Chennai, originally known as Chennapatnam, was located in the province of Tondaimandalam, an area lying between Pennar river of Nellore and the Pennar river of Cuddalore. The capital of the province was Kancheepuram. Tondaimandalam was ruled in the 2nd century by Tondaiman Ilam Tiraiyan, who was a representative of the Chola family at Kanchipuram. It is believed that Ilam Tiraiyan must have subdued the Kurumbas, the original inhabitants of the region and established his rule over Tondaimandalam. Chennai is a city which has grown by merging numerous villages which are really ancient. The temples of Thiruvanmiyur, Thiruvotriyur, Thirvallikeni (Triplicane), Thirumyilai (Mylapore) have existed for more than 1000 years. Thiruvanmiyur, Thiruvotriyur and Thirumyilai are mentioned in the Thevarams of the Moovar (of the Nayanmars) while Thiruvallikeni in the Nalayira Divya Prabhandhams (of the Azwars)
Subsequent to Ilam Tiraiyan, the region was ruled by the Chola Prince Ilam Killi. The Chola occupation of Tondaimandalam was put to an end by the Andhra Satavahana incursions from the north under their King Pulumayi II. They appointed chieftains to look after the Kanchipuram region. Bappaswami, who is considered as the first Pallava to rule from Kanchipuram, was himself a chieftain (of the tract around) at Kanchipuram under the Satavahana empire in the beginning of the 3rd century. The Pallavas who had so far been merely viceroys, then became independent rulers of Kancheepuram and its surrounding areas.
The Pallavas held sway over this region from the beginning of the 3rd century to the closing years of the 9th century, except for the interval of some decades when the region was under the Kalabhras. The Pallavas were defeated by the Cholas under Aditya I by about 879 and the region was brought under the Chola rule. The Pandyas under Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan rose to power and the region was brought under the Pandya rule by putting an end to Chola supremacy in 1264. Pandya's rule over this region lasted a little over half a century followed by the Bahmini kingdom with the extension of Delhi Sultanate under Khilji dynasty especially under the rule of Alauddin Khilji. During 1361, Kumara Kampana II, the son of Vijayanagar Emperor, Bukka I conquered and established Vijayanagar rule in Tondaimandalam.
The Vijayanagar rulers appointed chieftains known as Nayaks who ruled over the different regions of the province almost independently. Damarla Venkatadri Nayakudu a Telugu King, an influential Padma Velama Nayak chieftain under the Vijayanagara King Peda Venkata Rayalu based in Chandragiri-Vellore Fort, who was in-charge of the area of present Chennai city, gave the grant of a piece of land lying between the river Cooum almost at the point it enters the sea and another river known as the Egmore river to the English in 1639. On this piece of waste land was founded the Fort St. George exactly for business considerations. In honour of Damerla Chennappa Nayakudu, father of Venkatadri Nayakudu, who controlled the entire coastal country from Pulicat in the north to the Portuguese settlement of Santhome , the settlement which had grown up around Fort St. George was named after him as Chennapattanam.
While the official centre of thpresently settlement was designated Fort St. George, the British applied the name Madras to the combined town. Golkonda forces under General Mir Jumla conquered Madras in 1646 and brought Chennai and its immediate surroundings under his control. After the fall of Golkonda in 1687, the region came under the rule of the Mughal Emperors of Delhi.
Firmans were issued by the Mughal Emperor granting the rights of English East India company in Chennai. In the later part of the seventeenth century, Chennai steadily progressed during the period of the East India Company and under many Governors. During the regime of Governor Elihu Yale (1687–92), the most important event was the formation of the institution of a Mayor and the Corporation for the city of Chennai. In 1693, a perwanna was received from the local Nawab granting the towns Tondiarpet, Purasawalkam and Egmore to the company. Thomas Pitt became the Governor of Chennai in 1698 and governed for eleven years. This period witnessed remarkable development of trade and increase in wealth.
The present parts of Chennai like Poonamalee (ancient Tamil name - Poo Iruntha alli), Triplicane (ancient Tamil name - Thiru alli keni) are mentioned in Tamil bhakti literature of the sixth - ninth centuries.
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