Madras Presidency, one of the administrative divisions of India, occupies the southern part of the peninsula; it is also known as the Presidency of Fort St George. It extends from lat. 20° 18' on the eastern coast and lat. 14° on the west coast to Cape Comorin in lat. 8° 4'. The total area, excluding native states, is 139,000 sq. m.; pop. (1881) 30,868,504; (1891) 35,630,440. (The native states have an area of 9600 sq. m., and a population of 3,700,622.) Of these some 30 millions are Hindus, about 2 millions Mohammedans, and 800,000 Christians. For revenue purposes the presidency is divided into twenty-two districts. The chief government officer in each district is the collector, who controls all departments except the judicial. The principal mountains belong to the two chains of the Eastern and Western Ghāts. The former have an average height of 1500 feet, but rise in parts to 3000 or 4000 feet; the latter have a considerably greater average height, with a number of peaks rising from 5000 to 8000 feet, and a few even higher. A considerable part of the presidency forms a tableland, which includes the native states of Mysore and the Deccan, rising to a height of from 1000 to 3000 feet. A very notable geographical feature is the Palghāt Gap in the Western Ghāts, 25 miles wide, and only 1000 feet above sea-level. Through it passed the old trade-route between the west and east coast, now superseded by a railway, and through it the south-west monsoon blows strongly, bringing rain to a considerable area lying east of it. The Nilgiri Hills, on which at Ootacamund is the summer seat of the government, may be looked on as the junction of the Eastern and Western Ghāts. There are also several important outlying spurs, of which the Shevaroys in Salem, the Anamalais in Coimbatore, and the Palnis in Madura are the most noteworthy. The chief rivers are the Godavari, the Kistna, and the Kaveri, all rising in the Western Ghāts, and crossing the peninsula in a south-easterly direction to the Bay of Bengal. Very extensive irrigation-works have been carried out in connection with each of these rivers, while minor irrigation-works are to be found in almost all parts of the presidency. Railway communication is being rapidly extended throughout the country. The Madras Railway (5 ft. 6 in. gauge), with its terminus at Madras, crosses the country in two lines. The one passes in a south-westerly direction to Calicut on the Malabar coast, with branches to Bangalore, where it connects with the Mysore Railway, and to Mettapolliem, the station for the Nilgiris. The other crosses in a north-westerly direction to Raichur, where it connects with the Great Indian Peninsular Railway. At Guntakal it makes connection with the extensive system of the South Mahratta Railway. The South Indian Railway (metre gauge) runs south from Madras to Tinnevelly, with branches to Pondicherry, Negapatam, and Tuticorin; a line from Trichinopoly connects it with the Madras Railway at Erode, and another branch from Chengalpat connects it with the same railway at Arconum. There are good roads in most parts of the presidency.
The climate differs greatly in different parts. In the Carnatic the dry season lasts from the middle of December till the end of June, there being often three or four months without any rain. From June to October there are heavy showers, and from October to the middle of December the north-east monsoon brings copious rain. Over a great part of the east coast strip the annual rainfall exceeds 40 inches; but in some parts inland it does not exceed 20 inches, and in many parts it falls below 30 inches. The mean annual temperature is about 82°, and in many stations a maximum temperature of upwards of 110° is not uncommon. On the Malabar coast the rainfall is much heavier, and comes with the south-west monsoon. The moisture-laden winds, being driven upwards by the lofty mountains, cool as they ascend, and pour down their surplus moisture on the strip of land between the hills and the sea. Thus, the fall from June to October is 119 inches at Mangalore, and 132 inches at Honawar. The annual rainfall at Mangalore is 131 inches, and at Cochin 115 inches; at the latter place 227 inches fell in 1882. This abundant rainfall leads to a most luxuriant vegetation in Travancore and on the west coast. The mean temperature varies from 79° to 80°, and there are no great extremes. The climate of the hill-stations is not unlike that of England at its best. Frosts are not unknown, but are slight, and in summer the temperature never rises very high. The climate of the Nilgiris has been described as 'that of the English spring and summer without Atlantic storms or the bitter east winds of March.' Save when the monsoon is at its height, it would be difficult to imagine a finer climate. Rice is the chief crop grown throughout the presidency, but several other cereals are largely cultivated. Pulse, ground-nut and other oil-seeds, indigo, and sugarcane are of great importance in certain parts. Cotton is grown over a wide area in the drier parts, and tobacco of excellent quality is produced in large quantities on islands in the Godavari, and in parts of the Coimbatore and Madura districts. Trichinopoly cigars and cheroots are increasingly exported. On the hills tea, coffee, and cinchona are successfully cultivated over wide areas. The manufacturing industry is represented by cotton, sugar, gunny bags, paper, ice, and tiles. Madras is not rich in minerals; but gold is found in many parts, and, though the most productive mines at present worked lie in Mysore, there is good reason to hope for equally favourable results from mines opened in other areas of the Darwar Rocks, which are apparently the only auriferous strata in the presidency. Iron of excellent quality abounds, and is worked by the natives; but the want of fuel prevents any large development of the iron industry. Diamonds have been largely found, chiefly in the Karnul district. The forests are now carefully protected by the state, and are of great value, especially the teak forests.
The first English settlement was made at Masulipatam in 1611. In 1616 factories were established on the west coast at Calicut and Cranganore. In 1619 a factory was opened alongside of the Dutch one at Pulicat, but this was soon withdrawn. In 1628 the Masulipatam factory was transferred to Armagaon, 40 miles north of Pulicat, and this was the first place fortified by the English in India. In 1639 a settlement was obtained at Madras. Christian missions have made more progress in Madras than in any other part of India, there being 228 Christians in every 10,000 inhabitants; Lower Burma follows closely with 225, while Bombay has only 62 and Bengal 18.