Chennai, originally known as Chennaipattinam was a popular trading center for spices and clothes for more than 2000 years. Portuguese and Dutch arrived here in the 16th century followed by the British and French. In 1639, the British East India Company established a settlement in the fishing village of Madraspattnam which they leased from the local Nayaks.

A modern capital, with the appearance of a gracious garden city, Chennai was once a group of villages set amidst palmfringed paddy fields, until two English East India Company merchants, Francis Day and Andrew Cogan, established a factory - cum - trading post here. Completed on St George's Day, 23 April 1640, this fortified settlement came to be known as Fort St George. Outside its walls was George Town, the so-called "native town', whose crowded lanes, each devoted to a particular trade, serviced the British colonists. Colonial rule linked the various villages, including the settlement founded in the 16th century by the Portuguese at San Thome, the sacred site associated with St Thomas the Apostle. Several centuries before the Europeans arrived, the great 7th-century Pallava port was at Mylapore; its Kapalesvara Temple, along with the Parthasarathi Temple at Triplicane, bear testimony to the city's antiquity. Colonial rule marked the beginning of the city's growth as a major commercial centre. Today, most of the large business houses have their offices in George Town, while Fort St George is the power centre of the Tamil Nadu state government. Extending across 172 sq km (66 sq miles), Chennai today is a dynamic mix of the old and the new, its stately colonical structures juxtaposed with modern high-rises. Its rich cultural heritage of Tamil literature, music and dance is perpetuated in universities and performing arts centres. It is also a highly political city, as can be seen from the many gradiose memorials to politicians that line Marina Beach.

The city grew into modern city merging all neighbouring areas. In the 19th century, the city became the seat of Madras Presidency, the southern division of British Imperial India. After independence in 1947, it became the capital of Madras State that was renamed Tamil Nadu. Very recently Madras was renamed Chennai.