The old name of Chennai, India is Madras, which is a six-letter word. Madras was the former name of Chennai, India, and it was officially changed to Chennai in 1996. The city of Madras was founded in 1639 by the British East India Company and was the first major English settlement in India. It was an important trading port for the British and served as the capital of the Madras Presidency, one of the four major provinces of British India.