Located in the foothills of the Nilgiri Hills, Coimbatore is an industrial city of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The city is an important textile-manufacturing centre in India and as such it is sometimes also called as /'Manchester of South India/'. There are more than a hundred textile mills in and around Coimbatore apart from a number of other manufacturing units, which produce engineering equipment and electronic items. Coimbatore existed even prior to the 2nd century AD as a small tribal village called Kongunad. It was Karikalan, the first of the early Cholas, who brought Kongunad under Chola control in the second or third century AD. Some of the great rulers who ruled over the city were the Rashtrakutas, Chalukyas, Pandyas, Hoysalas and the Vijayanagara kings. It was only when Kongunad fell to the British along with the rest of the state, its name was changed to Coimbatore. The city/'s nearness to the Nilgiri hills gives it a pleasant climate that is much cooler than the coastal regions of Tamil Nadu. Summers are hot with the maximum temperature reaching 39°C and the minimum temperature going down to 21°C. Winters are mild with the maximum temperature hovering around 30°C and the minimum temperature rarely going below 15°C. Coimbatore experiences rains in October-November, brought about by the retreating monsoons (north-eastern monsoon).