Malabar Days

Photo 1. Temple Inside The Fort at Nellialam. Photo courtesy of Afasja Jajy

Back in March of this year, when attempting to trace the route taken by Thomas Hervey Baber up the Ghats in 1823, I came across a reference to his having been on top of the Ghats during 1806 in the aftermath of the Pazhassi Raja struggle, while he was trying to pacify the region, and to capture any remaining supports of the Pazhassi Raja. [1]

"I left Ottakail Karumba at 10 A.M. on the 11th, and arrived at Koodaloor about 1 P.M. about half-a-mile from the karumba, I reached the road I constructed in 1806, from Nelliala in Parakámeatil, to Nambolacota, and continued along it until with three miles of Koodaloor, where is yet to be traced the course of the high road formerly constructed by Tippoo, by the Carâcole Pass to South Malabar;"

This led to my trying to identify the route of this road, and a fort that the East India Company had occupied at Nelliala.

The long abandoned fort appeared to be located on top of a bald hill at Nellialam.



Photo 2. The Bald Hill at Nellialam. Please click onto the image for a larger image.

A friend of mine, Manmadhan Ullattil found some passages in old books describing the fort. The problem was that nether Manmadhan or myself were able to visit the site. Manmadhan however suggested that I contact Afasja Jajy, who was known to come from the area, and who was a keen local historian.

So acting on Manmadhan's suggestion I emailed Afasja, who turned out like so many Kerala people to be working in Saudi Arabia. Despite his not knowing me in the slightest, and having only limited leave, Afasja was kind enough to spend time during his precious holiday this August visiting the site of what I believe might have been the fort at Nellialam, where he took the the pictures of the two small temples that remain on the slopes of the hill.

It is not entirely clear to me if these photos show just one of the two temples, or both temples. It appears however from the amount of trees in the background of photo number 1, that it is the northern of the two temples ringed in red on photo 2.



Photo 3. The Interior of One of the Temples. Photo courtesy of Afasja Jajy

Afasja wrote....

"Last week I visited the fort location, which is in "Kottakunnu" (meaning "fort hill" in Malayalam) at Nelliyalam ( a very small village 6 kms from Pandalur). The temple portion of the fort was only left and the design is very similar to the architecture of buildings/palaces in Mysore and an effigy of Devi , Shiva linga and Nandi are there in the temple structure."

The interesting thing about these temples is that they appear ether to have once been much larger, or they were once surrounded by other buildings, which have subsequently been thrown down or have collapsed with age.



Photo 4. Interior of Temple at Nellialam. Photo courtesy of Afasja Jajy



Photo 5. Second Temple at Nellialam. Photo courtesy of Afasja Jajy

This last photo shows a brick lined shaft, or pit in the foreground besides the temple. Is this a Tank for ritual bathing? It seems very small?

Or perhaps it is part of another building that has since been abandoned, like a cistern.

Brick buildings seen quite rare in this area until very recently. Most earlier buildings were ether local stone or even more commonly they were built in wood.

Does the use of brick suggest that these buildings were built quite recently, and probably since 1820?

In my native England it is quite possible to use the architectural style of a building like a church to apply a date to its likely period during which it was constructed.

Is there somebody I could talk to who could work out from these buildings roughly when they were built?

To me they appear quite small for use as temples. I obviously have very limited knowledge about temples. Is it a temple, or perhaps just a shrine for travellers?

I would love to hear from somebody who can explain these temples possible functions in more detail.

Afasja thinks that there may have been a second fort nearby at Pandalur.

"Regarding fort you mentioned in the Malabar blog, I think the fort [the] EIC built may be somewhere near to this location and I am in search to find some clue on this.., in Pandalur there was a ruins of a fort which was completely destroyed(now there is no sign in that location)and the area is encroached by locals and converted to tea plantation but in my childhood I saw this area and that time there was some walls of the fort."

Afasja has produced an excellent website on Nelliyalam local history.

http://www.pandalur.com/Nelliyalam.html

It has a very good article on Gold mining in the area, which was witnessed by Thomas Baber in his account of his journey in 1823, and the area experienced a mini gold rush in the later 19th century when many Australian's came into the area to try to make their fortune.

http://www.pandalur.com/Goldmining.html

The story of the Plantations is also told...

http://www.pandalur.com/history.html

The fort was probably the site of the home of Queen Bohramma, the last the Nelliyalam Rani. This Rani and her earlier ancestors had ruled this remote mountain top region for the previous couple of centuries before Tipu over ran the area.

Her story is told here...

http://www.pandalur.com/Nelliyalam.html

It would be fascinating to climb to the top of this hill and to field walk it in a deliberate way. I would love to look more closely at the horseshoe shaped feature on its summit. Given the hills dominant position, how far out towards the Wayanad could the soldiers have seen?

It is known that the East India Company Army was using semaphore and possibly mirrors to flash signals. Was this one of those sites?

I still trying to discover the meaning behind the place name Chatur Kottai Dinnai, I would love to hear from you.

I would like to acknowledge the assistance of Afasja Jajy without whom this blog could not have been written and also Manmadhan Ullattil who encouraged me to seek him out in the first place.

[1] See http://malabardays.blogspot.com/2009/02/journal-of-route-to-neelghurries-from_7045.html

The Bald Hill at Nellialam. Please click for a larger image.

Manmadhan Ullattil has drawn my attention to the following paragraph that appears in several editions of the Madras District Gazetteer.

"Nothing remains of the old fort of Nellialam except traces of its ditch. It is said to have been levelled for growing coffee in 1874 by Mr. Adolphus Wright. Just south of the village is a flat-topped hill called Chatur Kottai Dinnai which from the steepness of its sides is almost inaccessible except on the east, and on this are said to have been built two fortified granaries. Traces of the buildings and the defences may still be made out."

From The Nilgiris Madras District Gazetteer, Page 372,by W. Francis 1998.

This raises several fascinating questions.

If the fort was on land capable of growing coffee, could it have been on top of this bald hill?

Presumably even the most inexperienced of coffee planters would not choose to plant coffee on an outcrop, when he had miles of rolling verdant hills to choose from.

If the fort wasn't at this bald hill, where was it?

Is this bald hill Chatur Kottai Dinnai?

Could the two objects on the ground ringed in red be either of the two fortified granaries?

If not, what are they?

If you can help me translate the meaning behind the place name Chatur Kottai Dinnai, I would love to hear from you.

If you live in Nelliyalam and you were able to take photos on this hill, or on any other hill nearby where the fort was actually located, I would love to see those photos.

What does the curved line of rock inside blue line look like close up?

Is it just a bit of natural rock outcrop, or is it levelled boulders from some beast work.

Did Mr. Wright's house face this hill, and did he level it because it spoiled the view, and not so he could plant coffee?

Or was his house somewhere else entirely?

Perhaps he wanted a romantic view of something that reminded him of home, perhaps a Tor or a Scottish Peak, and the derelict remains of the camp spoilt the vista.



The ridge at Nelliyalam showing the bald hill at its eastern end. Please click for a larger image.

As can be seen from this image there is a whole string of villages and plantations along this ridge, but most of these probably date from the 20th Century when the area was opened up to immigrants from other Indian States to promote food growth.

Where are the earliest houses and settlements on this ridge?

Nelliala,possibly the site of a 1805 military post,
at a place called Nelliyalam today.


History has a habit of changing, and quite often the "established facts" in any history book actually turn out to be incorrect or at best are questionable.

While researching the route that Thomas Baber took in 1823 up to the Nilgiris from Calicut, I discovered an intriguing fact.

It was not in fact John Sullivan who first discovered the Nilgiris plateau at Ootacamund, as is generally believed, but two of his junior officials who had set out from the eastern side of ghats in pursuit of tobacco smugglers who were regularly using it. These officials were J.C. Whish, the Assistant Collector from Coimbatoor and N.W. Kindersley, the Second Assistant Collector also from Coimbatoor.

An interesting connection existed however with Calicut, because J.C. Whish had a brother C.M. Whish who was a magistrate in Calicut during years around 1819, and who shared a common interest in Hindu and Sanskrit texts and astronomy with Thomas Baber.

C.M. Whish was a very gifted linguist and he was able understand the religious texts that he found in the temples in Tellicherry and Calicut well enough to be able to recognise that they contained complex calendars, astronomical calculations and predictions for the return periods of comets.

In 1819 and quite possibly at earlier dates as well, Thomas Baber and Whish met frequently in Tellicherry and at Calicut to work on the texts of the Vedas and other related texts. Thomas Baber was already familar with routes up the Ghats as were other local officials like Waddell and C. M. Whish.

Had Whish told his brother in Coimbatoor about these favoured peaks?

Did the brothers ever meet on the top of the Ghats?

We will probably never know, but it is just possible that they did.

The story of the original journey to the Nilgiris Plateau by Whish and Kindersley is as follows: -

"From the year 1799 up to 1819, these mountains were in the daily view of all the authorities from the plains of the Coimbatoor province, and a revenue was collected from them for the Company by a renter (a Chitty) and paid into the Cutchery of the collector of that province. But of the country nothing was then known.

After twenty years' possession by the Company, two young civilians, Messrs. Whish and Kindersley, were induced, in consequence of the maltreatment of some Ryots in the low country, by a Polygar, who fled up the pass of Danaynkeucottah, to follow his track; and not being- encumbered with him as a prisoner, they afterwards proceeded to reconnoitre a little of the interior of the hills, as they had for some time before intended. Their first halt was at a village called Dynaud, about nine miles to the eastward of Kotagherry near Rungasamy Peak, (the most sacred mountain- on the Neilgherries), where they found the man they were in search of, in a hut. He was exceedingly polite in offering refreshments to the gentlemen, and pretending to go for some milk, took the opportunity of making good his retreat!

They then proceeded across the hills, and descended by the Keloor Pass. But they had seen and felt quite enough to excite their own curiosity and that of the collector, Mr. Sullivan, who, establishing his general residence there, continued to live in this delightful climate with his family, in health and comfort, for the greatest part of the succeeding ten years."[1]

The story behind this pass over the ghats, goes back much earlier than the date of first European journeys across it. The pass had been used by Indian traders for many years and probably centuries. The Badaga Gaudas had migrated along it from the Wayanad as they colonised the slopes of the Nigrilis during the 18th century.

Following the imposition of the tobacco monopoly by the East India Company, it had become a favoured smugglers route, as is described by R Baikie, in 1834, in the following paragraph.

"The only other pass which remains to be described, is the Koondah Pass, which is but little known to the public, being as yet merely marked out, and frequented by Mopilas bringing up various articles, and smuggling tobacco* down. It was marked out by my friend Lieutenant LeHardy, then of the Pioneer corps, now of the Commissariat Department, and does great credit to his skill, perseverance, and ingenuity. It commences at Canoot, at the base of the hills on the Malabar side, and ascending through a deep ravine filled with wood, a distance of 12 miles, reaches the summit of the Koondahs, and crossing them, descends upon the central-table land of the Neelgherries, and reaches Ootacamund, 30 miles from the head of the pass. The slope is so gradual as never to exceed If inches in the foot, and the road, owing to certain obstructions, is in many places level, in others surmounts them by short zig-zags. From Canoot, at the foot of the pass, to Arricode, on the Baypoor river, is 16 miles, and thence to Calicut, on the coast, by the river, (here navigable at all seasons for large boats,) is 28 miles. When this road is (as I hope and trust it will speedily be) fairly opened and made practicable even for bullocks, horses, and palankeens, it will doubtless soon become one of the most frequented, particularly by travellers from Calcutta and Bombay.

* The road, as now marked out, closely follows a path frequented by these tobacco smugglers, who formerly carried on this trade to a great extent. Tobacco is grown in large quantities in Coimbatoor, but Government have a monopoly of it in Malabar, and a heavy duty is charged on it, on entering the latter province; the consequence of which is, an extensive contraband trade, principally across the Neelgherries, as being less liable to interruption. If I am rightly informed, the original discovery of the hills was owing to this circumstance ; Messrs. Whish and Kindersley, of the Civil Service, (in 1819,) having pursued a band of smugglers up a small pass to the N. E. of Kotagherry, and thus become acquainted with the existence of a table-land with an European climate."[2]

However even Whish and Kindersley were almost certainly not the first European travellers onto the top of the Nilgiris.

Tipu's Armies had descended from Mysore into Malabar over the same route, as well as some of the other passes in the 1780's. These armies had contained many French soldiers and officers. Had they in fact been the first European's who passed over the Ooty route?

In the course of the 1796 to 1806 Pazhassi Rajah's struggle against the East India Company a series of posts had been established on top of the highest peaks, in order to try to trap and contain the attacks by the Rajah's supporters.

These were manned by small parties of East India Company soldiers, and the posts appear in many cases to have had intervisibility over the jungles and scrub making up the surrounding tablelands. One post was situated on top of Banasura, and another was at Nelliala, now called Nelliyalam.




"The possible outline of a breast work from 1805 on top of Nelliala"[3]

Websites and gazetteers describe the village as it then was as having been the home of the Nelliyalam Rani (as also called Ratti in some websites, is this right?), and explain that remains of her fort remain to be seen.

It is possible that the ruins on top of this hill are the remains of the Rani's fort, however to me they look far too irregular and poorly built to have been even a minor palace or fort.

The other rulers buildings that I have visited in the area, and especially those built before the arrival of the Europeans appear to have been of higher quality in their construction, and even when ruined leave a far more regular and substantial set of footings.

Consider the ruins at Sultan Bathory for instance.

Does anybody who comes from this area have the time to visit the peak of this mountain and to take photograph of these ruins?

Can anybody confirm that this is indeed the site of the Rani's palace, because I have no idea where in Nelliyalam the palace was actually located, and it might have been at another location in the area entirely, that I have failed to spot on Google Earth.

Of course it is entirely possible even if this had been the site of the palace that the British soldiers and Sepoys had moved into its ruins to make their camp.

From this site the soldiers could have looked out over the surrounding area for signs of trouble. It is quite possible that they had the use of telegraph signals between the posts, as was the case between Portsmouth and London and between the posts of Wellingtons army stationed on the Lines of Torres Vedras a few years later in Portugal during the Napoleonic Wars.

The route along the ridge is described by several travellers including Thomas Baber writing in about 1830.

"I left Ottakail Karumba at 10 A. M. on the 11th, and arrived at Koodaloor about 1 p.m. About half-a-mile from the karumba, I reached the road I constructed in 1806, from Nelliala in Parakatneatil, to Nambolacota, and continued along it until within three miles of Koodaloor, where is yet to be traced the course of the high road formerly constructed by Tippoo, by the Caracole Pass to South Malabar; after going about a mile along it, I struck off to the right, by a path which led to Koodaloor, a village at the post of Neddibett, the pass leading up the famed Neelghurries. Koodaloor is a village of Baddagurs, containing between 20 and 30 houses. There are a few Kottara's houses in its vicinity. Here I was met by the Narabolacota Waranoor, attended by his dependants, and nearly all the inhabitants of Nambolacota. I halted in consequence here for the night, and obtained from them the following information respecting the Neelghurries."[4]

This line of posts appears to have run as far as Gudalur, or Koodalur as it was spelt in 1806.

It is highly likely that the troops stationed in Gudalur patrolled out into the surrounding valleys, and that as the land returned to peace after the Pazhassi Rajah had been defeated in November, that the officers commanding at these posts hunted and rode out into the surrounding area. The track over the crest into what became Ooty was already in regular use by Indian traders.

I believe the Ooty area was first visited by Europeans possibly as early as 1780, and certainly by 1806.

Who were these officers, and do accounts of their trips survive?


[1]From Narrative of a Journey to the Falls of the Cavery; with an historical and Descriptive Account of the Neilgherry Hills. Published 1834 by Smith Elder, London, Page 33. By Lieutenant H Jervis, H. M. 62nd Regt.

[2] Observations on the Neilgherries, including an account of their Topography, Climate , Soil & Productions and of the Effects Climate, on the Europan Constitution, by R Baikie Esq. M.D. Published Calcutta 1834, page 4.

[3] 11 degrees 30' 41.20" N 46 degrees 19' 56.90"E.

[4] Pages 313-314, Journal of a Route to the Neelghurries from Calicut, Asiatic Journal (New Series) III.

Map showing Thomas Baber's route in 1823, part 4. Please click on map for larger version.

"I left Ottakail Karumba at 10 A.M. on the 11th, and arrived at Koodaloor about 1 P.M. about half-a-mile from the karumba, I reached the road I constructed in 1806, from Nelliala in Parakámeatil, to Nambolacota, and continued along it until with three miles of Koodaloor, where is yet to be traced the course of the high road formerly constructed by Tippoo, by the Carâcole Pass to South Malabar; after going about a mile along it, I struck off to the right, by a path which led to Koodaloor, a village at the post of Neddibett, the pass leading up the famed Neelghurries. Koodaloor is a village of Baddagurs, containing between 20 and 30 houses. There are a few Kottara's houses in its vicinity. Here I was met by the Narabolacota Wáranoor, attended by his dependants, and nearly all the inhabitants of Nambolacota. I halted in consequence here for the night, and obtained from them the following information respecting the Neelghurries.

The summits of these mountains comprise a table-land of about forty miles in length, and about twenty broad; it is formed into four náds, or divisions, viz. Nanganad, or Todanad, Makanad, Foranad, and Koondenâd ; the three former are under the collector of Coimbatoor. The revenue collected from the three náds was about 18,000 rupees; it has since been reduced to 6,000. Koondeenad is under the collector of Malabar, and pays annually into the Manár Gát Hobely Cutcherry (in South Malabar) about 1,000 gold fanams. The Màlewarom (proprietor's share of the produce) is about double that sum, and belongs to the Padignacar Kolgum, Rajah of the Samoory family,— to the Pundalore Nair in South Malabar, and to the Numbolacota Wárànoor, which latter lays claim indeed to the whole western portion of the Neelghurries, bounded by the river Keellaata, as called by Malabars, and Paikara by Badagurs. The Koondee Nâd pays also to the Nambolacota Wellakara Mallen Davasom, 101 gindees (about six pints) of ghee, and 120 old fanams. The grains and products peculiar to these mountains, are wheat, barley, watta kádala (a kind of pulse), párápa (dhall), ruggy, corály, keera, chama (millet), and kadoo (mustard); also affeen (opium), ooly (onions and garlick), ghee in large quantities; bees'-wax and honey. The extent of the population my informers could not tell me, though they said they knew of about forty attys (Baddagur villages), about twenty Mundoos, or Todara villages, and about half that number of Kotageerees, or villages of Koturs; the whole population they estimated at about 5,000 souls. The Baddagurs are both merchants and cultivators. They emigrated from Oomatoor in Poonat or Mysore, about three centuries ago; their language is a dialect of Canareese. The Todara are exclusively herdsmen, and the Kotara, artificers, viz. blacksmiths, carpenters, and potters. They also are cultivators. The Koturs and Todars are the aborigines; their language appears to be a mixture of Tamil, or Malialum, and Canareese. Neither the Todars or Koturs follow any acknowledged Hindoo customs; they worship tutelary deities unknown among the people of the plains, while both complexion and features point them out as a race distinct from both Hindoos and Mahomedans. The whole of the inhabitants are remarkable for their simple and inoffensive demeanour. Alluding to the revival of the trade carried on formerly with Malabar, the people seemed to think that nothing would restore it so effectually as by re-opening the highroad formerly constructed by Tippoo, and by the establishment of a salt gola near the foot of the Caracote pass; and of weekly markets or fairs at Koodaloor in Nambolacotta, and at Nellumboor or Mombât; and certainly nothing is more feasible, since the Caracote pass has advantages over every other, viz. water conveyance from the coast, to within a few miles of the foot of it, a level country the whole way from Nellumboor to Caracote, and a pass that is capable of being made practicable for beasts of burden, and even wheel carriages ; the distance through Nambolacota to the Mysore frontier, is little more than half what it is through every other part of Wynaad, and all the nullahs and water-courses are passable throughout the year.



Map showing the final part of Thomas Baber's journey to Ootacamund. Please click on the map for a larger version.

Left Koodaloor on the 12th, at nine, and reached Neddibett, or the summit of the mountains, about eleven. There is a good path-way up this pass. Within a mile of the top the ascent becomes exceedingly steep, the last half mile so much so, as to require considerable labour to carry an empty palanquin even up it; though the whole distance from Koodaloor does not exceed four miles, I was nearly three hours performing it. The distance from Neddibett to Ottakamund cannot be less than twenty miles; the first part of the road is rugged, and broken by cholas or vallies, some of which are very steep, particularly the first, called Poolee Chola. I counted eight of those cholas at from half a mile to a mile and a half from each other, but generally the road is over bare hills, especially in the vicinity of the Keelaketta or Paikara river. During the fair season the river is fordable, on account of the rocks, the whole way across; in the rains it is passed in a basket boat. Here I encamped for the night , on account of my bearers and coolies, who suffered more this, than any preceding day’s journey, in consequence of heavy rain and bleak winds. From this river to Ottakamund the distance is about ten miles, from the most part over downs more level than those on the western side of the river. The whole face of the country between Neddibett and Ottakamund is decked with the richest verdure, and watered by rivulets and springs in every direction, interspersed with patches of jungle in deep glens and vallies. The productions of these hills are totally different from the lowlands. Here are white dog-rose, honeysuckle, jasmine, marigolds, balsams, with out number (tomentosa), hill gooseberry, wild strawberry, Brazil cherries, violet-raspberries (red and white), &c. &c. Many parts are literally covered with ferns and lichens in great variety. The climate is most grateful to an European in health, and reminds one more of his native air than any part of India I have visited.

Arrived at Ottakamund on the 13th of June, where I met with a most hospitable reception from Mr. John Sullivan, the principle collector of Coimbatore." [1]

If you happen to have passed along this route, or live in one of the places mentioned, I would love to hear from you. I would very much like to locate the villages mentioned, and to get their modern names.

Thomas Baber was at Gudalur as early as 1806, and it is possible that he was one of the earliest, if not the earliest European into the Nilgiris. He wrote: -

"I left Ottakail Karumba at 10 A.M. on the 11th, and arrived at Koodaloor about 1 P.M. about half-a-mile from the karumba, I reached the road I constructed in 1806, from Nelliala in Parakámeatil, to Nambolacota, and continued along it until with three miles of Koodaloor, where is yet to be traced the course of the high road formerly constructed by Tippoo, by the Carâcole Pass to South Malabar; after going about a mile along it, I struck off to the right, by a path which led to Koodaloor, a village at the post of Neddibett, the pass leading up the famed Neelghurries."

Where are "Nelliala in Parakámeatil, to Nambolacota?"

If you know, please email me at Balmer.Nicholas@Googlemail.com

[1]Pages 314-316, Journal of a Route to the Neelghurries from Calicut, Asiatic Journal (New Series) III.

In the following extract, Thomas Baber describes the local gold mining and panning activities that he had observed as he reached the summit of the ghats.


"The following information I also gathered from the chetties and a putter Brahmin, in the service of the waranoor, respecting the situations where, and mode in which, golden ores was extracted in the Nambolacotta hobeley. The whole of the soil in the mountains, hills and paddy fields, and beds of rivers, is impregnated with this valuable metal; but it is only in or near watercourses, and consequently in the cholas, nullas, ruts, and breaks in the mountains, and in the beds of rivers, that gold was dug for. The operations commences by removing the crust of black earth; when the soil becomes reddish, it is dug up, and putty into a patty (a kind of wooden tray hollowed in the centre) which is then submerged in water, just enough to overflow it and no more, and kept in an undulating motion with one hand, while the earth is stirred up with the other, until all the earthy particles are washed nearly out of it; a black sediment is left in the hollow, consisting of a mixture of black sand, iron, and gold particles. The patty is then taken out of the water, and one end of it being elevated, the other resting on the ground, the sand, &c. are separated from the gold, by throwing water gently with the hand down the board. The golden particles are then obtained by amalgamation with quicksilver, and in this state are enclosed in a piece of wet tobacco-leaf, which being placed in a crucible, or more generally, between two pieces of lighted charcoal, the heat causes the quicksilver to evaporate, and simultaneously to consolidate the particles of gold. When the gold is found in small lumps, which is often the case in the beds of rivers, there is no occasion for the use of quicksilver or heat. Two persons are employed to each patty, one to dig the earth, the other to hold the patty, wash the earth away, and extract and unite, by means of quicksilver, the golden particles. Each patty pays a tax to government of 3 rupees per month, which, my informers added, absorbed two-thirds of the nett profits; and from the wretched appearance of the persons employed in working the patties, it is evident they are miserably paid. There are remains of pits in which gold was extracted formerly, but they are in utter disuse, owing it is said, to the danger from the earth falling in, not having the skill to support the earth. Gold is to be met with in the beds of rivers, both above and below, to the west and south-west side of the Neelgheerie and Coodanad mountains, as well as in the mountains; nothing , however, is known of its geonostic habitudes, or even localities, as far as regards veins, than that it is found in red earth, as far as the strata extend, in high grounds; and in white earth, below the black crust, in swamps and paddy fields; also in stones dug up at a great depth in beds of rivers. But the most productive places are small nullas, or rather ruts and breaks in the ground, into which the course of the water is most likely to drive the metal during the rainy season. Hence it is that more patties are worked in the rainy, than in the fair season. From the above description, the following conclusions may be drawn; -- first, that golden ore is homogeneous to the soil in the mountains and hills; and, secondly, that what is found in beds of rivers, and water-courses, has fortuitously been brought down by the rains. The very existence of gold would seem to call for a more extended examination, as it might lead to the most important results, both in greater quantity and better quality than any yet met with."[1]

[1]Pages 313-314, Journal of a Route to the Neelghurries from Calicut, Asiatic Journal (New Series) III.

Left Nellamboor at 8 A.M. on the 9th, and arrived at Eddakarra at 12. For the first mile the road is through jungle over paramba, or high ground, terminated as usual by a slip of paddy field, and continues so, alternately, parramba and low lands, to the Karunbara river, which also takes its rise at Mangerri Mala, and falls into the Beypoor river about three miles east of Nellumboor. The ferry is called Yânandy and Pallikote Kádâwâ. Here I found a small ferry, and three or four bamboo rafts ready for me: it is fordable only in the fair season. From this river the roads leads, as before, over high and low lands to the Kalakùmpora river, which takes its rise in the Ella Mala, south of Caracote, and falls into the Beypoor river at Walloosherry; the ferry is called Neddumbary Kadawa: though deep and rapid, it is less difficult to cross than at Yanandy. Here also I found a ferry and rafts. From this river the roads leads through an extensive forest jungle, intersected here and there by uncultivated marshes, to the Neddumbary Kollum, a farm belonging also to the Teeroopad, in the middle of an extensive range of paddy fields, where the road is chiefly paramba or high land, for about two miles, to a range of paddy fields named Eddakerrapoilel, at the south-east end of which is a kollum belonginf also to Tachara Teeroopad. The river (Beypoor) approaches it about half a mile to the eastward, and is practicable, for small boats, for ten months in the year. The distance from Nellumboor to this kollum is about eight miles. Nothing can exceed the magnificence of the scenery from the openings in the low lands: both to the right and left, as well as in front, an endless succession of huge mountains, ranging from 3000 to 5000 feet high, clothed with forest jungles, the highest peaks of some of which are 1000 or 2000 feet above the table land of the great chain, called the Gâat Mountains. Those to the right form the table land of the Koondee hills in the Neelghurries. Here literally, as Mickle says, “hills peep o’er hills, and gâats on gâats arise.” Although the monsoon has set in only five days, the rain is pouring in torrents down the sides of the mountains, forming some most beautiful cascades and cataracts. These mountains are the famed teak forests. The chief owner of them is Táchàràkàwil Teeroopad. The largest is Kalla Mala, and runs south-east and north-west, and divides Tiroowambady, or the north-eastern most deshums of Porawye, from Ernaad; up the Waddakarry, there is a pass into Wynaad, that comes out at Koonyore Cota.



Map showing the route taken by Thomas Baber in 1823, part 2. Please click on the map for a larger version.


Left Eddakarra at 4 P.M., and reached Caracote Eddom at sun-set. The road leads through forests, chiefly of teakwood of the largest description, the property of the Nambolacota Waranoor. Midway there are two small rivers, one called Calcum (which takes its rise in the Kombula Mala, and falls into the Beypoor river, near Eddakarra); the other, Caracode, and takes its rise at Davalla, at the top of Carcote Pass; both are at all times fordable. Boats have been known to go up as far as Kodderrypara, which is only two miles west of Caracote. The Caracote Eddom is a farm belonging to the Nambola Cota Waranoor: it is a miserable building, and the only one, excepting a few surrounding huts, inhabited by pariars (slaves.)

Left Caracote at 8 A.M. on the 10th. The first mile and a half is through forest jungle, and so very thick that, had not the road been opened for me, it would have been impossible to have taken my palanqueen further on. The pass is over a succession of mountains covered with forest jungle, until within a mile of the top, -- the whole of which space is nearly bare of trees. The ascent commences at the southern bank of the Wellakatta river, which is fordable at all seasons. For the first few hundred yards, the ascent is not at all difficult; it then becomes exceedingly rugged, and thus it continues alternately easy and steep, in some places precipitous, to within a mile of the top, where it is one continued ascent (forming an angle of 45o ) to Nadkhang, the name given to the summit of the pass, which I reached about midday, having walked nearly the whole of the way. To the left of the pass, within a mile of the top, I observed several persons working in the vicinity of ravines or breaks in the mountains, where golden ore was being extracted. The surface of the ground appeared to have been excavated about a hundred yards in circumference. There was no getting to them owing to the immense chasms between them and me. From Nadkhang to Davalacota, the distance is about four miles: the road, which is a mere foot-path, goes over bare hills (very steep) nearly the whole way. Davalacota is the occasional residence of the Nambolacotta Waranoor. I found here a chetty names Kalapen, whose business it was to light up the shrine of the Waranoor’s household god (named Ayrawelby Paradawar). The approach is extremely difficult, and utterly impracticable for horse or palanquin.

I halted here about an hour; during which time I ascertained that there was a pass leading direct from Davalacota to Caracota Eddom, over the Koothrakela Malla, and about two-thirds of the length of the Caracota pass, and comes out at a place called Kallankooty Manna, about three miles from Caracota Eddom. By the Malabars this pass is called Kata-Mooka; by the Baddagurs of Davalacota, Gullikotoo.

From Davalacota I proceeded to Ottakail-Karaumba; the distance is about one mile and a half. This kararumba is a farm belonging to the Nambolacotta Waranoor, Narangawittel Arashen, the steward of the Waranoor’s estates, as far as the Kakkhang Tode, or nulla, within four miles of Nambolacotta. There are about a dozen houses in its vicinity. I halted here during the night, and had a long conversation with the inhabitants, who are chiefly Badagurs. Speaking of the Neelghurries, they (the Baddagurs) said, “they originally came from those hills, and where more or less connected with all the Baddagurs, and particularly those in the Koondee-Nâd; they spoke in grateful terms of improved condition of the Neelghurries, since Mr. Sullivan took up his abode amongst them, having previously been left to the mercy of those to whom the hills were yearly farmed out.

Pages 311-313, Journal of a Route to the Neelghurries from Calicut, Asiatic Journal (New Series) III.

The Beypoor River, close to the point where Thomas Baber set off from on his journey to the Nilgiris Hills.

When I visited Beypore in December 2006, I knew that is was highly likely that I was following in Thomas Baber's footsteps, however at that time I had no proof that he had ever actually been to the town.

Recently however I have discovered the following account that he wrote in 1830, and which was subsequently published in the Asiatic Journal[1] describing a journey that he had made in 1823, from Calicut to the Nilgiris Hills.

The account makes it clear that he had been present in the area inland of Kozhikode as early as 1802, however at that time it is unlikely that he reached as far inland has the tops of Ghats themselves.

Thomas Baber was a contemporary of John Sullivan, the Collector of Coimbatore who is credited with founding Ootacamund. Sullivan first explored the region in January 1819, reaching the hills from Salem coming up from the eastern side of the hills.

The route in from the east, whilst considerably longer, is much less steep than the shorter route from the western seaboard up over the ghats. The route from Beypore to Ootacamund is about 110 miles long, and climbs up over the 6,000 feet high ghats.

In 1822 Sullivan returned to the hills to build his house, the first European house on the site. During the following year 1823, Sullivan brought his wife to the newly built stone house.

When he arrived at "Ottakamund" on the 13th of June 1823, Thomas Baber must have been one of the very first visitors to Sullivan's new house.

They were both to suffer for their shared interest in improving the conditions of the local Indian's. Like Sullivan in the Nilgiris, Thomas Baber was also experimenting a few miles to the north in the Wayanad with new crops and with ways of encouraging improved forms of agriculture amongst the local tribesmen in the hills.

This journal is interesting both as a record of the changing situations in the rural parts of Malabar following the areas occupation of the region by the East India Company. Thomas, who was often highly critical of the East India Company officials and their public administration of the area, was able to compare the situation in the villages over time, and was in a position to contrast the villages shortly after 1800 with the conditions in the 1820's.

It has proved possible to match the account with maps of the area made in the 1950's and with Google Earth images. I hope one day to return to the area and to repeat the journey.

The account is too long for a single post, so I will break it up into sections to post over the coming weeks.

Thomas wrote the account, which appeared in the Asiatic Journal, whilst living in retirement in Hanwell, a small village to the west of London. Perhaps in that first cold November after thirty four years in India, he was already beginning to miss the area. After two years in a much changed Britain, and missing his family in India, he returned to live out the remainder of his life in India in 1833.

Thomas was to return to Ootacamund on a number of occasions during the final part of his life. On one of these visits in 1841, his son Henry Fearon Baber married the Honourable Maria Jane Harris grand daughter of Lord Harris of Seringapatam on the 26th of September 1841 at Ootacamund.


GEOGRAPHY OF MALABAR.
To the Editor.

SIR: As every thing relating to the salubrious climate of the Neelghurries, Anglice “Blue Mountains,” on the coast of Malabar, must be interesting to all sojourners in India, I venture to submit the accompanying revised journal of a route from Calicut, via the river of Beypoor and passes of Carcote and Neddibett, in the year 1823.
With reference to the account given therein of the gold mines, and the mode in which that valuable metal is obtained, it appears to be deserving of the consideration of scientific persons, how far it would be desirable speculation to apply to the East-India Company for their permission to send out qualified persons to make the attempt to ascertain, by a local investigation and examination, the probable extent of the riches contained in the bowels of the earth in that portion of our Indian empire.

I am, Sir, &c.
Hanwell,15th Nov. 1830. T.H. Baber.


JOURNAL OF A ROUTE TO THE NEELGHURRIES FROM CALICUT.

By T.H. Baber, Esq.

LEFT Calicut at 5 P.M., 5th June 1823, and reached the ferry called Mammaly Kadawer, on the Beypoor river, at sun-set, (distance six miles); embarked in one boat, my servants following in another: after rowing all night, reached Ariacotta [2], (a bazaar on the banks of the Beypoor river,) about 7 A.M. – Average distance from Calicut to Ariacotta eight Malabar coss, or thirty-two English miles. I found Ariacotta Angâdy very much fallen off since I last visited it (1803); then there were between two and three hundred houses; at present the number is hardly one hundred. Owing, as the three head men stated, to the timber[3] , tobacco, and salt monopolies, particularly the first, which gave employment to a large proportion of the population of both this and the neighbouring Angâdies and Deshoms, on the banks of the Beypoor river.

Left Ariacotta[2] on the 7th at 8 A.M. The first two miles is by the high road from Ariacotta to Manjerry, after which a path to the left leads through a jungle for about half-a-mile to an open country for about two miles, terminated by a paddy field, intersected by a nulla, dry in the fair, but with about four feet water in the rainy season. About a hundred yards to the right is the illum (house) of the Pooliora Namboory, a land proprietor of considerable influence. After crossing this nulla, the road leads through a jungle for about a mile-and-half: about midway there is a nulla fordable during the fair season, but containing from five to six feet water during the monsoon. Here the road takes a circuitous direction to the right, open ground the whole way (about four miles) to the paddy fields in the vicinity of the Yadamunna Angâdy , in the centre of which is a nulla very difficult for a horse or palanquin to pass in the rainy season; for foot passengers there is a log of wood over a narrow part of the nulla.

Arrived at Yadamunna[4] about 1 P.M. This bazaar is also on the banks of the Beypoor river, and is in a very deplorable state, partly owing to the same causes as Ariacotta, and partly to the turbulent dispositions of its inhabitants. All the worst characters have, however, been removed by death or banishment, and there is little danger to be apprehended of any further attempts to disturb the peace of the country. There are about eighty houses, most of them in very bad condition.



Map showing the first stage of Thomas Babers route to Ootacamund. The actual route is coloured brown. Please click on the map for a larger version.

Started at 3 P.M. for, and arrived at, Mombât Angady,[5] at 5 P.M. The first part of the road leads through jungle along the banks of the Beypoor river; about a quarter of a mile from Yadamunna is a nulla at all times fordable, and another about two miles and a half further on, only passable in boats in the rainy season. Here the country becomes more open, and continues so the whole way to the nulla at the foot of the Mombât Angady, which is always fordable excepting for a few days during the height of the monsoon. Mombat is a Mopilla town, also on the banks of the Beypoor river; it contains about eighty houses, or about half the former number; until within the last twenty years a considerable trade used to be carried on here with the Balagat inhabitants, alias highlanders, viz, Nambolacotta, Parakameetil in Wynaas, Poonat or Mysore, Davaraiputton, and the Neelghurries, but has ceased since the plunder and massacre of a Baddagur, native of the Neelghurries, at Mombat, by a Mopilla maraunder named Cunhy Olan Cooty, who was executed in 1802. The people expressed a strong desire for the revival of this trade, which they said would be much facilitated by the establishment of an Oopakood, or salt gola, and of a shandy, or weekly fair, at Mombat, and probably nothing would contribute so much to humanize the Mopilla population, or tend more to the prosperity of this and the rest of the towns bordering on the Beypoor river, as the renewal of this trade.

Left Mombât on the 8th at 8, and arrived at Nellumboor at 10 A.M. The first two miles of the road is a mere jungle path, where it joins the high road from Manjerry by Wandoor, to Nellumboor. About a mile further on is the river Trikâkoon[6], fordable only during the fair season. It takes its rise at the Munjerri Mala, one of the Gâat mountains, and joins the Beypoor river about a mile east of Mombât, at a place called Moothraketty; I crossed it by means of a bamboo raft. From this river to Nellumboor, the distance is two miles and a half. Here I was met by the Kâristary, or Minister of Tachârâ Kawil Teeroopad, the Nellumboor Nadwâri, who had had the politeness to have the road opened the whole way from the Trikâkoon river to his easternmost farm called Eddakarra, a distance of about ten miles. Within one hundred yards of Nellumboor I was met by the Teeroopad himself, who conducted me to a house he had prepared for my reception.

Nellumboor is the ancient residence of this Nadwari. The kowlgum[7] or palace is on the bank of the Beypoor river, surrounded with a high mud wall. There are from twenty to thirty Nair houses, occupied exclusively by his dependants, and a pagoda dedicated to Watakara the Paradevar (household god) of the Teeroopad family. The Teeroopad and his Kuriastan were very earnest in their wishes for the re-establishment of the commercial intercourse between the lower and upper countries by the Caracote pass, and seemed to think that the facilities for trade were much greater by this than any of the other passes leading through Wynaad.


[1]Pages 310-311, Journal of a Route to the Neelghurries from Calicut, Asiatic Journal (New Series) III.
[2] Ariacotta = Arikkod
[3] The timber monopoly has been abolished since this was written. Thomas was a strong critic of this monoploy, campaigning over many years for its removal.
[4] Yadamunna = Vadapuram.
[5] In November 1827, when I again visited the Neelghurries, I came by water as far as Mombat. [now Mambad]
[6] Trikakoon= Vada Auram Puzha
[7] An upper room has been lately built by the Teeroopad over the outer gate-way or entrance, purposely for the accommodation of travellers.