Did you know that Poonamallee was a power centre as far as the British trade in Madras was concerned? For around 40 years from the mid-1640s, the Golconda Sultans, who dominated the region, appointed governors who controlled trade from nearby Poonamallee.
Writer and short film maker S. Anwar, who spoke on the Golconda rule in Madras at the first of the Madras Week lectures organised by Madras Musings on Sunday at Hotel Maris, said that Poonamallee was on the verge of becoming a battlefield as the forces of the Vijayanagara empire and Golconda were about to square off, but a conflict was avoided after the former gave up without a fight. During the Golconda rule, their governors wanted to have a godown inside Fort St. George to ensure that they could 50 per cent of the customs duties from trade in cloth. But, when the British did not agree, they blockaded Madras, leading to starvation in the city and the rise in the price of paddy, explained Mr. Anwar.
Finally, Lingappa, the governor appointed by the Golconda rulers, relented after he was given a gift of 7,000 Pagodas. Pointing out how Lingappa, a Hindu was a governor under the Sultanate, Mr. Anwar explained that religious divides were not something major in the 17th century in south India. The British continued to pay a sum of 1,200 pagodas to the Golconda Sultanate until they themselves took over the city. Historians S. Muthiah and V. Sriram were present on the occasion.