Pudukkottai is a municipal corporation and the administrative headquarters of Pudukkottai district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is one of the oldest heritage cities located on the banks of the Vellar River. It has been ruled, at different times, by the Mutharaiyar dynasty, Cholas, Early Pandyas, and Thondaimans. It is situated about southwest of the state capital Chennai, southeast of Tiruchirappalli, and northeast of Madurai.
Pudukkottai is sometimes called a cradle of archaeology. Being the district headquarters, Pudukkottai has district administrative offices, along with government educational institutes, colleges, and schools. Pudukkottai is a part of the Pudukkottai constituency and elects its member to the legislative assembly every five years. It is a part of the Lok Sabha constituency comprising Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Tiruchirappalli and Karur. Pudukkottai is administered by a selection-grade municipality established in 1912 as per the Municipal Corporation Act. Pudukkottai covers an area of and had a population of 117,745 in 2011. Roadways are the major mode of transport to the city, along with rail connectivity. The nearest airport is Tiruchirappalli International Airport, located at a distance of from the city.
It is one of the few towns and cities in the List of AMRUT Smart cities in Tamil Nadu selected by the central government. Its developmental activities are taken care of by government of Tamil Nadu. On 15 March 2024, the Government of Tamil Nadu announced that the town along with the surrounding merged panchayats will be upgraded from municipality to corporation status ().
History
Pudukkottai was a kingdom and later a princely state in British India, existing from 1680 until 1948.
thumb|1913 map of the [[Madras Presidency showing location of Pudukkottai State]]
200px|thumb|left|Coin of the Roman emperor [[Augustus from the Pudukottai hoard (British Museum).]]
The princely state of Pudukottai was created by Raghunatha Raya Tondaiman (1641–1730), who earlier had ruled Thirumayam. In appreciation of Tondaiman's services, Ragunatha Kilavan Setupati (r. 1671–1710) gave Pudukkottai to Tondaiman as an honor for his services. In later centuries, the Thondaiman rulers, while nominally feudatories of the Ramnad state, often pursued an independent foreign policy, a trend common in all parts of India at that time. After the death of Setupati, Thondaiman become ruler of Pudukottai.
Thondaiman soon fought against the Nayaks of Thanjavur in support of the Nayaks of Madurai and conquered Thirukattupalli, a very important place. A direct clash between Thondaiman and the Nayaks of Tanjore soon followed. From 1751-1752, The next ruler, Vijaya Raghunatha Raya Tondaiman (1713-1769), helped the Muslim Nawab of the Carnatic Sultanate against Hyder Ali, the ruler of Mysore, who was loyal to the British Government. After some time, when Hyder Ali's army tried to enter Pudukkottai, Thondaiman's army defeated and drove Hyder's army away. Thondaiman then captured Kilanilai, Aranthangi and helped the British government against Tipu Sultan.
Pudukkotai eventually came under formal British protection. This was arguably unavoidable since the Thondaimans were much menaced in that period by a resurgent Mysore ruled by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. When Tipu Sultan sought to leverage the power of the French against his British adversaries, Pudukkotai, in common with its neighbors, such as Thanjavur and Travancore, found it expedient to ally with the British.
Raja Rajagopala Thondaiman (1928–1948), the last and ninth in the line of Thondaiman rulers, was selected by the British Government and was crowned when he was six years old. After Indian independence in 1947, the Pudukkottai Princely State was amalgamated with the Indian Union on 3 April 1948 and became a division in Tiruchirappalli District. The long history of the Thondaimans' rule came to an end.
200px|left|thumb|Thondaiman King in his Durbar, Pudukkottai, 1858.
thumb|right|200px|Revenue stamp issued by the princely state of Pudukkottai with a portrait of [[Martanda Bhairava Tondaiman]]
Some of the major kings of the dynasty are Tondaiman (1686–1730), Vijaya Raghunatha Raya Tondaiman,(1730–1769), Raya Raghunatha Tondaiman (1769 – Dec 1789), Vijaya Raghunatha Tondaiman (Dec 1789 – 1 February 1807), Vijaya Raghunatha Raya Tondaiman (1 February 1807 – June 1825), Raghunatha Tondaiman (June 1825 – 13 July 1839), Ramachandra Tondaiman (13 July 1839 – 15 April 1886), Marthanda Bhairava Tondaiman (15 April 1886 – 28 May 1928) and Rajagopala Tondaiman (28 October 1928 – 4 March 1948).
Pudukkottai became a princely state of British India under the political authority of Madras Presidency. The state had an area of 4663 Sq.miles and in 1901, a population of 380,000. The Rajas of Pudukkotai were entitled to a 17-gun salute. The last Thondaiman raja of Pudukkottai acceded to newly-independent India in 1948, and the state became a division of the Trichinopoly District of Madras State. The state was reorganized twice in the succeeding decade, taking its present form in 1956; it was renamed Tamil Nadu in 1968. On 14 January 1974, the present Pudukkottai District was formed from parts of Tiruchirappalli and Thanjavur districts.
Geography
Pudukkottai City is located at in the valley of the Vellar River. The city has a semi-arid climate with high temperatures throughout the year and relatively low rainfall. Pudukkottai has a plain terrain with a few rocky hills in the outskirts. Urugumalai, Athimalai, Chennaimalai are the hills that surround the city. The rivers that flow in Pudukkottai are Amaravathy, Noyal, Bhavani, and Kaveri. There are no notable mineral resources available in and around the district. Red loam and red sand are the types of soil found in the town. Paddy, groundnuts, bananas and sugarcane are the major crops in the region. Pudukkottai experiences hot and dry weather throughout the year. The temperature ranges from a maximum of to a minimum of . Like the rest of the state, April to June are the hottest months, and December to January are the coldest. Pudukkottai receives an average rainfall of . The Southwest monsoon, starting in June and lasting up to August, brings scanty rainfall. A bulk of the rainfall is received during the North-East monsoon in the months of October, November and December. The municipality covers an area of .