state-controlled institution of higher learning located in Madras, India. One of three affiliating universities founded by the British in 1857, Madras has developed as a teaching and research institution since the 1920s. By the mid-1970s the university comprised 11 postgraduate faculties and 22 constituent colleges and was the examining and degree-granting authority for 149 affiliated colleges throughout the state of Tamil Nadu. It is a national centre for advanced research in plant pathology, mathematical physics, biophysics, and Indian philosophy. Instruction is in English and Tamil.