Pallavaram is considered to be one of the oldest inhabited places in SouthIndia. A major archaeologicalfind was made in the year 1864 when the Britisharchaeologist Robert Bruce Footediscovered a stoneimplement from thePaleolithic Ageinside a ballast pit. Since then, a number of stone age artifactshave been uncovered.Most of these artifacts are currently lodged in the Egmore museum.
The present-day town of Pallavaram has its origins in the setllement of Pallavapuram which existed during the time of the 7th centuryPallavakingMahendravarman I.The remains of a cave shrine constructed by the Pallava ruler have been found at the spot where an Islamic dargahnow stands.
It appears that Sayid Badr Ud-Din, waged a jihad forGolconda, was martyredfighting the Portuguese at San Thome {St. Thomas Mount]. His body was buriedin Zamin Pallavaram and came to be called Sayid Badr Ud-Din Sahid dargah. The dargah is still available there. "Kandhuri" or "Urs" is an annual festival conducted by the faithful in memory of these mystics.
Both theMughal Empireand theBritish East India Company had their cantonments in Pallavaram.
During the 17th century, Pallavaram remained dependent for sometime, upon the Portuguese colony of San Thome. During the 18th century, the British established a cantonment at Pallavaram, supplementary to the one atSt. Thomas Mount. Awireless stationwas established in the early years of the 20th century. onwards, Pallavaram formed one of the chief areas of Greater Madras.
There used to be a big bungalow where some muslim families resided. People used to say that they are the descendants of Pallavaram Zamindar but no names are available ! We lived in a colony named Lathiff Colony in ZaminPallavaram which is the only place named after a Muslim. So I think he might be the zamindar but I am notsure. At the same time, strangely, there are also no other colonies named after a muslim ! My father used to tell us that when our house was constructed there, at the time of excavating the landfor the foundation there used to be lot of human skeletons ! Maybe the war was fought there or the placemight have become a burial ground No further details are available !
To add to this conversation, folks in this forum may be interested in reading the original discovery reported in the Science magazine last year. Science, one of the most prestigious publications, reports discoveries of importance. Attached you will find the original article by Dr. Pappu and his team of researchers. Since the report alters our current understanding of Hominins movement a special report by one of the editors was published in the same issue (also attached).
The significance is that a group of Hominins seem to have settled around Chennai region (Pallavaram, Attirampakkam) some 1.5 million years ago. Hominins are pre-cursor species to Homo sapiens (that is us the humans). The attached Science comment article (see figure) that the finding at Attirampakkam is one of the oldest found thus far outside of Africa. Thus the excavations have led to revising our current understanding of migration of “stone tool technology”, as shown in the figure.
Amazing articles! It is really a great feeling to hear about our town's history and it's significance in ancient times. I lived in Pammal for 15 years and have heard about those places. It is believed that the region where I lived should have been a cemetry in Pallava period ( not sure how far it is true). There is also a temple build during Chola period.
I would like to know more about these places in ancient dynasties. Also many places in Chennai would be having such history behind them. Can anybody share those details?