Arcot, South, lies between 11° 0' and 11° 39' N. lat., and between 78° 42' and 80° 4' E. long. The district of South Arcot is bounded on the N. by the districts of North Arcot and Chengalpat; on the E. by the French territory of Pondecherri and the Bay of Bengal; on the S. by the British districts of Tanjor and Trichinopoly; and on the W. by the British district of Sâlem. It contains an area, according to the Annals of Indian Administration for 1871-72, of 4779 square miles; and a population, as ascertained by a house census in July 1871, of 1,762,525. South Arcot is divided into thirteen fiscal divisions or tâluks, as follows:—(1.) Tindevanum, (2.) Trivadi, (3.) Vilup-puran, (4.) Bhawangiri, (5.) Managudi, (6.) Chilambram, (7.) Trinsmâli, (8.) Vardhâchalam, (9.) Elovansa, (10.) Trikalor, (11.) Kalakurchi, (12) Chaitpet, and (13.) Cuddalor. The aspect of the district resembles that of other parts of the Coromandel coast. It is low and sandy near the sea, and for the most part level till near the western border, where ranges of hills form the boundary between this and the neighbouring district of Sâlem. These ranges are in some parts about 5000 feet high, with solitary hills scattered about the district. In the western tracts, dense patches of jungle furnish covert to tigers, leopards, bears, and monkeys. The principal river is the Coleroon or Kalerun, which forms the southern boundary of the district, separating it from Trichinopoly. This river is abundantly supplied with water during the greater part of the year, and two irrigating channels distribute its waters through the district. The other rivers are the Vellaur, Ponnâr, and Gadalum, all of which are used for irrigation purposes. Numerous small irrigation channels lead off from them, by means of which a considerable area of fresh land has been brought under cultivation. Under the East India Company, a Commercial Resident was stationed at Cuddalor, and the Company’s weavers were encouraged by many privileges. The manufacture and export of native cloth have now been almost entirely superseded by the introduction of European piece goods. The sea-ports of the district of South Arcot are Cuddalor or Fort St David, with a population, in 1855, returned at 36,686; and Porto Novo, with a population estimated, in 1855, at about 12,000 souls. The other places of importance in the district are Chilambram, Vardhâchalam, Trivadi, Tiagâr, Ginji or Chenji, Trinomâli, Chaitpet, Mer-kanam, and Verdur. The number of villages in South Arcot was returned, in 1850, at 3376. The total revenue of the district in that year amounted to £284,708, of which £234,055, or 82 per cent., represented the land revenue.

Arcot City, the principal town in the district of North Arcot, is situated on the south bank of the Palâr river, in 12° 54' N. lat., and 79° 24' E. long. It is a station on the line of railway from Madras to Beypur, and is also a military cantonment. The population of the town, in 1862, was returned at 53,474 souls, inhabiting 10,042 houses. Arcot occupies a very prominent place in the history of the British conquests of India. In the middle of the last century, during the war between the rival claimants to the throne of the Carnatic, Muhammad All and Chandâ Sâhib, the English supported the claims of the former and the French those of the latter. In order to divert the attention of Chandâ Sâhib and his French auxiliaries from the .siege of Trichinopoly, Clive suggested an attack upon Arcot, and offered to command the expedition. His offer was accepted; but the only force which could be spared to him, was 200 Europeans and 300 native troops to attack a fort garrisoned by 1100 men. The place, however, was abandoned without a struggle, and Clive took possession of the fortress. The expedition produced the desired effect; Chandâ Sâhib was obliged to detach a large force of 10,000 men to recapture the city, and the pressure on the English garrison at Trichinopoly was removed. The siege of Arcot, in 1751, was conducted with great vigour by Râjâ Sâhib, son of Chandâ Sâhib, and is thus described by Macaulay:—

. Raja Sahib proceeded to invest the fort, which seemed quite incapable of sustaining a siege. The walls were ruinous, the ditches Ury, the ramparts too narrow to admit the guns, and the battlements too low to protect the soldiers. The little garrison had been greatly reduced by casualties. It now consisted of 120 Europeans and 200 Sepoys. Only four officers were left, the stock of provisions was scanty, and the commander who had to conduct the defence under circumstances so discouraging was a young man of five-and-twenty, who had been bred a book-keeper. During fifty days the siege went on, and the young captain maintained the defence with a firmness, vigilance, and ability which would have done honour to the oldest marshal in Europe. The breach, however, increased day by day. Under such circumstances, any troops so scantily provided with officers might have been expected to show signs of insubordination; and the danger was peculiarly great in a force composed of men differing widely from each other in extraction, colour, language, manners, and religion. But the devotion of the little band to its chief surpassed anything that is related of the Tenth Legion of Caesar, or the Old Guard of Napoleon. The Sepoys came to Clive, not to complain of their scanty fare, but to propose that all the grain should be given to the Europeans, who required more nourishment than the natives of Asia. The thin gruel, they said, which was strained away from the rice would suffice for themselves. History contains no more touching instance of military fidelity, or of the influence of a commanding mind. An attempt made by the governor of Madras to relieve the place had failed; but there was hope from another quarter. A body of 6000 Marhattas, half soldiers, half robbers, under the command of a chief named Murari Râo had been hired to assist Muhammad Ali; but thinking the French power irresistible, and the triumph of Chanda Sahib certain, they had hitherto remained inactive on the frontiers of the Carnatic. The fame of the defence of Arcot roused them from their torpor; Murâri Râo declared that he had never before believed that Englishmen could fight, but that he would willingly help them since he saw that they had spirit to help themselves. Raja Sâhib learned that the Marhattas were in motion, and it was necessary, for him to be expeditious. He first tried negotiations,—he offered large bribes to Clive, which were rejected with scorn; he vowed that if his proposals were not accepted, he would instantly storm the fort, and put every man in it to the sword. Clive told him, in reply, with characteristic haughtiness, that his father was a usurper, that his army was a rabble, and that he would do well to think twice before he sent such poltroons into a breach defended by English soldiers. Râjâ Sâhib determined to storm the fort. The day was well suited to a bold military enterprise. It was the great Mahometan festival, the Muharram, which is sacred to the memory of Husain, the son of Ali. Clive had received secret intelligence of the design, had made his arrangements, and, exhausted by fatigue, had thrown himself on his bed. lie was awakened by the alarm, and was instantly at his post. The enemy advanced, driving before them elephants whose foreheads were armed with iron plates. It was expected that the-gates would yield to the shock of these living battering-rams. But the huge beasts no sooner felt the English musket balls than they turned round and rushed furiously away, trampling on the multitude which had urged them forward. A raft was launched on the water which filled one part of the .ditch. Clive perceiving that his gunners at that post did · not understand their business, took the management of a piece of artillery himself, and cleared the raft in a few minutes. Where the moat was dry, the assailants mounted .with great boldness; but they were received with a fire so heavy and so well directed, that it soon quelled the courage even of fanaticism and of intoxication. The rear ranks of the English kept the front ranks supplied with a constant succession of loaded muskets, and every shot told on the living mass below. The struggle lasted about an hour; 400 of the assailants fell; the garrison lost only five or six men. The ’besieged passed an anxious night, looking for a renewal of the attack. But when day broke, the enemy were no more to be seen. They had retired, leaving to the English several guns and a large quantity of ammunition.”

^,rcot was afterwards captured by the French; but in 1760 was retaken by Colonel Coote after the battle of Wandiwash. It was also taken by Haidar All when that invader ravaged the Carnatic in 1780, and held by him for some time. The town of Arcot, together with the whole of the territory of the Carnatic, passed into the hands of the British in 1801, upon the formal resignation of the government by the Nawâb, Azim-ud-daulâ, who received a liberal pension.