page_title: History of Coimbatore
section_title: British Colonial period (1802-1947 CE)
hierarchical_section_title: History of Coimbatore / British Colonial period (1802-1947 CE)
caption_attribution_description: English: Bazaar of Hindu town, Coimbatore, India.
context_page_description: Coimbatore is the second largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a major commercial centre and an industrial hub of Tamil Nadu and is known as the Manchester of South India.
context_section_description: The municipality of Coimbatore was created in 1866 as per the Town Improvements Act 1865 with Robert Stanes as the first Chairman. Stanes pioneered the industrialization of Coimbatore, establishing a number of textile mills. As per the 1871 census, the first in India, Coimbatore had a population of 35,310 and was the tenth largest town in the Madras Presidency.
  Coimbatore was severely affected by the Great Famine of 1876–78 and the Famine of 1891-92. An earthquake on 8 February 1900 killed nearly 30 inhabitants damaging the Coimbatore jail, a Roman Catholic chapel and many other buildings.
  Coimbatore experienced a textile boom in the 1920s and 1930s partly abetted by the decline of the textile industry in Bombay. Growth of the city was also fostered by the construction of the Mettur Dam in 1934. During this period, road and rail connectivity with Coimbatore was improved considerably facilitating easier transportation of goods. The period 1911-1921 also witnessed the construction of over 15,000 irrigation wells with government loans bringing large chunks of barren land under cultivation. Coimbatore was also home to some of the earliest film studios in South India. Rangaswamy Naidu established the Central Studios in 1935 while S. M. Sriramulu Naidu set up the Pakshiraja Studios in 1945.
  In 1922, Narayanaswamy Naidu started a workshop to repair cane crushers and cotton ginning machines. Two years later, he established the Dhandayuthapani Foundry to manufacture Agricultural Pumps and Motors. Around the same time, G.D.Naidu started his unique bus service. He is also credited for manufacturing the first electric motor in India. Apart from that he started a series of Engineering companies and Industrial training institute. In the 1940s, a Sheffield University graduate, D. Balasundaram Naidu (Textool Balasundaram) from Avarampalayam in Coimbatore, started his company Textool to manufacture textile machines of his design. Textool in 50s & 60s was one of the largest companies in South India that designed and manufactures indigenous Machines and industrial products. In 1965 another Textile family of VLB Naidu group set up Mopeds India Ltd after a technical collaboration with Motobécane of France to manufacture their legendary Motobécane Mobylette 50 cc moped under the name Suvega, but, only the central office was in Coimbatore while the plant was set up in Tirupathi.
  The Kall Mills and the Somasundra mills were established in 1910. Lakshmi Mills Company commenced their operations in 1911 in Papanaickenpalayam. By the 1930s, several textile mills had been established around Coimbatore due to the cheap power offered by the Pykara power station.
caption: 1855 illustration of Bazaar in coimbatore
exif: {}