Pudukkottai

Pudukkottai, a state of southern India, in subordination to Madras, lying between the British districts of Tanjore and Madura. Area, 110o sq. m. Pop. (1901), 380,440, showing an increase of 2% in the decade. The state consists mainly of an undulating plain, nowhere of great fertility and in many parts barren; it is interspersed with rocky hills, especially in the southwest. Granite and laterite are quarried, red ochre is worked, and silk and cotton fabrics, bell-metal vessels and perfumes are among the principal manufactures. There is also some export trade in groundnuts and tanning bark. The chief, whose title is tondaman, is of the Kallan or robber caste. His ancestors received a grant of territory for loyal services to the British during the wars in the Carnatic at the end of the 18th century. Estimated gross revenue, £80,000; no tribute. The state has for some years past been well administered under a council, with a representative assembly. The town of Pudukkottai had a population in 1901 of 20,347. It is well laid out, and contains several fine new buildings.