In ancient times, Chennai was called Madras Patnam located in the province of Tondaimandalm. It had its military headquarters at Puzhal, which is now a small and rather insignificant village on the outskirts of the city. Modern Chennai grew out of a small village when in 1639 a fishing hamlet called Madraspatnam was selected by early English merchants of the East India Company as a site for trade settlement. This city was founded in 1639 on land given by the Raja of Chandragiri, the last representative of the Vijayanagar rulers of Hampi.
A small fort was built at a fishing settlement in 1644 and a town, which subsequently called as George Town, grew in the area of fort St. George. The settlement became independent of Banten, Java, in 1683 and was granted its first municipal charter in 1688 by James II. It thus has the oldest municipal corporation in India.
During the 18th and early 19th centuries, when the British and French competed for supremacy in India, the city's fortunes waxed and waned. It was briefly occupied by the French. It was used by Clive of India as a base for his military expeditions during the Wars of the Carnatic and, during the 19th century, it was the seat of the Chennai Presidency, one of the four divisions of British Imperial India.
After independence the city was going by the name of Madras until the government of Tamil Nadu officially renamed it as Chennai in 1996.