Saint Thomas's Mount
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Saint Thomas's Mount
Town and cantonment in the Saidapet taluk of Chingleput District, Madras, situated in 13 N. and 80 12' E., 8 miles south of Madras city. Population (1901), 15,571. It is known to the natives as Parangimalai, or ' Europeans' hill.' The Mount after which the place is named is composed of greenstone and syenite, and is ascended by a flight of 200 masonry steps, the work of the Portu- guese On its summit, 220 feet above sea-level, is a curious old Portu- guese church dedicated to the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin. It was built by the Portuguese in 1547, over the spot where was found the celebrated cross attributed to the legendary visit of St Thomas the Apostle to thib part of India. The tradition 1 states that after preaching in Malabar and other places, St. Thomas came to Mylapore, a suburb of Madras , that the Brahmans there stirred up a tumult against him, and that on December 21, A.D. 68, he was stoned by the crowd and finally thrust through with a spear near the Mount. Lucena gives the following account of the finding of the cross :
' It was met with on digging for the foundations of a hermitage amid the ruins which marked the spot of the martyrdom of the Apostle St Thomas. On the face of the slab was a cross in relief, with a bird like a dove over it, with its wings expanded as the Holy Ghost is usually represented when descending on our Lord at His baptism, or on our Lady at her Annunciation This cross was erected over the altar at the chapel which was built on the new sanctuary.'
Dr. Burnell (Indian Antiquary, 1874, p. 313) says:
f This account is no doubt accurate, for the Portuguese on first visit- ing the Mount found the Christian church in ruins, and occupied by a native fakir. The description of the slab is also accurate. It does not appear what cause had destroyed the Christian community here, but it probably was owing to the political disturbances attending the war between the Muhammadans of the north and the Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar.'
Referring to an Italian account (in the seventeenth century) of the . cross and the Mount festival, Dr. Burnell continues
'The cross is built into the wall behind the altar in a chuich on the Great Mount, which is served by a native priest under the Goa juris- diction An annual festival is held here, which brings a large assem- blage of native Christians to the spot, and causes an amount of disorder which the European Catholic clergy of Madras have in vain tried to put down '
Dr. Burnell considered that the date of the cross tablet and its Pahlevi inscription was probably about the eighth century
On the plain on the eastern side of the Mount lies the military can- tonment bearing the same name The garrison now consists of two batteries of field artillery and one legiment of native infantiy. The can- tonment is a pretty place and well kept In the centre is an open grassy maidan, round which cluster the various bungalows and other buildings, including the handsome mess-house of the artilleiy The church, which stands at the southern end of the parade ground, is one of the best edifices of its kind in the Presidency
1 Discussions of the credibility of this tradition will be found in the Indian Antiquary, vol. xxxu, in the Journal of the Royal Astatic Society for April, 1905, and in India and the. Apostle. Thomas (1905), by A. E. Medlycott, Bishop of Tricomia.
St. Thomas's Mount figured m British history long before it was made a cantonment. The battle of the Mount, fought on Febiuary 7, 1759, between Lally and Colonel Calliaud, was one of the fiercest struggles of the Franco-British wars in Southern India. It is thus described m the Chmgleput Manual
' Colonel Calliaud had been summoned from the south to assist in raising the siege of Madras. He took post at the Mount, with his right at a deserted little temple at the north-east of the present parade ground, and his left supported by a house called Carvalho's Garden, where he posted four pieces of cannon His troops included the contingent brought by the Company's partisan Muhammad Yusuf, and consisted of 2,200 horse, 2,500 foot, and 6 cannon Of these, how- ever, only 1,500 natives, 80 Europeans, and 12 artillerymen were pos- sessed of the slightest discipline. Lally's forces aggregated 2,600, half of whom were Europeans, and all disciplined. He had, besides, 8 guns, possessing a great superiority m weight of metal. The fight lasted from early morning till 5 p.m , when the enemy, to Colonel Calliaud's intense relief, retreated. The latter had ammunition sufficient to have lasted for about a couple of minutes more J
On March 20, 1769, Haidar All, who had marched within 5 miles of Madras, met here Mr. Dupre, the senior Member of Council, and here the inglorious treaty of April 2 was signed In 1774, at the suggestion of Col. James, the Mount became the head-quarters of the Madras Artillery
'The garrison of the Mount formed the major part of the force (under Sir Hector Munro) that ought to have saved Bailhe in 1780, During its absence, only five companies of sepoys and four guns had been left for the protection of the Mount, and a temporary earthwork was raised to strengthen the place against attack. This has long been levelled, but a slight depression crossing the plain midway between Pallavarain and the Mount indicates the position of what went by the name of the Maratha Ditch.'
