The recorded history of Vellore dates back to the ninth century, as seen from a
Chola inscription in the
Annamalaiyar Temple in
Tiruvannamalai. Vellore is strategically located and well-connected by rail and bus routes to major towns in the neighbouring states of
Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka and
Kerala. Many dynasties and rulers dominated Vellore throughout its history, including the
Pallava dynasty,
Medieval Cholas,
Later Cholas, the
Rashtrakuta dynasty, the
Sambuvaraya chieftains,
Vijayanagar, the
Nawabs of the Carnatic, and the administration of the
British. In the 18th century, Vellore was involved in the
Carnatic Wars between Britain and France. It was situated close to several decisive battles, including those at
Ambur (1749),
Arcot (1751), and
Vandavasi (1760). During the first half of the 19th century, the town came under
British rule.
Vellore Fort is important to Vellore's history. Due to a lack of historical records, it is not known exactly when the fort was constructed, but estimates based on stone inscriptions suggests that the fort was most likely built during the rule of Chinna Bommi Nayak between 1526 and 1595. The fort is a good example of
Tamil Nadu military architecture, while the
Jalakandeswarar Temple within the fort represents
Vijayanagara architecture.
Christian Medical College & Hospital, founded in 1900 by the American medical missionary
Dr. Ida S. Scudder, is another Vellore landmark. The hospital has grown into a medical institution of international repute. The central prison in Vellore, established in 1830, had imprisoned notable Indian independence activists like
C. Rajagopalachari and
Ramaswamy Venkataraman. Other landmarks include the Shashankinians mausoleums, located close to the section of
National Highway 48 between Vellore and Arcot, where the family members of
Tipu Sultan were buried; and the Muthu Mandapam, a memorial on the banks of
Palar River built by the Tamil Nadu Government to honor
Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, the last ruler of the
Kingdom of Kandy in
Sri Lanka, who ruled from 1798 to 1815 and was imprisoned in Vellore Fort for 17 years until his death.
Vellore Fort The fort of Vellore was built around 1566 CE by the chieftains of Sadashiv Raya of the Vijayanagara Empire. In the mid-17th century the fort was owned by various parties. The Aravidus, the last dynasty that ruled Vijayanagara lost Vellore to the Bijapur Sultan before being captured by the Marathas after a siege that lasted four and a half months in 1676. The fort came under the charge of Dost Ali, the Nawab of Carnatic, before passing on to the British in 1760. Vellore Fort withstood Hyder Ali's siege from 1780 to 1782, and would later become the base for Lord Cornwallis’ march on Bangalore to defeat Tipu Sultan. When Tipu Sultan was killed at Sringapatam during the
Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1798-79 CE), his kingdom was handed back to the Hindu Wodeyar kings of Mysore and the British exiled Tipu's surviving sons, daughters, their families, and their entire entourage to Vellore Fort. They stayed in the palaces in the fort and participated in the mutiny of 1806.
Vellore mutiny In 1805, the new Commander-in-Chief of the
Madras Army of the
British East India Company,
General Sir John Cradock, began an ambitious reform of the army's disciplinary system. New, standardized regulations were approved for the Madras Army, which dictated how
sepoys should wear their uniforms and appear on duty. Under these regulations, Hindus were prohibited from wearing religious marks on their foreheads while on duty, and Muslims were required to shave their beards and trim their moustaches. One change that was especially problematic was a new headdress associated with Indian converts to Christianity, which included a leather
cockade. This caused an uproar, as leather was a cultural taboo for the upper caste sepoys of the Madras Army. As a result, many sepoys believed that their British officers were conspiring to convert them to Christianity. In May 1806, a few soldiers protested against these changes and were sent to
Fort St. George in Chennai, where they were publicly lashed and discharged from the army. With the levels of resentment towards the British already high, the sons of the deceased
Tipu Sultan exacerbated the conflict by assisting the mutineers who revolted on 10 July. Under the pretense of attending the wedding of one of Tipu Sultan's daughters, mutineers gathered in Vellore Fort where the wedding was held and revolted. Raising the flag of the
Kingdom of Mysore, they declared Tipu Sultan's son Fateh Hyder king. The mutineers inflicted about 200 casualties before their revolt was put down by reinforcements under the command of
Sir Hugh Robert Rollo Gillespie; many of the mutineers were captured and summarily executed or court-martialed. As a result of the uprising, the dress codes were retracted, and Cradock was dismissed. Although the mutiny took place before larger revolts in the 1850s, it was indicative of the simmering dissent in the Indian soldiery. The Vellore mutiny is considered to be the first large-scale Indian mutiny against the British, and a prelude to the much larger
Sepoy Mutiny in 1857. In the 1930s, a series of
communal riots occurred between
Hindus and
Muslims. ==Economic, social and cultural changes in the 20th century==