Coimbatore also known as Kovai is the second largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu with a metropolitan population of over 2 million. It is a major commercial centre and has often been referred to as the "Manchester of South India".
The Coimbatore region has been ruled by the Cheras, the Cholas, the later Pandyas, theVijayanagar Empire and the Madurai Nayaks and is believed to have been named after a chieftain called Koyan. In the 17th century, the city became a part of the Kingdom of Mysoreand remained so until its conquest by the British East India Company in 1799.
The history of modern Coimbatore, however, dates from the 1930s, when the city grew rapidly capitalizing on a textile boom. Since then, the city has witnessed steady growth fueled by its favourable soil, climate and political and economic conditions.
Coimbatore is administered by the Coimbatore Municipal Corporation which comprises 100 wards grouped into five zones. It is situated on the banks of the Noyyal River in western Tamil Nadu and is surrounded by the Western Ghats on all sides. It is well connected by road, railand air with major towns and cities in India.
Coimbatore is an important textile and manufacturing hub of Tamil Nadu. Other important industries include software services, education and healthcare. Coimbatore has been ranked 4th among Indian cities in investment climate by a survey done by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The city has been ranked at No. 17 among the top global outsourcing cities in a study by Tholons.
One theory for the city's name states that the name is a derivation of Koyanputhur (lit. new town of Koyan), chieftain Kovan or Koyan, who ruled region around the city. Kovanpudur or Koyanputhur evolved and became Koyambuthur or Koyamuthur; it was anglicized as Coimbatore. Another suggested etymology involves the Dravidian root āru 'river' (DED 4233). Yet another theory states that the name could have been derived from Koniamman after the goddess whose temple is situated in the cityHenry Whitehead in his Village Gods of South India (1921) states that the goddess worshiped by Koyan came to be called as Koyanamma which evolved into Kovaiamma and laterKoniamma.
The region around Coimbatore was ruled by Sangam Cheras and it served as the eastern entrance to the Palakkad Gap, the principal trade route between the west coast and Tamil Nadu. The Kossar tribe mentioned in the second century CE Tamil epic Silappathikaram and other poems in Sangam literature is associated with the Coimbatore region (Kongu Nadu) Large numbers of Roman coins and other artifacts have been unearthed around Coimbatore, indicating the region's ties with Romantraders.
The Coimbatore region is in the middle of the "Roman trail" that extended from Muziris toArikamedu.The medieval Cholas conquered the Kongu Nadu in the 10th century CE. A Chola highway called "Rajakesari Peruvazhi" ran through the region. Much of Tamil Nadu came under the rule of the Vijayanagara Empire by the 15th century. The Vijayanagara reign brought new settlers from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. In the 1550s, the military governors (Madurai Nayaks) of the Vijaynagara Empire took control of the region. After the Vijayanagara Empire fell in the 17th century, the Madurai Nayaks established their state as an independent kingdom, with other Vijayanagar offshoots forming new kingdoms in Vellore, Tanjore, Gingee, Chandragiri and Mysore. The Nayaks introduced the Palayakkarar system under which Kongu nadu region was divided into 24 Palayams.
History
In the later part of the 18th century, the Coimbatore region came under the Kingdom of Mysore,following a series of wars with the Madurai Nayak Dynasty.When part of Kingdom of Mysore the region was under the administration of Hyder Ali and later Tipu Sultan of Mysore. After defeating Tipu Sultan in the Anglo-Mysore Wars, the British East India Company annexed Coimbatore to the Madras Presidency in 1799.
The Coimbatore region played a prominent role in the Second Poligar War (1801) when it was the area of operations of Dheeran Chinnamalai.In 1865, Coimbatore was established as the capital of the newly formed Coimbatore district and in 1866 it was accorded the municipalitystatus. Robert Stanes became the first Chairman of the Coimbatore City Council. Industrialization of the region begin in 1888 and continued into the 20th century. The region was hard hit during the Great Famine of 1876–78 resulting in nearly 200,000 famine related fatalities. On February 8, 1900 an earthquake struck Coimbatore damaging many buildings. The first three decades of the 20th century, saw nearly 20,000 plague related deaths and an acute water shortage.
The city experienced a textile boom in 1920s and 1930s due to the decline of the Cotton industry in Mumbai. The region played a significant role in the Indian independence movement. Post independence, Coimbatore has seen rapid growth due to industrialization. In 1981, Coimbatore was constituted as a corporation.
The Coimbatore region played a prominent role in the Second Poligar War (1801) when it was the area of operations of Dheeran Chinnamalai.In 1865, Coimbatore was established as the capital of the newly formed Coimbatore district and in 1866 it was accorded the municipalitystatus. Robert Stanes became the first Chairman of the Coimbatore City Council. Industrialization of the region begin in 1888 and continued into the 20th century. The region was hard hit during the Great Famine of 1876–78 resulting in nearly 200,000 famine related fatalities. On February 8, 1900 an earthquake struck Coimbatore damaging many buildings. The first three decades of the 20th century, saw nearly 20,000 plague related deaths and an acute water shortage.
The city experienced a textile boom in 1920s and 1930s due to the decline of the Cotton industry in Mumbai. The region played a significant role in the Indian independence movement. Post independence, Coimbatore has seen rapid growth due to industrialization. In 1981, Coimbatore was constituted as a corporation.
Coimbatore is situated in the west of Tamil Nadu, bordering the state of Kerala. It is surrounded by the Western Ghats mountain range on the West and North, with reserve forests and the (Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve) on the northern side. The Noyyal River runs through Coimbatore and forms the southern boundary of the corporation. The city sits amidst Noyyal's basin area and has an extensive tank system fed by the river and rainwater.] The eight major tanks / wetland areas of Coimbatore are - Singanallur,Valankulam, Ukkadam Periyakulam, Selvampathy, Narasampathi, Krishnampathi, Selvachinthamani, and Kumaraswami tanks. Sanganur pallam, Kovilmedu pallam, Vilankurichi-Singanallur Pallam, Karperayan Koil pallam, Railway feeder roadside drain, Tiruchy-Singanallur Check drain and Ganapathy pallam are some of the streams that drain the city.
The eastern side of the Coimbatore district, including the city is predominantly dry. The entire western and northern part of the district borders the Western Ghats with the Nilgiri biosphere as well as the Anaimalai and Munnar ranges. A western pass to Kerala, popularly referred to as the Palghat Gap provides its boundary. Because of its close proximity to the Western Ghats, the district is rich in fauna. The Coimbatore urban wetlands harbours around 116 species of birds. Of these, 66 are resident, 17 are migratory and 33 are local migrants.Spot-billed Pelican, Painted Stork, Open Billed Stork, Ibis, Spot-billed Duck, Teal, Black Winged Stilt are some of the migratory birds that visit Coimbatore wetlands regularly.
Apart from the species common to the plains, wild elephants, wild boars leopards, tigers, bison, various species of deer, Nilgiri Tahr, sloth bear and black-headed Oriole can also be found. The Anamalai Wildlife Sanctuary 88 km (55 mi) in the Western Ghats at an altitude of 1,400 meters covers an area of 958 km². Among the region’s livestock animals are Kangeyam bulls. This breed, which helped the region gain a foothold in the dairy industry, are found only in Coimbatore and neighbouring districts. More than 20% of the district is classified as forest, lying in the west and north. The forests here are abundant in commercially significant trees such as teak, sandalwood,rosewood and bamboo. The Nilgiris slope of the Mettupalayam range is rich in sandalwood trees and bamboo. They vary from rich tropicalevergreen forests of Punachi range to jungles of shrubs in southern ranges. Apart from the high altitude regions of Western Ghats, most of the forest area has come under Lantana invasion. The locals refer to it as Siriki Chedi.
Climate
Coimbatore has a pleasant, salubrious climate due to its proximity to thickly forested mountain ranges and the cool breeze blowing through the Palghat gap which makes the consistently hot temperatures more pleasant. Under the Köppen climate classification, the city has atropical wet and dry climate, with the wet season being from October to December due to the northeast monsoon. Coimbatore is located at an elevation of about 411 meters.The mean maximum and minimum temperatures varies between 35 °C (95 °F) and 18 °C (64 °F).highest temperature ever recorded is 41 °C (106 °F) and lowest is 12 °C (54 °F).
Due to the presence of the mountain pass, more elevated parts of the district benefit from the south-west monsoon in the months from June to August. After a warm, humid September, the main monsoon starts from October lasting till early November. These monsoons are brought about by the retreating monsoon. The average annual rainfall is around 700 mm with the North East and the South West monsoons contributing to 47% and 28% respectively to the total rainfall. This rainfall is not enough to sustain the needs of the city for the entire year and the shortage is made up through water supply schemes like Siruvani, Pilloor and Athikadavu.
The soil is predominantly black, which is suitable for cotton cultivation, but some red loamy soil is also found. Coimbatore falls under the Class III/IV Seismic Zone, having experienced a 6.0 Richter scale earthquake in 1900.
As per the 2001 census, Coimbatore had a population of 1,250,446 within Municipal Corporation limits. The 2011 census data for post-expansion city limits is not available and only the population of urban agglomeration is available - 2,151,466. In the urban agglomeration, males constitute 50.08% of the population and females 49.92%. Coimbatore has an average literacy rate of 89.23%, higher than the national average of 74.04%. Male literacy is 93.17% and female literacy is 85.3% with 8.9% of the population under 6 years of age. The Sex ratio was 964 females per 1000 males. In 2005, the crime rate in the city was 265.9 per 100,000 people, accounting for 1.2% of all crimes reported in major cities in India. It ranked 21st among 35 major cities in India in the incidence of crimes. In 2011, the population density in the city was 10,052 per km² (26,035 per mi²).
As per the 2001 census, Coimbatore had a population of 1,250,446 within Municipal Corporation limits. The 2011 census data for post-expansion city limits is not available and only the population of urban agglomeration is available - 2,151,466. In the urban agglomeration, males constitute 50.08% of the population and females 49.92%. Coimbatore has an average literacy rate of 89.23%, higher than the national average of 74.04%. Male literacy is 93.17% and female literacy is 85.3% with 8.9% of the population under 6 years of age. The Sex ratio was 964 females per 1000 males. In 2005, the crime rate in the city was 265.9 per 100,000 people, accounting for 1.2% of all crimes reported in major cities in India. It ranked 21st among 35 major cities in India in the incidence of crimes. In 2011, the population density in the city was 10,052 per km² (26,035 per mi²).
The native language spoken in the Coimbatore city is Tamil. The city's population is predominantly Hindu, along with a sizable Muslim population. Christians, Sikhs and Jains are also present in small numbers. Coimbatore also has a large number ofMalayalis, mainly from Palakkad, Telugus[55] and North Indians, mainly Gujaratis, who are engaged in trade and commerce. During the 1970s the city witnessed a population explosion as a result of migration fueled by increased economic growth and job opportunities. Around 33% of the city's population lives in slums.
Coimbatore is a Municipal corporation as well as the headquarters of the Coimbatore District. The city is divided into five administrative zones – East, West, North, South and Central, each further subdivided into 20 wards. Each ward is represented by a councilor who is elected by direct election. Councilors from each zone also elect a Zonal Ward Committee Chairman and most importantly the Deputy Mayor through their numbers . The mayor is elected by the city's voters directly (During 2006- 2011, the Mayor was elected through indirect election). The executive wing of the corporation is headed by a Corporation Commissioner. The corporation runs and maintains basic services like water, sewage and roads. In the last local body elections in 2011, AIADMK won majority of the council seats and AIADMK's S.M.Velusamy became Coimbatore's mayor. The District itself is administered by the District Collector. The District court is the highest court of appeal in Coimbatore. The Police force in the city is headed by a Commissioner and there are 18 Police stations in the city.
Economy
With more than 25,000 small, medium and large industries, the city's primary industries are engineering and textiles. Coimbatore is called the "Manchester of South India" due to its extensive textile industry, fed by the surrounding cotton fields. The district also houses the country's largest amount of hosiery and poultry industries[citation needed]. The city has two special economic zones (SEZ), the Coimbatore Hi-Tech Infrastructure (CHIL) SEZ and the Coimbatore TIDEL park, and at least five more SEZs are in the pipeline.As of 2005, whenTirupur was a part of Coimbatore district, Coimbatore was the highest revenue earning district in Tamil Nadu. In 2010, Coimbatore ranked 15th in the list of most competitive (by business environment) Indian cities.
An insignificant little town prone to droughts and earthquakes till the early years of the 20th century, Coimbatore experienced a textile boom in the 1920s and 1930s. Though, Robert Stanes had established Coimbatore's first textile mills as early as the late 19th century, it was during this period that Coimbatore emerged as a prominent industrial centre. Narayanaswamy Naidu's Dhandayuthapani Foundry, D. Balasundaram Naidu's Textool,
the Lakshmi Machine Works, the Kalleeswara Mills and the Somasundra Mills are some of the important textile and machine units which emerged during the early 1900s.
Coimbatore has trade associations like CODISSIA, COINDIA, SITRA and COJEWEL representing industries in the city. Coimbatore also has a 160,000 square feet (15,000 m2) trade fair ground, built in 1999. It was named COINTEC due to its hosting of INTEC (Small Industries Exhibition). The Trade Fair complex, one of the country's largest, was built in six months, and is owned by CODISSIA (Coimbatore District Small Industries Association). It is also the country's largest pillar-free hall, according to the Limca Book of Records.
Coimbatore houses a large number of small and medium textile mills. It also has central textile research institutes like the Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR)- Southern Regional station and the Sardar Vallabhai Patel International School of Textiles and Management. The South Indian Textiles Research Association (SITRA) is also based in Coimbatore. The city also houses two of the Centers Of Excellences (COE) for technical textiles proposed by Government of India, namely Meditech, a medical textile research centre based at SITRA, and InduTech based in PSG College of Engineering and Technology.[82] The neighbouring city of Tirupur is home to some of Asia’s largest garment manufacturing companies, exporting hosiery clothes worth more than 
50,000 million.
50,000 million.
The city is the second largest software producer in Tamil Nadu, next only to Chennai. IT and BPOindustry in the city has grown greatly with the launch of TIDEL park and other planned IT parks in and around the city. It is ranked at 17th among the global outsourcing cities.[13] Companies likeTata Consultancy Services, Cognizant Technology Solutions, IBM, Robert Bosch GmbH, Tata Elxsi, Dell, Aditi Technologies, CSS Corp and KGISL having a presence in the city. Coimbatore is already the second largest hub in India for Cognizant Technology Solutions as it employs around 5000 people in its Coimbatore centre and is planning to double its capacity here.Software exports stood at 710.66 Crores (7.1 billion) for the financial year 2009-10 up 90% from the previous year.
710.66 Crores (7.1 billion) for the financial year 2009-10 up 90% from the previous year.
Coimbatore has a large and a diversified manufacturing sector facilitated by the presence of research institutes like Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, SITRA and large number of engineering colleges producing about 50,000 engineers.Some of the prominent industries in Coimbatore include L&T, BOSCH, PSG, Sakthi group,Lakshmi Machine Works (LMW), Premier Instruments & Control Limited (PRICOL), Premier Evolvics, Janatics, LGB, Revathi Equipment Ltd, ELGI Equipments, Craftsman Automation Pvt Ltd, Shanthi Gears, Roots Industries. Wind Energy major Suzlon has set up a foundry & machine shop in Coimbatore. Along with it Hansen Transmission, a Belgian Company which manufactures gearboxes for windmills is setting up a plant here with an investment of 940 cr.
940 cr.
Manufacturing of automotive components is also important to Coimbatore's economy. Maruti Udyog and Tata Motors source up to 30% of their automotive components from Coimbatore. Some of the auto component makers in Coimbatore include Robert Bosch GmbH, PRICOL and Roots Industries. Coimbatore has more than 700 wet grinder manufacturers with a monthly output As of March 2005 of 75,000 units[87]and is home to a common facility for the manufacturers of wet grinders.[88] Coimbatore motor and pump manufacturing industry supplies over 40% of India’s requirements.
Coimbatore is one of the major gold jewellery manufacturing hubs in India, renowned for making cast jewellery and machine made jewellery is also a major diamond cutting centre in South India.
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