The plain's largest single act of resistance happened fifty-one years before 1857, and it is easy to misdescribe. The Vellore mutiny of 10 July 1806 began over uniform regulations in a garrison that also held Tipu Sultan's family, and it was over within a day. After that this region produced almost no risings, because it had become the administrative centre of southern India instead: what it produced was associations, newspapers, law courts, a university and, from 1918, trade unions. A great deal of what reads as Tamil nationalist history elsewhere was printed, argued, tried or organised here — including Subramania Bharati's decade of exile in French Pondicherry, at the southern end of this coast, from 1908 to 1918.
The Vellore mutiny10 July 1806
Sepoys of the Vellore garrison rose before dawn against regulations introduced in late 1805 that required a new round hat with a leather cockade in place of the turban, forbade caste marks on parade and required beards to be trimmed. The fort was held for part of the day; the sons of Tipu Sultan, held there since 1799, did not take up the leadership offered them.
परिणाम: A relief force from Arcot under Rollo Gillespie retook the fort the same day; about 350 of those who rose were killed, including summary executions and later court-martial sentences. The dress regulations were cancelled; the Commander-in-Chief, Sir John Cradock, and the Governor of Madras, Lord William Bentinck, were both recalled.
The Home Rule agitation1916–1917
Annie Besant, based at Adyar in Madras, launched a Home Rule League in 1916 and argued the case for self-government in her newspaper New India. She was interned by the Madras government in June 1917.
परिणाम: She was released in September 1917 after protest across the country, and in December was elected president of the Indian National Congress — the first woman to hold the office.
The Madras Labour Union and the mill disputes1918–1921
On 13 April 1918 B. P. Wadia and V. Kalyanasundaram organised the Madras Labour Union among the workers of the Buckingham and Carnatic Mills at Perambur — among the first organised trade unions in India, and the beginning of an industrial politics distinct from the Congress.
परिणाम: The union survived legal action against its organisers, and labour organisation spread through the presidency in the years that followed.