Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Historical Sites near Chennai - Alhambra Fort

Our next destination on this historical tour was the Al Hambra Fort. Enroute we briefly stopped at the Marakkanam Salt pans to witness how salt is produced. Al Hambra or Alambarai lies on the East coast, also called the Coramandel Coast, served as Fort as well as sea port in ancient Tamilnadu. This fort was built by the Mughals by the end of the 17th Century. During 1735 AD it was ruled by Nawab Doste Ali Khan. In 1750 the services rendered by the famous French Commander Dupleix to Subedar Muzaffarzang, the Fort was gifted to the French. When the French were defeated by the British, the Fort was captured and partly destroyed in 1760 AD. Now only the remains of the ruined portions of the Fort can be seen. The square shaped fort with towers at angles was built of bricks and lime mortar. It occupies an area of nearly 15 acres and the length of the dockyard is nearly 100 metres. Zari clothes, salt and ghee were exported from Alamparai port. Alamparai kasu(coins) were produced at the Alamparai mint.










12 comments:

  1. A wonderful series! I like to imagine the beauty had long ago
    this fortress:wonderful testimony
    of a great empire!

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  2. Its a lovely fort... Heard of it before but never knew it is so close to Chennai.. Thanks for sharing.. :)

    Mallikarjunar Koil at My Travelogue
    My LBD at Fashion Panache

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  3. Interesting history and great series of photos.

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  4. This is so beautiful !! I always enjoy watching historical shots !!

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  5. Hi Ram! Great to see that you're back posting and commenting! Great post!

    Blogtrotter is waiting for you in London! Enjoy and have a great holiday season!

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  6. Wow..amazing Blog. I accidentally landed here while searching for
    'Cemetary of Raja Raja Chola'.

    I will have to go home and read all you've posted.

    Thank you for doing such a great job of visiting historic places and posting pictures.

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  7. Here is a special mention of you. My humble gift to you... A little treasure hunt to reach there!!!
    Check out here. This is the link to my blog page and from there go to the given link for your treasure. :)

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  8. Namaste.....
    Happy New Year, blessings and joy to you and your family.

    Lovely history lesson and visuals, thank you.

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  9. Hi Ram! Happy New Year!!
    Lovely posts!!

    Meanwhile Blogtrotter has reached 500 posts on all blogs with some views of «La Petite France, Strasbourg», truly missing your comments! Enjoy and have a first great week in 2010!!!

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  10. Nice pictures. Located on the Coromandel Coast, Chennai is an intriguing mix of the ancient and the modern. I love this places because of some mesmerizing places. Explore all best places to visit in Chennai.

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