History – The Department of History began with the college in 1844. The B.A. in history was introduced when the college was affiliated to the University of Madras. When in 1911 the college became an arts and science college, an honours course in history was introduced. During this period the library stack room in the history section was flooded with primary sources such as dispatches from the East India Company, annual reports of the Archaeological Survey of India, inscription manuals, and gazetteers. But the number of students dwindled and the department was closed down, with the B.A. Honours course continuing up to 1960. B.A. History was revived in 1977. In 2014 the department offers a B.A., M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. It has a strong research orientation, producing 42 Ph.D.s and 320 M.Phil. scholars since 1977. The faculty members have authored 16 books both in English and Tamil and published 70 research papers on history and related areas. A biannual research journal "Indian Historical Studies" has been published by the department since October 2004, financially supported by Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi.