The Government Museum of  Chennai, or sometimes called the Madras Museum, is a museum of human history and culture located in the Government Museum Complex in the neighbourhood of Egmore in Chennai, India. Started in 1851, it is the second oldest museum in India after the Indian Museum in Kolkata. In August 1778, the governor of Madras granted 43 acres for an estate to a civil servant, who, subsequently in 1793, assigned the grounds to a committee of 24 which then regulated the public amusements in the city. In 1821, the committee sold the main house and central garden space to E. S. Moorat, an Armenian merchant who, in turn, sold it back to the government in 1830. The government first used the buildings and the grounds as the collector's "Cutcherry" and later for the "Central Museum."The museum was originally established in a building on College Road in Nungambakkam in the year 1851 and was shifted to the present site in 1854. Many additions to the original building were constructed between 1864 and 1890.

Browse 5 Items in this collection.

Selected Items from This Collection

• Escudo de Armas (Coat of Arms)
• Bronze Plaque for Escudo de Armas (Coat of Arms)
• 17th c Spanish Cannon (named San Pedro)
• 17th c Spanish Cannon ( San Lorenzo)
• Spanish Armouries taken from Manila in 1762