Dressing up Madras: on textiles of yore, cloth trade and markets

The world may be in the midst of the most extraordinary set of circumstances most people living now are likely to have experienced, but August 22 rings a happy note in Chennai, nay, Madras. It's never too much to refresh the view of the city’s history. Here’s a week of stories that map the way different professions and trades helped this city grow. Madras Day is celebrated every August 22, in commemoration of the broadly-agreed date (in 1639) for the sale of the village Chennapattinam or Madrasapattinam to the East India Company. That cut off would make this city 381 years old. Happy birthday, Madras, that is, Chennai. Let the celebrations be COVID-19 compliant this year