TRICHINOPOLY, a district of British India, in the presidency of Madras, lying between N. Lat. 10° 37' and 11° 31', E. Long. 78° 13' and 79° 37', bounded on the N. and N.E. by the district of South Arcot; S.E. by that of Tanjore; S. by the native state of Poodocottah and the district of Madura; W. and N.W. by those of Coimbatore and Salem. Its length is about 94 miles, its breadth 60, and its area 3243. It is quite a flat country, being broken only in some places by granitic or trap rocks of inconsiderable height. The chief river is the Cauvery, which flows through the district from west to east, and divides near the capital into two branches, the northern called the Coleroon,
Trichinopoly and the southern retaining the name of Cauvery. The stream is very low in the early part of summer, but in the beginning of June the annual inundation raises the water to such a volume as to fill all the tanks and canals for irrigation, and render the river a vast torrent miles wide. From this state it gradually falls during the rest of the year. The soil is very fertile, but as the climate is hot and dry, it depends much for its moisture on the rivers and canals. Rice, millet, maize, and cotton are the chief crops raised in the district. Sugar-canes and tobacco are also grown; and there are some plantations of cocoa-nut tree. Cotton cloth, indigo, and nitre, are exported; glue, oil, pepper, &c., imported. Pop. 709,196.