Andrew Cogan

Andrew Cogan was the first agent of the English East India Company to rule Madras. He was the chief of the Masulipatnam factory when Madras was purchased from the last king from the Aravidu dynasty of King of Vijaynagara, Peda Venkata Raya then headquartered at Chandragiri and the chief negotiator in that venture.

In 1637, Francis Day, a member of the Masulipatnam Council and Chief of the Armagon Factory, made a voyage of exploration down the Coromandel Coast as far as Pondicherry. At that time,the Coromandel Coast was ruled by the Raja of Chandragiri through a local chief or Nayak, Damarla Venkatapathy Nayak, who ruled the coast from Pulicat up to San Thome. He had his seat at Wandiwash and his brother, Ayyappa Nayak resided at Poonamallee.

It is widely presumed that Ayyappa Nayak was the one who made overtures to the English to choose the area comprising the modern-day Georgetown for settlement. The offer looked good, and Day consulted Cogan, his superior, who investigated the proposed site and examined trading possibilities there. The results were favourable and Day secured a grant offering the village of Madraspatnam to the English for a period of two years. The Grant was dated August 1639, and after obtaining the approval of the Factory at Masulipatnam and the Presidency of Bantam (in Java), the settlement of Madraspatnam was begun.

Day and Cogan were jointly responsible for the construction of Fort St. George. The building of the Factory House was taken up on 1 March 1640. A portion of the structure was presumably completed by St. George's Day (23 April) of that year and consequently the name "Fort St. George" was given to the fort.

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