<P> After India gained its independence in 1947 , the city became the capital of Madras State , which was renamed as Tamil Nadu in 1969 . The violent agitations of 1965 against the compulsory imposition of Hindi and in support of English in India in the state marked a major shift in the political dynamics of the city and eventually it had a big impact on the whole state . Because of Madras and its people , English now exists in India , otherwise Hindi might have been made the sole official language in India . On 17 July 1996 , the city known as Madras was officially renamed Chennai , in line with what was then a nationwide trend to using less Anglicised names . On 26 December 2004 , an Indian Ocean tsunami lashed the shores of Chennai , killing 206 people in Chennai and permanently altering the coastline . The 2015 Chennai Floods submerged major portions of the city , killing 269 people and resulting in damages of ₹ 86.4 billion ( US $1 billion ) . </P>
<P> After India gained its independence in 1947 , the city became the capital of Madras State , which was renamed as Tamil Nadu in 1969 . The violent agitations of 1965 against the compulsory imposition of Hindi and in support of English in India in the state marked a major shift in the political dynamics of the city and eventually it had a big impact on the whole state . Because of Madras and its people , English now exists in India , otherwise Hindi might have been made the sole official language in India . On 17 July 1996 , the city known as Madras was officially renamed Chennai , in line with what was then a nationwide trend to using less Anglicised names . On 26 December 2004 , an Indian Ocean tsunami lashed the shores of Chennai , killing 206 people in Chennai and permanently altering the coastline . The 2015 Chennai Floods submerged major portions of the city , killing 269 people and resulting in damages of ₹ 86.4 billion ( US $1 billion ) . </P>
when was the name madras changed to chennai
when was the name madras changed to chennai
17 July 1996
17 July 1996