Vellore district is an administrative district in the northern part of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The district headquarters is the city of Vellore, situated on the banks of the Palar river. Historically a centre of the Pallava, Chola and Vijayanagara polities, the district is today known for its leather industry, educational institutions and the medieval Vellore Fort.
| Country | India |
|---|---|
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| Headquarters | Vellore |
| Region | Northern Tamil Nadu |
| Major river | Palar |
| Official language | Tamil |
Vellore district lies in the northern interior of Tamil Nadu and shares borders with the state of Andhra Pradesh to the north. It is bounded by Tirupathur and Ranipet districts (formed by bifurcation), Tiruvannamalai to the south and Kanchipuram/Tiruvallur areas to the east. The terrain consists of plains drained by the Palar river, interspersed with hills belonging to the Eastern Ghats system, including ranges around Yelagiri and Javadi.
The region around Vellore has been part of successive South Indian kingdoms, including the Pallavas, Cholas, the Vijayanagara Empire, the Bijapur Sultanate, the Marathas, the Carnatic Nawabs and finally the British. The Vellore Fort, built during the Vijayanagara period in the 16th century, served as a key military stronghold and is associated with the Vellore Mutiny of 1806, regarded as one of the earliest instances of organised Indian resistance against British East India Company rule. The deposed family of Tipu Sultan was kept at Vellore Fort following the fall of Srirangapatna in 1799.
Under British administration, the area was part of North Arcot district in the Madras Presidency. After Indian independence and successive reorganisations, North Arcot was bifurcated, and the present Vellore district was constituted in 1989 (then named North Arcot Ambedkar district before being renamed Vellore in 1996).
In 2019, the Tamil Nadu government reorganised the district by carving out two new districts:
Following this reorganisation, the residual Vellore district contains a smaller set of taluks centred on Vellore city, including Vellore, Katpadi, Gudiyatham, Pernambut, Anaicut and K. V. Kuppam.
The district has a long-established leather and tanning industry, particularly around Vellore, Ambur and Ranipet (the latter areas now in the new districts but historically part of the same economic belt). Agriculture along the Palar basin, sericulture, matchstick and beedi manufacturing in the Gudiyatham–Vaniyambadi belt, and small-scale engineering units form additional components of the local economy.
The district is served by the Chennai–Bengaluru rail and road corridor. Katpadi Junction is a major railway station on the Chennai–Bangalore line. National Highway 48 (formerly NH-46) and National Highway 75 pass through the region, connecting Vellore with Chennai, Bengaluru and Krishnagiri.