DINDIGUL  , a

town of British India, in the Madura district of Madras, 88o ft. above the sea, 40 M. from Madura by rail . Pop . (1901) 25,182 . Dindigul has risen into importance as the centre of a trade in tobacco and manufacture of cigars, which are exported to England . There are two large European cigar factories here . The town has manufactures of silk, muslin and blankets, and an export trade in hides and cardamoms; and there is a large native Christian population, with two churches . The ancient fort, well preserved, stands on a rock rising 350 ft. above. the town; this was formerly a position of great strategic importance, commanding passes into Madura from Coimbatore, and figured prominently in the military operations of the Mahrattas in the 17th and 18th centuries, and of Hyder Ali in 1755 seq., being thrice captured by the British (1767, 1783, 1790) . After the two first captures it was restored to Hyder Ali under treaty; after the third it was ceded to the East India Company .