Gazetteers are the publications of the Government of Tamil Nadu on the districts. They are written, as per the uniform guidelines prescribed by the Government of India, by the Editorial team headed by an Editor(G) under the supervision of the Commissioner of Archives and Historical Research and the Gazetteer Monitoring Committee constituted by the Government with the Secretary to Government, Higher Education as its ex-officio Chairperson, Secretary to Government, Revenue, Commissioner of Revenue Administration, Disaster Management and Mitigation and the Professor & Head of the Department of Indian History, University of Madras as its ex-officio members and the Commissioner of Archives and Historical Research as its ex-officio Member Secretary.

A District Gazetteer is a single source of comprehensive and authentic information about the district concerned from its geographical, demographical, social and cultural, historical, economic, administration and developmental aspects. The Gazetteer is considered as an encyclopaedia of the district concerned.

The Manuals and Gazetteers had been the guide books to the administrators and after Independence the scope of the use of the Gazetteers have been improved. Besides the documentation of events in the district for our posterity, Gazetteer continues to be the most dependable source of information to the administrators, researchers, specialists, planners and a constant book of reference for the general public.

Each Gazetteer contains chapters on General, History, People, Agriculture and Irrigation, Industries, Banking, Trade and Commerce, Communication, Economic Trends & Miscellaneous Occupations, General Administration & Revenue Administration, Law and Order and Justice, Other Departments and Other Social Services, Local self-Government, Education, Medical & Public Health Services, Public Life and Voluntary Social Service Organisations and Places of Interest.

 

The Method adopted for the preparation and publication of the Gazetteers is briefly as follows: The source materials used for writing the Gazetteers are broadly categorised into primary and secondary sources.

Departmental Sources

At the outset, correspondences are established with all the Heads of Departments, Quasi-Govt. Organisations, Corporations, Boards, District Heads and other officers requesting them to furnish a detailed report based on the Proforma / Questionnaire sent to them. They are also requested to take utmost care in preparing the report with authentic information. Besides they will also be requested to send copies of the annual administrative reports of the Departments, Souvenirs published, if any, on various occasions and available books or sources. on the department. They constitute original sources.

The Editor and Assistant Editors undertake tours in the district visit offices, colleges and Higher Education institutions and places of historical importance and also collect information from scholars, prominent persons, local libraries and Archives.

The primary sources available in Tamil Nadu Archives such as Government orders, Government Reports, Census Reports, Committee Reports, Native Newspaper Reports etc., Despatches to England, Despatches from England, Revenue Consultations, Military Consultations, Sundry Records, Board of Revenue Records, Madras Council Records and District Records are consulted and relevant information on the districts are culled out.

As far as technical subjects such as Flora, Fauna, Folklore, Linguistic Peculiarity, Archaeology, etc., are concerned and if it is necessary that a particular district deserves special study on the subjects, experts are commissioned for preparing the write up on the above subjects.

Having collected all the required source materials, the editorial staff prepare preliminary drafts of the chapters and they are sent to the Heads of the Departments concerned including District Collector for their suggestions and remarks and the drafts are revised accordingly. Then the draft chapters are submitted for the Commissioner’s perusal and approval. After approval, the Commissioner as the Member-Secretary of the Gazetteer Monitoring Committee circulates the draft chapters among the Members and Chairperson of the Gazetteer Monitoring Committee (GMC). After obtaining the approval of the Committee, the text is sent to the Government for orders for allotment of funds for printing. In the meanwhile, photographs to be illustrated in the Gazetteer are collected from the various sources. The district maps to be included in the Gazetteer are got printed by the Director of Survey and Land Records and the necessary approvals for the maps are obtained from the Survey of India, Dehradun and the Ministry of Defence, New Delhi.