappeared, while Silver Beach and the historically important Cuddalore Port were devastated. Fort St. David survived without damage. In 2012, Cyclone Thane caused widespread damage to crops and buildings.

Cuddalore district was among those most severely affected by the 2015 South India floods. Six of the district's 13 blocks suffered extensive damage during the floods in November. The resumption of heavy rainfall from 1 December once again inundated the Cuddalore municipality and the district, displacing tens of thousands of people. Rains continued through 9 December. Despite the state government and individuals sending rescue teams and tonnes of relief materials to the district, thousands of those affected continued to lack basic supplies due to inadequate distribution efforts; this resulted in several relief lorries being stopped and looted by survivors. Large swaths of Cuddalore city and the district remained inundated as of 10 December, with thousands of residents marooned by floodwaters and over 60,000 hectares (150,000 acres; 600,000,000 m²) of farmland inundated; over 30,000 people had been evacuated to relief camps.^{[citation needed]}

The district has an area of 3,564 km². It is bounded on the north by Viluppuram District and Kallakurichi district, on the east by the Bay of Bengal, on the northeast by Puducherry district of the union territory Puducherry, on the south by Mayiladuthurai district, on the west by Perambalur District and by a small part with Thanjavur district. The district is drained by Gadilam, Uppanar and Ponnaiyar rivers in the north, Vellar and Kollidam River (Coleroon) in the south.^{[citation needed]}