Higginbothams

Higginbothams in Chennai is described as the oldest bookstore in India. It dates from 1844, when Abel Joshua Higginbotham, then 25, took over an empty office space in Madras. His attachment to Wesleyan Methodist worship, which began at a chapel in Black Town, led him to open a shop focused on religious literature.

The business later grew into a network of branches with printing and publishing arms, bringing out titles such as Mark Wilks' Sketches of South India and the Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan. The colonial-era building keeps its stained-glass windows, whitewashed brick walls and heavy doors of oak.