The first census of the Madras Presidency was taken in the year 1822.Official Administration of the Madras Presidency, Pg 327 It returned a population of 13,476,923. The second census conducted in 1836-37 returned a population of 13,967,395, an increase of only 490,472 in 15 years. The first quinquennial enumeration of the population was made in 1851–52. It returned a population of 22,031,697. Subsequent enumerations were made in 1856–57, 1861–62 and 1866–67. The population of Madras Presidency was found to be 22,857,855 in 1851–52, 24,656,509 in 1861-62 and 26,539,052 in 1866–67.
The first organized census of India was conducted in 1871. It returned a population of 31,220,973 for Madras Presidency. Since then, a census has been conducted once every ten years. The last census of British India held in 1941 returned a population of 49,341,810 for Madras Presidency.
Districts of the Madras Presidency DistrictDistrict HeadquartersArea Year of incorporation Population 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 1931 1941 Anantapur Anantapur 5,557 1800 741,255 599,899 727,725 788,254 963,223 1,166,255 AnjengoIn 1906, the two British enclaves of Anjengo and Tangasseri within Travancore were separated from Malabar district due to inaccessibility and a new Anjengo district was created. Anejnego was the smallest and least populous district in Madras Presidency from 1906 to 1927. In 1927, the two enclaves were incorporated in Tinnevelly district. Anjengo1 1906 - - - - 4,817 Bellary Bellary5,714 1800911,755 726,275 880,950 947,214 969,436 1,051,235 Chingleput Saidapet5,079 1763938,184 981,381 1,202,928 1,312,122 1,321,000 1,171,419 Coimbatore Coimbatore7,860 17991,763,274 1,657,690 2,004,839 2,201,752 3,219,848 2,809,648 Cuddapah Cuddapah8,723 18001,351,194 1,121,038 1,272,072 1,291,267 1,056,507 East Godavari Cocanada 1765- - - - - 1,756,477 1,976,743 2,161,863 GanjamGanjam district was transferred to the newly formed province of Orissa in 1936 Berhampur8,372 17651,520,088 1,749,604 1,896,803 2,010,256 - - - - GodavariIn 1925, Godavari district was bifurcated into West Godavari and East Godavari districts Cocanada7,972 17651,592,939 1,791,512 2,078,782 2,301,759 1,530,000 2,583,250 - - Kistna Masulipatam8,498 1765/18011,452,374 1,548,480 1,855,582 2,154,803 1,997,5352,133,314 1,444,294 Kurnool Kurnool7,878 1800914,432 678,551 817,811 872,055 889,000 1,146,250 Madras Madras27 1639367,552 405,848 452,518 509,346 518,660 526,000 645,000 777,481 Madura Madura8,701 1761/1790/18012,266,615 2,168,680 2,608,404 2,831,280 1,861,000 2,007,063 2,446,601 Malabar Calicut5,795 17922,261,250 2,365,035 2,652,565 2,800,555 3,015,119 3,098,871 3,929,425 Nellore Nellore8,761 17811,376,811 1,220,236 1,463,736 1,496,987 1,296,000 1,617,026 Nilgiris Ootacamund958 179949,501 91,034 99,797 111,437 80,000 209,709 North Arcot Chittoor7,386 1781/18012,015,278 1,817,814 2,114,4872,207,712 1,822,000 2,055,594 2,577,540 Salem Salem7,530 17921,966,995 1,599,595 1,962,591 2,204,974 1,766,680 2,112,034 2,869,228 South Arcot Cuddalore5,217 1781/18011,755,817 1,814,738 2,162,851 2,349,894 2,272,0002,320,085 2,608,758 South Kanara Mangalore4,021 1799918,362 959,514 1,056,081 1,134,713 1,523,516 Tanjore Tanjore3,710 17991,973,731 2,130,383 2,228,114 2,245,029 2,362,639 2,326,265 2,385,920 2,563,375 Tinnevely Tinnevely5,389 1761/18011,693,959 1,699,747 1,916,095 2,059,607 2,244,548 Trichinopoly Trichinopoly2,632 1781/18011,200,408 1,215,033 1,372,717 1,444,770 2,194,091 Vizagapatam Waltair17,222 17942,159,199 2,485,141 2,802,992 2,933,650 2,231,874 3,845,944 West Godavari Eluru 1765- - - - - - 1,380,088 Total Madras141,70531,220,973 30,827,218 35,630,440 38,209,436 41,870,16042,794,155 46,740,107 49,341,810 Princely States of Madras Presidency Banganapalle Banganapalle255 45,208 30,754 34,596 32,264 39,344 36,692 39,218 44,592 Cochin Cochin1,362 601,114 600,278 722,906 812,025 979,080 918,110 1,205,0161,422,875 Pudukkottai Pudukkottai1,100 316,695 302,127 373,096 380,440 411,886 426,313 400,694438,648 Sandur Sandur161 14,996 10,532 11,388 11,200 13,517 11,665 13,583 15,814 Travancore Trivandrum7,091 2,311,379 2,401,158 2,557,736 2,952,157 3,428,9754,006,062 5,095,9736,070,018 Total 9,96932,85,938 33,44,849 36,99,722 41,88,086 48,72,802 53,98,842 67,54,484 79,91,947 Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of India
Cities
Position 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 1931 1941 1 Madras (367,552) Madras (405,848) Madras (452,518) Madras (509,346) Madras (518,660) Madras (526,911) Madras (647,232) Madras (777,481) 2 Trichinopoly (76,530) Trichinopoly (84,449) Trichinopoly (90,609) Madura (105,984) Madura (134,130) Madura (138,894) Madura (182,018) Madura (239,144) 3 Tanjore (52,171) Madura (73,807) Madura (87,428) Trichinopoly (104,721) Trichinopoly (123,512) Trichinopoly (120,422) Trichinopoly (142,843)Trichinopoly (159,566) 4 Madura (51,987) Calicut (57,085) Salem (67,710) Calicut (76,981) Calicut (82,334) Calicut (78,417) Salem (102,179) Coimbatore (130,348) 5 Bellary (51,766) Tanjore (54,745) Calicut (66,078) Salem (70,621) Kumbakonam (64,647) Coimbatore (65,788) Calicut (99,273) Salem (129,702) 6 Salem (50,012) Negapatam (53,855) Bellary (59,447) Kumbakonam (59,673) Tanjore (60,341) Conjeevaram (61,376) Coimbatore (95,198) Calicut (126,352) 7 Negapatam (48,525) Bellary (53,460) Negapatam (59,221) Bellary (58,247) Negapatam (60,168) Kumbakonam (60,700) Tanjore (66,889) Bezawada (86,184) 8 Calicut (48,338) Salem (50,667) Tanjore (54,390) Tanjore (57,870) Salem (59,152) Tanjore (59,913) Mangalore (66,756) Guntur (83,599) 9 Kumbakonam (44,444) Kumbakonam (54,307) Kumbakonam (54,307) Negapatam (57,190) Cuddalore (56,574) Negapatam (54,016) Cocanada (65,952) Mangalore (81,069) 10 Cuddalore (40,300) Cuddalore (43,564) Cuddalore (47,355) Coimbatore (53,080) Cocanada (54,410) Mangalore (53,877) Kumbakonam (62,317) Tuticorin (75,614)
Notes