History of Chennai - Post-independence (1947)

After India became independent, the city became the administrative and legislative capital of Madras State which was renamed as Tamil Nadu in 1968.

During the reorganisation of states in India on linguistic lines, in 1953, Telugu speakers wanted Madras as the capital of Andhra Pradesh[5] and coined the slogan "Madras Manade" (Madras is ours) before Tirupati was included in Andhra Pradesh.[6] The dispute arose as the city had come to be inhabited by both Tamil and Telugu speaking people. Earlier, Panagal Raja, Chief Minister of Madras Presidency in early 1920s had suggested that the Cooum River be the boundary between the Tamil and Telugu administrative areas.[7] In 1953, the political and administrative dominance of Tamils, both at the Union and State levels ensured that Madras was not transferred to the new state of Andhra

Today, though a cosmopolitan city, the majority of residents in Chennai are native Tamilians. There are also a sizeable native Telugu, Anglo Indian and migrant Malayalee communities in the city. As the city is an important administrative and commercial centre, many communities such as the Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati and Marwari communities and people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar migrated to the city and have contributed to its cosmopolitan nature. Today, Chennai also has a growing expatriate population especially from the United States, Europe and East Asia who work in the industries and IT centres. From 1965 to 1967, the city was an important base for the Tamil agitation against the perceived imposition of Hindi, and witnessed sporadic rioting. Madras witnessed further political violence due to the civil war in Sri Lanka, with 33 people killed by a bomb planted by the Tamil Eelam Army at the airport in 1984, and assassination of thirteen members of the EPRLF and two Indian civilians by the rival LTTE in 1991. In the same year, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in Sriperumbudur, a small town close to Chennai, whilst campaigning in Tamil Nadu, by Thenmuli Rajaratnam A.K.A Dhanu. Dhanu is widely believed to be have been an LTTE member. In 1996, the Government of Tamil Nadu renamed the city from "Madras" to "Chennai" by DMK Government. The 2004 tsunami lashed the shores of Chennai killing many and permanently altering the coastline. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) political party swept the municipal elections of October 2006.

Modern Chennai is a large commercial and industrial centre, and is known for its cultural heritage and temple architecture. Chennai is the automobile capital of India, with around forty percent of the automobile industry having a base there and with a major portion of the nation's vehicles being produced there. Chennai is also referred as the Detroit of South Asia. It is a major manufacturing centre. Chennai has also become a major centre for outsourced IT and financial services from the Western world.