Indian High Sea

The sea east of the Tamil country opens into the Bay of Bengal, facing the long Coromandel Coast. The name derives from Cholamandalam, the land of the Cholas. By 1530 Portuguese settlements stood at Nagapattinam, Mylapore and Pulicat; in the following centuries other European companies established trading posts along the shore. Dutch merchants held Pulicat and Sadras, the French settled at Pondicherry and Karaikal, and the English established Fort St George at Madras.