Tiruppur

Tiruppur or Tirupur  Tirupur.ogg (help·info)) is a city in the Kongu Nadu region of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.^[7] Tiruppur is the administrative headquarters of Tiruppur district and the fifth largest urban agglomeration in Tamil Nadu. Located on the banks of Noyyal River, it has been ruled at different times, by the Early Pandyas, Medieval Cholas, Later Cholas, Vijayanagar Empire, Madurai Nayaks, Mysore Kingdom and the British. It is situated at the center of the South Indian Peninsula, about 450 kilometres (280 mi) southwest of the state capital Chennai and about 50 kilometres (31 mi) east of Coimbatore.
Tiruppur is administered by municipal corporation which was established in 2008 and the total area of the corporation is 159.6 km² divided into 60 wards. The total population of the city as per the 2011 census is 444,352. Tiruppur is a part of the Tiruppur constituency that elects its member of parliament.
Tiruppur is a major textile and knit wear hub contributing to 90% of total cotton knit wear exports from India.^[8] The textile industry provides employment to over six lakh people and contributed to exports worth ₹200 billion (US$3.0 billion) in 2014-15
                               

Etymology

The name Tiruppur is said to have emerged during the Mahabharata era. According to history, the cattle herds of Pandavas were stolen by thieves and the same was recaptured by Arjuna's forces resulting in the name "Tiruppur" (Thiruppu : to turn and oor : place in Tamil) meaning "place where they were returned back".^[11]

History

Tiruppur formed a part of the Kongu Nadu region ruled by the Cheras during Sangam period.^[12][13] The region was part of a prominent Roman trade route that connected east and west coasts of India.^[14][15] The medieval Cholas conquered the Kongu Nadu in the 10th century CE and Chola stone carvings mention Kanchi Maanadhi (Noyyal River) and the fertile sand that it deposited on its banks.^[16][17][18]
The region came under the rule of the Vijayanagara Empire by the 15th century and later Palayakkarars, the chieftains of Madurai Nayaks ruled the region.^[19] In the later part of the 18th century, the region came under the Kingdom of Mysore, following a series of wars with the Madurai Nayak Dynasty. After the defeat of Tipu Sultan in the Anglo-Mysore Wars, the British East India Company annexed the region into the Madras Presidency in 1799.
Tirupur was an agricultural town with irrigated farms and the farmers became small owners of various textile related units during the 1970s. The boom in the textile industry led to a inter woven network of the small scale units leading to growth of the city into a major textile hub.^[20] Tiruppur became a municipal corporation in 2008 and a separate Tiruppur district was carved out from parts of Coimbatore district and Erode district in 2009.^[21]