<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Garrison information </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Occupants </Th> <Td> Tamil Nadu legislative assembly--Secretariat </Td> </Tr> <P> Fort St George (or historically, White Town) (Tamil: செயின்ட் ஜார்ஜ் கோட்டை) is the name of the first English (later British) fortress in India, founded in 1644 at the coastal city of Madras, the modern city of Chennai . The construction of the fort provided the impetus for further settlements and trading activity, in what was originally an uninhabited land . Thus, it is a feasible contention to say that the city evolved around the fortress . The fort currently houses the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly and other official buildings . The fort is one of the 163 notified areas (megalithic sites) in the state of Tamil Nadu . </P> <P> The East India Company (EIC), which had entered India around 1600 for trading activities, had begun licensed trading at Surat, which was its initial bastion . However, to secure its trade lines and commercial interests in the spice trade, it felt the necessity of a port closer to the Malaccan Straits, and succeeded in purchasing a piece of coastal land, originally called Chennirayarpattinam or Channapatnam, from a Vijayanagar chieftain named Damerla Chennappa Nayaka based in Chandragiri, where the Company began the construction of a harbour and a fort . The fort was completed on 23 April 1644 at a cost of £ 3000, coinciding with St George's Day, celebrated in honour of the patron saint of England . The fort, hence christened Fort St George, faced the sea and some fishing villages, and it soon became the hub of merchant activity . It gave birth to a new settlement area called George Town (historically referred to as Black Town), which grew to envelop the villages and led to the formation of the city of Madras . It also helped to establish English influence over the Carnatic and to keep the kings of Arcot and Srirangapatna, as well as the French forces based at Pondichéry, at bay . In 1665, after the EIC received word of the formation of the new French East India Company, the fort was strengthened and enlarged while its garrison was increased . </P>

First fort constructed by the british in india