Alangatha Pillai

Alangatha Pillai was an Indian merchant who held the post of Chief Merchant in Madras of the East India Company in 1689. He is still remembered today in Chennai where a street in the neighborhood of Triplicane is named after him.

The English East India Company (EIC) in India employed dubashes as middlemen. They knew at least two languages and were hence “dvi-bhashis” which later corrupted to “dubash”. The seniormost among them in the 1600s was given the title of chief merchant of the EIC and Alangatha Pillai assumed this post in 1689. He was also among the first set of 12 aldermen of the Corporation of Madras that was set up in 1688.

Alangatha Pillai used part of his enormous wealth to build the Ekambreswara Swami Temple in Mint Street which in his time was called Washers Street owing to it being home to several calico washers. The temple appears in the earliest reliable map drawn of the city in 1709/ 10. Today there is another reminder in Chennai of this 17th century dubash; the Alangatha Pillai Street in Triplicane.