States of India since 1947. Madras State was a state of India during the mid-20th century. At the time of its formation in 1950, it included the whole of present-day Tamil Nadu (except Kanyakumari district), Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema, the Malabar region of North and central Kerala, and Bellary, South Canara.

What is Madras called in English?

In 1996, the Government of Tamil Nadu officially changed the name from Madras to Chennai. At that time many Indian cities underwent a change of name.

Why was Madras renamed Chennai?

In 1996, Tamil Nadu capital Chennai got its current name. Earlier it was known as Madras. At that time the nationwide trend was to rename cities in native language. Elangovan said Madras was renamed as Chennai in memory of the Telugu ruler Chennappa.