28 ERNAKULAM
the Chief Court, the Raja's. College, containing more than 766 students
the General Hospital with 68 beds, the Central jail with accommodatioa
for Zoo prisoners, the. St. Albert's high school managed. by the Verapoli
Mission, the St.. Teresa's Convent with an orphanage and girls' school
attached to it, the palace of the Rorrio-Syrian Bishop; and. the Carmelite
monastery. There are also four Catholic churches. in, the town. Its
trade, which is not very considerable; is chiefly in the hands of the
Konkanis and the Je*s. The Residency is picturesquely situated on
an island close to ErngLkulam. It was originally, a Dutch factory, built:
in 1774, but several additions and improvements, have since been
made to it.
Erode Subdivision (Irodu).-:Subdivision of Coimbatore District,- ..
Madras, consisting of the ,t~cduks of ,ERODE, BHAvaNl; DaaRXPVRAU
and KARUR.
Erode Taluk.-Eastern taluk of Coimbatore District,, Madras, lying
between 11° 2′ and 11° 27′ N. and 77° 22′ and 77° 55′ E., with an area
of 598 square miles. The population in igor was 275,460, compared
with 247,008 in 1891. There are 198 villages, and only one town,
ERODE (population, 15,529), the head-quarters. The demand for land
revenue and cesses in 1903-4 amounted to Rs- 5,07,ooo, a higher
figure than in any other taluk: Erode is a gently undulating plain with
no hills of importance and but little forest, sloping gradually to the
Cauvery river, which bounds it on the east. It is rather bare of trees,
and in the valley of the Cauvery the climate is hot and close. The
irrigated land is of a good class, much of it being fed by the Kalingir
r11yan channel from the Bhavani river. Wells are also unusually
plentiful. The rainfall averages 27 inches at Erode, but it is variable
and partial, Cambu is the chief cereal,. and much cotton is raised.
Erode Town.-Head-quarters of the taluk. of the same name on the
eastern §order of Coinibatore District, Madras, situated in. 11° 21′ N. and 77° 43′ E., 243 miles from Madras at a junction 4: the Madras and
South Indian Railways, and close to the bank of the Cauvery. Popu-
lation (igor), 15,52.9. It seems to have been long an important place,
Early in the seventeenth century the Tesuit Fathers established a station
here. In Haidar's time it is said to have contained 3,ooo houses,
which would be equal to a, population,of x5,,000 souls; but in con- -
sequence of successive Maratha, Mysore, and British invasions the
town became almost utterly deserted-. It was takenjrorrl Madura by
Mysore troops in 1667., and from Haidar by the British ia 1768, only to
fall into his hands again at the end of the same year, It was retaken
in General Medo'ws's expedition of 1790, but was abandoned on Tipfi's
advance, it does not appear to have been a place of any real strength,
As soon as the peace was signed in 1792 the people returned, and
within a year it had 4oo houses and a population of over 2,ooo, It was
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