Coringa - Encyclopedia

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

CORINGA, a seaport of British India, in the district of Godavari and presidency of Madras, on the estuary of a branch of the Godavari river. The harbour is protected from the swell of the sea by the southward projection of Point Godavari, and affords a shelter to vessels during the south-west monsoon; but though formerly the most important on this coast it has been silted up and lost its trade. The repairing and building of small coasting ships is an industry at Tallarevu in the vicinity. In 1787 a gale from the north-east occasioned an inundation which swept away the greater part of Coringa with its inhabitants; and in 1832 another storm desolated the place, carrying vessels into the fields and leaving them aground. Of Europeans the Dutch were the first to establish themselves at Coringa. In 1 759 the English took possession of the town, and erected a factory 5 m. to the south of it.