History of Chennai he funded new Indian enterprises and broke into the previously closed ranks of the British financial system. The bank still has its corporate headquarters in the city. During World War I, Madras (Chennai) was shelled by the German light cruiser SMS "Emden", resulting in 5 civilian deaths and 26 wounded. The crew of a merchant ship also destroyed by the Germans that night. After India became independent in 1947, the city became the administrative and legislative capital of Madras State which was renamed as Tamil Nadu in 1968. During the reorganisation of states in India on linguistic lines, in 1953,
History of Tamil Nadu in the Indian Union, Tamil Nadu was the seventh largest economy in 2005 among the states of India. The growing demands for skilled labour has caused increased number of educational institutions in Tamil Nadu. The widespread application of caste based affirmative action caused the state to have 69% of all educational and employment vacancies to be reserved to the backward castes. Such caste-based reservations have huge public support in Tamil Nadu, with no popular protests organised against its implementation. The politics of Tamil Nadu have gone through three distinct phases since independence. The domination of the Congress Party after 1947