Thomas Pitt - As The President of Madras

As The President of Madras

Thomas Pitt became the President of Madras on 7 July 1698, negotiations with the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in the Red Fort were entrusted to none other than Thomas Pitt, he successfully ended the Child's War by persuading the Mughal Grand Vizier Asad Khan to put an end to the hostilities that had begun and thus remained in his post till 1709.

In 1698, a new Company called English Company Trading to the East Indies was floated by English merchants with Tory affiliations with a capital of 2 million pound sterling. In August 1699, one John Pitt arrived at Madras and claimed that he had been appointed as the Governor of Fort St George by the new Company on behalf of the Stuarts. However, the Government in England passed a stern order that the authorities were to receive orders from no one save those appointed by King William III of Orange.

On 4 December 1700, the Government of Fort St George banned cock-fighting and other traditional games regarding it as the foremost reason for the poverty of the inhabitants of Madras.

His term of office is known as the 'Golden Age of Madras'. He fortified the walls of Black town and organized an accurate survey of the city. Pitt is best known for the acquisition of the Five New Towns: Tiruvatiyoor, Kathiwakam, Nungambakkam, Vyasarpady and Sathangadu.