About Tuticorin

Tuticorin is also known as "Pearl City". It is a commercial seaport which serves the inland cities of Southern India. It is also one of the major seaports in India with its history dating back to the 6th century A.D.Tuticorin is traditionally known for its pearl fishing and shipbuilding industries. Thoothukudi became the centre of the Indian Independence Movement in the early 20th century, with leaders such asMaveeran Sundaralinga Kudumbanar, Tyagi Mohanavalli Vadivu and Thalapathy Vennikalady, Veerapandiya Kattabomman, V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, P.Kandasamy Pillai (popularly known as 'Pena Kana'), Tamil poet Subramanya Bharathy, Vanchinathan. In 1906, great freedom fighter V. O. Chidambaram Pillai with the help of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, launched the first Swadeshi ship S.S. Gaelia from this port town against the British. Freedom fighter Vanchinathan killed the then Thoothukudi District Collector Ash during the freedom struggle in Maniyachi.

View of the Dutch port Tuticorin, in 1752

Port of Tuticorin during the Madras Presidency, c.a. 1913

The major harbour of Tuticorin is well known as a pearl diving and fishing centre. Tuticorin, one of the oldest seaports in the world, was the seaport of the Pandyankingdom after Korkai near Palayakayal. It was later taken over by the Portuguese in 1548, captured by the Dutch in 1658, and ceded to the British in 1825.^[2] The lighthouse built in 1842 marked the beginning of the history of harbour development in the city. Tuticorin was established as a Municipality in 1866 with Roche Victoria as its first chairman. It attained the status of Corporation on August 5, 2008 after 142 years.