Nellore

Nellore stands on the Pennar River in southeastern India, inland from the Bay of Bengal. Its name has several proposed explanations: one connects it with a sacred tree in a local religious story, while another derives it from a word for paddy. The latter recalls the importance of rice in the surrounding district, though the origin of the name is not certain.

Tamil inscriptions attest to Chola rule before its decline in the thirteenth century. Nellore subsequently came under the Kakatiyas, Vijayanagara, Golconda and Mughal rule, and the nawabs of Arcot. In 1758 Maratha forces led by Balwant Rao captured the town from Nazibullah. Later in the eighteenth century it passed from the Arcot nawabs to British control and became part of the Madras Presidency.