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The Coromandel Coast is a coastal region along the southeastern front of the Indian peninsula. Its delimitations are numerous, but generally admitted to be bounded by the Krishna River river River mouth to the north, the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Point Calimere cape to the south, and the Eastern Ghats to the west. Some may definite its northern boundaries up to Ganjam. This region can be extending over an area of about 22,800 square kilometres. The coast has an average elevation of 80 metres and is backed by the Eastern Ghats, a chain of low lying and flat-topped hills. The land of the Chola dynasty was called Cholamandalam in Tamil language, literally translated as "the realm of the Cholas", from which Coromandel is derived.
In historical Muslim sources from the 12th century onward, the Coromandel Coast was notably called as Maʿbar Coast.
Another theory is that the first Dutch ship to India stopped at Karimanal, an island village to the north of Pulicat. The sailors aboard the ship mispronounced the village's name as 'Corimondal' and the name stuck thereafter.
An Italian explorer, Ludovico di Varthema, perhaps first gave the name Coromandel in 1510, which was then used on maps by the Portuguese, but it was the Dutch who took up serious trading there.
The Coromandel Coast supplied Indian Muslim to the Thai palace and court of Siam (modern Thailand).Peletz (2009), p. 73 Peletz (2009), p. 73 The Thai at times asked eunuchs from China to visit the court in Thailand and advise them on court ritual since they held them in high regard.Peletz (2009), p. 75 Peletz (2009), p. 75
Eventually the British won out, although France retained the tiny enclaves of Pondichéry and Karaikal until 1954. China Lacquerware, including boxes, screens, and chests, became known as "Coromandel" goods in the 18th century, because many Chinese exports were consolidated at the Coromandel ports.
Two of the famous books on the economic history of the Coromandel Coast are Merchants, companies, and commerce on the Coromandel Coast, 1650–1740 (Arasaratnam, Oxford University Press, 1986) and The World of the Weaver in Northern Coromandel, (P. Swarnalatha, Orient Longman, 2005).
On 26 December 2004, one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern history, the Indian Ocean earthquake, struck off the western coast of Sumatra (Indonesia). The earthquake and subsequent tsunami reportedly killed over 220,000 people around the rim of the Indian Ocean. The tsunami devastated the Coromandel Coast, killing many and sweeping away many coastal communities.
The Coromandel Coast is also home to extensive mangrove forests along the low-lying coast and , and several important , notably Kaliveli Lake and Pulicat Lake, that provide habitat to thousands of migrating and resident birds.
In Slovene, the idiom Indija Koromandija (India Coromandel) means a land of plenty, a promised land, a utopia where "Houses are bleached with cheese and covered with cake".
Edward Lear situates his nonsense poem The Yonghy Bonghy Bo by citing Coromandel on the first line: On the Coast of Coromandel. The Coromandel Express is a train of the Indian Railways. The daily train runs down the east coast of India between Shalimar railway station, West Bengal, and Chennai Central railway station, Tamil Nadu.
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