Santhome

Santhome

Saint Thomas
Santhome Saint Thomas
Neighbourhood
	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	600004
Planning agency	CMDA
Website	www.chennai.tn.nic.in

Santhome is a locality in

Madras

) in India.

History

The word Santhome or San Thome is derived from

Saint James the Great in Santiago de Compostela

, Spain.)

St. Thomas Tomb

After

Saint Thomas the Apostle

by his disciples in AD 72.

In AD 1521 the tomb was renovated by Portuguese missionaries who built a church over the tomb. After the tomb of

Saint Francis Xavier

visited the church and stayed for nearly 11 months. He often prayed in the tomb and celebrated Eucharist Mass in the main church. In 1729 the tomb was first opened to the public.

Santhome Church

The Portuguese explorers came to Mylapore in 1500, they saw the tomb of St.Thomas as a small abandoned structure and they decided to build a church in that same place. In 1522 they started building the church under orders of King

Saint Thomas the Apostle

. The glory and dignity of St. Thomas shown in this Cathedral Basilica Church.

Battle of St Thomé

During the

Anwaruddin Muhammed Khan, expected the town to be handed over to him as overlord. Anwaruddin responded by sending a 10,000 man army under Mahfuz Khan, his son, to take the fort from Dupleix by force forcing him to move south. Khan seized Santhome and formed a battle line on the north bank of the Adyar River on 22 October to prevent the French from moving up reinforcements from Pondicherry

.

When Kahn's forces approached the walls however, the garrison's gunnery compelled them to retire. French Governor-General Joseph François Dupleix sent a relief force from Pondicherry that met Khan's army at the Adyar River. Although the French had only 300 troops, in the Battle of Adyar they executed a bold attack that drove the Nawab's forces into the town. The French then expelled them and forced them to retreat towards Arcot. By this action the French ceased being suppliants to the local ruler.