Kongunad is an ancient part of the Tamil speaking part of peninsular India. Coimbatore, the Rome of Kongunad lies in the western region and belongs to the ancient Thenkongu region of Kongunad. The gigantic city is nestled in a rain shadow region in the neighbourhood of the Western Ghats with the ancient River Noyyal nourishing it.
Kongunad is an ancient part of the Tamil speaking part of peninsular India. Coimbatore, the Rome of Kongunad lies in the western region and belongs to the ancient Thenkongu region of Kongunad. The gigantic city is nestled in a rain shadow region in the neighbourhood of the Western Ghats with the ancient River Noyyal nourishing it.
The Kongu country was further divided into 24 regions and Coimbatore is part of Perur Nadu, the home to the world famous Patteeswarar temple. Literary works state that Coimbatore is part of Kovanganadu, which is a sub division of Arainadu. The name Coimbatore has many origins, state historians.
According to R. Jagadeesan of the Vanavarayar Foundation, " Some scholars are of the contention that Coimbatore was named thus after the Irula tribal chieftain Kovan. The area ruled by him became Kovanpadhy and then Coyamuthur. Goddess Koniamman was supposed to have been the deity worshipped by him. However the town was also the second capital of the Kongu region and was the Konagaram therefore. Kon meant the ruler and the deity worshipped by the ruler becomes the guardian of the city and hence the name Koniamman. The Agraharam parts of the town came to be known as Uma Parameswari Chaturvedimangalam and the other areas come to be known as Veerakeralanallur. Most of these contentions are backed by inscriptions or interpreted with the aid of the same. There is another school of thought which states that Koniammanpudur became Coimbatore eventually.
Centuries ago traders from Rome, Greece, Egypt, the Middle East and elsewhere used to visit Coimbatore while moving between the western and eastern coasts of the peninsula. The Romans in particular used to source cotton fabrics that were used to make Togas for the Roman Senators and also cornelian jewellery for the women of Rome. The Romans lived in a settlement at Vellalore on the outskirts of Coimbatore for the purpose of trade. In fact most of the Roman coins discovered in India are from the Kongu region.
One can discover the coins of nearly 25 Roman emperors, beginning with Augustus Caesar in the Coimbatore region. Archeologists have discovered these facts through several excavations and the temple inscriptions have also been of help. A number of Jains used to traverse this region during the Sangam era and they have contributed much towards the study and literature of this region.
A number of dynasties have ruled Coimbatore and they include the Reddy, Ganga, Rashtrikuta, Chalukya, Chera, Chola, Pandya, Pallava, Ganga Pallava, Nulamba Pallava, Bana, Kongu Chola, Kongu Pandya, Hoysala, Ummathoorars, Vijayanagar, Naicks of Madurai, Wodeyars of Mysore, Hyder Ali, Tipu Sultan, East India Company, and finally the English directly. Thanks to several influences from all over the peninsula Coimbatore became one of the early cosmopolitan cities of our country.
Old Coimbatore consisted of the Pettai area with the Visweswaraswamy temple at its centre and Kottai area with the Koniamman and Kottai Eswaran temples as its mainstay. The entry into the city was through the Ukkadam Lakshmi Narasimha temple and all the rulers used to do their Pattinapravesam from there. The fort came up during the Vijayanagar time and it was brought down by Tipu Sultan in the year 1792 after the third Anglo Mysore War. The fort area had a two street agraharam and hence the name Uma Parameswari Chaturvedimangalam became an epithet for the city. Another agraharam existed in the Pettai area too and Saint Vyasaraja, the Rajaguru of Sri Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagar, visited the city during the hey days of the Empire and installed a Hanuman in this area.
Coimbatore survived its rain shadow attribute thanks to the network of tanks, and the waters of Noyyal got sweeter due to the huge riparian forest goose berries that enriched the region. During the earlier times a dense forest surrounded the town and a few settlements like Perur added to the beauty of the place. Aditya Chola (875 - 907 AD) captured Coimbatore to harvest the forest wealth, which included elephants that were to later become part of the Chola army.
Coimbatore witnessed bouts of prosperity during the Roman trade times and during the rule of the Vijayanagar rulers directly or through their feudatories, the Naicks of Madurai. The Coimbatore Fort was the headquarters for the military garrison which held sway over 30 Palayams during the times of the Naicks of Madurai. However, it suffered enormously during the times of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan due to the four Anglo Mysore wars between the years 1767 and 1799. It was a little before the wars that a local ruler Kurikkara Madaiyan gave good governance for about 40 years.
Coimbatore was the home and hub for the River Noyyal civilization that nurtured agriculture, international commerce, religion, art, culture and brotherhood due to its cosmopolitan nature.
The East India Company understood the strategic importance of Coimbatore and declared the town as the district headquarters on the 24th of November 1804. The undivided Coimbatore district had 10 taluks stretching from Kollegal to Palakkad and some parts near Karur too. The day when Coimbatore graduated and became the district headquarters is being celebrated as the “COIMBATORE DAY" for it was from then on the town began to evolve into a city that came to be known for its entrepreneurial and environmental contribution.
The Kongu country was further divided into 24 regions and Coimbatore is part of Perur Nadu, the home to the world famous Patteeswarar temple. Literary works state that Coimbatore is part of Kovanganadu, which is a sub division of Arainadu. The name Coimbatore has many origins, state historians.
According to R. Jagadeesan of the Vanavarayar Foundation, " Some scholars are of the contention that Coimbatore was named thus after the Irula tribal chieftain Kovan. The area ruled by him became Kovanpadhy and then Coyamuthur. Goddess Koniamman was supposed to have been the deity worshipped by him. However the town was also the second capital of the Kongu region and was the Konagaram therefore. Kon meant the ruler and the deity worshipped by the ruler becomes the guardian of the city and hence the name Koniamman. The Agraharam parts of the town came to be known as Uma Parameswari Chaturvedimangalam and the other areas come to be known as Veerakeralanallur. Most of these contentions are backed by inscriptions or interpreted with the aid of the same. There is another school of thought which states that Koniammanpudur became Coimbatore eventually.
Centuries ago traders from Rome, Greece, Egypt, the Middle East and elsewhere used to visit Coimbatore while moving between the western and eastern coasts of the peninsula. The Romans in particular used to source cotton fabrics that were used to make Togas for the Roman Senators and also cornelian jewellery for the women of Rome. The Romans lived in a settlement at Vellalore on the outskirts of Coimbatore for the purpose of trade. In fact most of the Roman coins discovered in India are from the Kongu region.
One can discover the coins of nearly 25 Roman emperors, beginning with Augustus Caesar in the Coimbatore region. Archeologists have discovered these facts through several excavations and the temple inscriptions have also been of help. A number of Jains used to traverse this region during the Sangam era and they have contributed much towards the study and literature of this region.
A number of dynasties have ruled Coimbatore and they include the Reddy, Ganga, Rashtrikuta, Chalukya, Chera, Chola, Pandya, Pallava, Ganga Pallava, Nulamba Pallava, Bana, Kongu Chola, Kongu Pandya, Hoysala, Ummathoorars, Vijayanagar, Naicks of Madurai, Wodeyars of Mysore, Hyder Ali, Tipu Sultan, East India Company, and finally the English directly. Thanks to several influences from all over the peninsula Coimbatore became one of the early cosmopolitan cities of our country.
Old Coimbatore consisted of the Pettai area with the Visweswaraswamy temple at its centre and Kottai area with the Koniamman and Kottai Eswaran temples as its mainstay. The entry into the city was through the Ukkadam Lakshmi Narasimha temple and all the rulers used to do their Pattinapravesam from there. The fort came up during the Vijayanagar time and it was brought down by Tipu Sultan in the year 1792 after the third Anglo Mysore War. The fort area had a two street agraharam and hence the name Uma Parameswari Chaturvedimangalam became an epithet for the city. Another agraharam existed in the Pettai area too and Saint Vyasaraja, the Rajaguru of Sri Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagar, visited the city during the hey days of the Empire and installed a Hanuman in this area.
Coimbatore survived its rain shadow attribute thanks to the network of tanks, and the waters of Noyyal got sweeter due to the huge riparian forest goose berries that enriched the region. During the earlier times a dense forest surrounded the town and a few settlements like Perur added to the beauty of the place. Aditya Chola (875 - 907 AD) captured Coimbatore to harvest the forest wealth, which included elephants that were to later become part of the Chola army.
Coimbatore witnessed bouts of prosperity during the Roman trade times and during the rule of the Vijayanagar rulers directly or through their feudatories, the Naicks of Madurai. The Coimbatore Fort was the headquarters for the military garrison which held sway over 30 Palayams during the times of the Naicks of Madurai. However, it suffered enormously during the times of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan due to the four Anglo Mysore wars between the years 1767 and 1799. It was a little before the wars that a local ruler Kurikkara Madaiyan gave good governance for about 40 years.
Coimbatore was the home and hub for the River Noyyal civilization that nurtured agriculture, international commerce, religion, art, culture and brotherhood due to its cosmopolitan nature.
The East India Company understood the strategic importance of Coimbatore and declared the town as the district headquarters on the 24th of November 1804. The undivided Coimbatore district had 10 taluks stretching from Kollegal to Palakkad and some parts near Karur too. The day when Coimbatore graduated and became the district headquarters is being celebrated as the “COIMBATORE DAY" for it was from then on the town began to evolve into a city that came to be known for its entrepreneurial and environmental contribution.