Cuddalore, city in southeastern Tamil Nadu on the Coromandel Coast of southeastern India, 22 km (14 mi) south of Pondicherry. Cuddalore has relatively high temperatures throughout the year and from 750 to 1300 mm (30 to 50 in) of rain annually, most of which falls during the winter. Slight variations in the amount or time of rainfall have historically caused severe famine in the area.
Cuddalore is an old city and was once a port of some importance. The history of the city centers upon Fort Saint David, built by a merchant in the 1600s on the site of what is now Cuddalore. The fort was lost to the Indian Maratha kings, and in 1690 the fort and all the land around it within gunshot range were sold to the British. It then became known as Cuddalore. Cuddalore was captured by the French in 1758, retaken by the British in 1760, by the French in 1782, and again by the British in 1785. It came under Indian rule in 1947, at the time of India's independence. Population (1991) 144,561.
