Coimbatore also known as Kovai is the second largest city in Tamil Nadu. The city has over 25,000 small, medium and large scale industries and 2 IT SEZs. Coimbatore is known as the "Manchester of South India" due to the presence of a flourishing textile industry. The city is situated about 500 kilometres (311 mi) southwest of state capital Chennai, on the banks of the Noyyal River and is close to the Siruvani Waterfalls.

     Coimbatore has a well-developed educational infrastructure, with 7 Universities, 2 medical colleges and over 54 Engineering Colleges and 70 Arts and Science colleges.

     The city is emerging as major medical tourism destination with many super specialty hospitals and as many as 750 hospitals and medical centres in total.

     The hill stations of Ooty, Coonoor and Valparai are close to the city making it a good tourist attraction throughout the year.

     The Kossar tribe mentioned in the second century CE Tamil epic Silappathikaram and other poems in Sangam literature is associated with the Coimbatore region (Kongu Nadu). During 12th Century CE, Coimbatore was ruled by Irulas, whose chieftain Kovan, gave his name to the city. Large numbers of Roman coins and other artifacts have been unearthed around Coimbatore, indicating the region's ties with Roman traders.

     The medieval Cholas conquered the Kongu Nadu in the 10th century CE. A Chola highway called "Rajakesari Peruvazhi" ran through the region. Much of Tamil Nadu came under the rule of the Vijayanagara Empire by the 15th century. The Vijayanagara reign brought new settlers from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. In the 1550s, the military governors (Telugu speaking Nayakars) of the Vijaynagara Empire took control of the region. After the Vijayanagara Empire fell in the 17th century, the Madurai Nayaks established their state as an independent kingdom, with other Vijayanagar offshoots forming new kingdoms in Vellore, Tanjore, Gingee, Chandragiri and Mysore. The Nayaks introduced the Palayakkarar system under which Kongu nadu region was divided into 24 Palayams. Between 1623 and 1672, Coimbatore was part of a territorial dispute between the Thanjavur Nayaks and Madurai Nayaks.


     In the later part of the 18th century, the Coimbatore region came under the Kingdom of Mysore, controlled by Hyder Ali and later Tipu Sultan. After defeating Tipu Sultan in the Anglo-Mysore Wars, the British East India Company annexed Coimbatore to the Madras Presidency in 1799. Coimbatore played a prominent role in the Second Poligar War against the British in 1801, as it was the area of operations of Dheeran Chinnamalai.

     In 1865, Coimbatore was established as the capital of the newly formed Coimbatore district and in 1866 it was accorded the municipality status.[18] Sir Robert Stanes became the first Chairman of the Coimbatore City Council.

     The region was hard hit during the Great Famine of 1876–78 resulting in nearly 200,000 famine related fatalities. On February 8, 1900 an earthquake struck Coimbatore damaging many buildings. The first three decades of the 20th century, saw nearly 20,000 plague related deaths and an acute water shortage.

---

---

Page URL: http://www.kovainetwork.com/kovai/cityinfo.html

---

© 2006 Kovainetwork.com  Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Your Suggestions