Nilgiri mountains

This article is about the mountain range. For the supermarket chain, see Nilgiris 1905.
Nilgiri Hills

View of Nilgiri Hills
Elevation 2,637 m (8,652 ft)
Translation Blue Mountains (Tamil)
Location
Location Tamil Nadu, South India
Range Western Ghats
Geology
Type Fault[1]
Age of rock Azoic Age, 3000 to 500 mya
Climbing
Easiest route NH 67 (Satellite view)
or Nilgiri Mountain Railway

The Nilgiri (blue mountains), are a range of mountains forming a part of the Western Ghats situated in the western part of Tamil Nadu state at the junction of Karnataka and Kerala states in Southern India. There are at least 24 peaks above 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) which make the southwestern edge of the Deccan Plateau.

Location

The hills are separated from the Karnataka plateau to the north by the Moyar River and from the Anaimalai Hills and Palni Hills to the south by the Palghat Gap. The Nilgiris District of Tamil Nadu lies within these mountains. Its latitudinal and longitudinal dimensions are 130 km (Latitude: 11° 08' to 11° 37' N) by 185 km (Longitude: 76° 27' E to 77° 4' E). Central location is: 11°22′30″N 76°45′30″E / 11.37500°N 76.75833°E. It has an area of 2,479 square kilometres (957 sq mi).[2]

It is connected via Nilgiri Mountain Railway.[3]

Conservation

The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, which includes the Nilgiri Hills, forms a part of the protected bio reserves in India and is a part of UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has started evaluating the Western Ghats, Nilgiri Sub-Cluster (6,000+ km²) for selection as a World Heritage Site.[4] Such a site would include all of Mukurthi National Park in the south-eastern corner of the Nilgiris.

Map of Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve
Nilgiri Hills from Masinangudi

History

The high steppes of the Nilgiri Hills have been inhabited since prehistoric times as the large number of artefacts unearthed by excavators demonstrates. A particularly important collection from the region can be seen in the British Museum, including those assembled by colonial officers James Wilkinson Breeks, Major M J Walhouse and Sir Walter Elliot.[5] The first recorded use of the word Nila applied to this region can be traced to 1117 AD in the report of a general of Vishnuvardhana, King of Hoysalas, who in reference to his enemies, claimed to have "frightened the Todas, driven the Kangas underground, slaughtered the Pallavas, put to death the Malayalas, terrified King Kala and then proceeded to offer the peak of Nila Mountain (presumably Dodabetta) to Lakshmi, Goddess of Wealth.[6]

In 1814, Mr, Keys, a sub-assistant, and Mr. McMahon, an apprentice in the Survey Department, ascended the hills by the Danaynkeucottah Pass, penetrated into the remotest parts, made plans, and sent in reports of their discoveries. As a result of these accounts, Messrs. Whish and Kindersley, two young Madras civilians, ventured up in pursuit of some criminals taking refuge in the mountains, and proceeded to reconnoitre the interior. They soon saw and felt enough favorable climate and terrain to excite their own curiosity and that of others.[7]

With a detachment of Europeans and Indian sepoys, he set out on his mission on 2 January 1819. The journey involved crossing rough and harsh terrain, steep precipices and danger from wild animals. After an expedition that lasted for six days and loss of the lives of some of the expedition members, Sullivan finally reached a plateau from where he proudly hoisted the British flag. In May, 1819, the same tourists from Coimbatore, accompanied by Monsieur Leschnault de la Tour, naturalist to the King of France, repeated their excursion. They asserted the temperature in the shade to be 74 °F (23 °C) at a time when the temperature of the plains was up to 100 °F (38 °C). Such a climate within the tropics was considered so great an anomaly that few at first believed its existence.

Front of Stonehouse, 1905

After the early 1820s, the hills were developed rapidly under the British Raj because most of the land was by then privately owned by British citizens. It was a popular summer and weekend getaway for the British during the colonial days. In 1827 Ooty became the official sanatorium and the summer capital of the Madras Presidency. Many winding hill roads were built. In 1899, The Nilgiri Mountain Railway was completed by influential and enterprising British citizens with venture capital from the Madras government.[8] In the 19th century, when the British Straits Settlement shipped Chinese convicts to be jailed in India, the Chinese men then settled in the Nilgiri mountains near Naduvattam after their release and married Tamil Paraiyan women, having mixed Chinese-Tamil children with them. They were documented by Edgar Thurston.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] [18] Paraiyan is also anglicized as "pariah".

Edgar Thurston described the colony of the Chinese men with their Tamil pariah wives and children: "Halting in the course of a recent anthropological expedition on the western side of the Nilgiri plateau, in the midst of the Government Cinchona plantations, I came across a small settlement of Chinese, who have squatted for some years on the slopes of the hills between Naduvatam and Gudalur, and developed, as the result of ' marriage ' with Tamil pariah women, into a colony, earning an honest livelihood by growing vegetables, cultivating coffee on a small scale, and adding to their income from these sources by the economic products of the cow. An ambassador was sent to this miniature Chinese Court with a suggestion that the men should, in return for monies, present themselves before me with a view to their measurements being recorded. The reply which came back was in its way racially characteristic as between Hindus and Chinese. In the case of the former, permission to make use of their bodies for the purposes of research depends essentially on a pecuniary transaction, on a scale varying from two to eight annas. The Chinese, on the other hand, though poor, sent a courteous message to the effect that they did not require payment in money, but would be perfectly happy if I would give them, as a memento, copies of their photographs."[19][20] Thurston further describe a specific family: "The father was a typical Chinaman, whose only grievance was that, in the process of conversion to Christianity, he had been obliged to 'cut him tail off.' The mother was a typical Tamil Pariah of dusky hue. The colour of the children was more closely allied to the yellowish tint of the father than to the dark tint of the mother; and the semimongol parentage was betrayed in the slant eyes, flat nose, and (in one case) conspicuously prominent cheek-bones."[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] Thurston's description of the Chinese-Tamil families were cited by others, one mentioned "an instance mating between a Chinese male with a Tamil Pariah female"[30][31][32][33][34] A 1959 book described attempts made to find out what happened to the colony of mixed Chinese and Tamils.[35]

Peaks in the Nilgiris

Topographic map of Nilgiri Hills
showing some peaks
View of Nilgiri hills from Doddabetta

Doddabetta Peak, 4 km east southeast from Udhagamandalam, 11°24′10″N 76°44′14″E / 11.40278°N 76.73722°E, with a height of 2,637 metres (8,652 ft) is the highest point in the Nilgiris and the southern extent of the range. Kolaribetta (height: 2,630 metres (8,629 ft), Hecuba (2,375 metres (7,792 ft)), Kattadadu (2,418 metres (7,933 ft)) and Kulkudi (2,439 metres (8,002 ft)) are closely linked peaks in the west of Doddabetta range and nearby Udhagamandalam.

Snowdon (height: (2,530 metres (8,301 ft)) 11°26′N 76°46′E / 11.433°N 76.767°E is the northern extent of the range. Club Hill (2,448 metres (8,031 ft)) and Elk Hill (2,466 metres (8,091 ft)) 11°23′55″N 76°42′39″E / 11.39861°N 76.71083°E are significant elevations in this range. Snowdon, Club Hill and Elk Hill with Doddabetta, form the impressive Udhagamandalam Valley.

Devashola (height: 2,261 metres (7,418 ft)), notable for its blue gum trees, is in the south of Doddabetta range.

Kulakombai (1,707 metres (5,600 ft)) is east of the Devashola. The Bhavani Valley and the Lambton's peak range of Coimbatore district stretch from here.

Hullikal Durg: (height: 562 metres (1,844 ft)), 11°19′N 76°53′E / 11.317°N 76.883°E In the Kannada language, Hulikal Durg means Tiger Rock Fort. The Sanskrit name of his place is Bakasura Parvata. It is 3 km. southeast of Coonoor. Tropical pine forest flourishes at the base of this hill, while the valleys support green foliage.

Coonoor Betta (2,101 metres (6,893 ft)) is also called Teneriffe. It is on the northern side of the gorge, accommodating the Nilgiri Mountain Railway to Coonoor.

Rallia Hill (height: 2,248 metres (7,375 ft))11°25′N 76°53′E / 11.417°N 76.883°E is in the midst of a reserved forest and almost equidistant from Udhagamandalam and Kotagiri.

Dimhatti Hill (height: 1,788 metres (5,866 ft)) 11°26′N 76°01′E / 11.433°N 76.017°E is above the Gajalahatti pass, which provided a short cut from Mysore to the Carnatic plains and was of much strategic importance in the eighteenth century. This peak, dedicated to the deity Rangaswamy, is considered holy by the people of the surrounding villages.

Avalanche hill of this range has the twin-peaks of Kudikkadu (height: 2,590 metres (8,497 ft)) and Kolaribetta (2,630 metres (8,629 ft)).

Road Inside Mukurthi National Park

Derbetta (or Bear Hill) (height: 2,531 metres (8,304 ft)) and Kolibetta (height: 2,494 metres (8,182 ft)), south of the Ouchterlony valley, are a continuation of the Kundah range.

Mukurthi Peak

Mukurthi Peak 2,554 metres (8,379 ft)) 11°23′29″N 76°31′38″E / 11.39139°N 76.52722°E, Pichalbetta (height: 2,544 metres (8,346 ft)) and Nilgiri Peak (2,474 metres (8,117 ft)) 11°24′0″N 76°30′4″E / 11.40000°N 76.50111°E are the important heights of this area. These three hills of the Wayanad district are generally low in relation to other heights of the district but are distinguished in relation to the generally uniform level of this area.

Muttunadu Betta (height: 2,323 metres (7,621 ft)) 11°27′N 76°43′E / 11.450°N 76.717°E is about 5 km, north northwest of Udhagamandalam. Tamrabetta (Coppery Hill) (height: 2,120 metres (6,955 ft)) 11°22′N 76°48′E / 11.367°N 76.800°E is about 8 km southeast of Udhagamandalam. Vellangiri (Silvery Hill) (2,120 metres (6,955 ft)) is 16 km west-northwest of Udhagamandalam.[36]

Waterfalls

The highest waterfall, Kolakambai Fall, north of Kolakambai hill, has an unbroken fall of 400 feet (120 m). Nearby is the 150 feet (46 m) Halashana falls Second is Catherine Falls, near Kotagiri, with a 250-foot (76 m) fall, named after the wife of M.D. Cockburn, believed to have introduced coffee plantations to the Nilgiri Hills. The Upper and Lower Pykara falls have falls of 180 feet (55 m), and 200 feet (61 m), respectively. The 170 feet (52 m) Kalhutti Fall is off the Segur Peak. The Karteri Fall, near Aruvankadu had the first power station which supplied the original Cordite Factory with electricity. Law's Fall, near Coonoor, is interesting due to its association with the engineer Major G. C. Law who supervised building of the Coonoor Ghat road.[2]

Flora

Wattle plantations in Nilgiris

Over 2700 species of flowering plants, 160 species of fern and fern allies, countless types of flowerless plants, mosses, fungi, algae, land lichens are found in the sholas of the Nilgiris. No other Hill station has so many exotic species.[37]

The Nilgiri tahr animal can be found in the hills.[38]

Much of the Nilgiris natural Montane grasslands and shrublands interspersed with sholas has been much disturbed or destroyed by extensive tea plantations, easy motor vehicle access and extensive commercial planting and harvesting of non-native eucalyptus and wattle plantations Acacia dealbata, Acacia mearnsii and cattle grazing.[39] In addition there is one large, and several smaller hydro-electric impoundments in the area.[40] Scotch broom has become an ecologically damaging invasive species.[41]

Threatened plants of the Nilgiris include the Vulnerable species: Miliusa nilagirica, Nothapodytes nimmoniana, Commelina wightii and
Rare species: Ceropegia decaisneana Ceropegia pusilla, Senecio kundaicus and endangered species: Youngia nilgiriensis, Impatiens neo-barnesii, Impatiens nilagirica, Euonymus angulatus and Euonymus serratifolius.[42]

References

  1. ↑ "Application of GPS and GIS for the detailed Development planning". Map India 2000. 10 April 2000. Archived from the original on 2008-06-03. Retrieved 2011-06-05.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 EAGAN, J. S. C (1916). The Nilgiri Guide And Directory. VEPERY: S.P.C.K. PRESS.
  3. ↑ "Nilgiri Mountain Railway". railtourismindia.com. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  4. ↑ UNESCO, World Heritage sites, Tentative lists, Western Ghats (sub cluster nomination), retrieved 4/20/2007 World Heritage sites, Nilgiri Sub-Cluster
  5. ↑ British Museum Collection
  6. ↑ Pai, Mohan (15 January 2009). ...and they created little England. The Western Ghats - Hill Stations (the-western-ghats-by-mohan-pai-hill-stations, Egmore, Chennai). pp. Ootacamund.
  7. ↑ Burton, Richard Francis, (1851). "Nilgiri Hills (India), Description and travel; Nilgiri Hills (India), Social life and customs". Goa, and the Blue Mountains, or, Six months of sick leave. London: R. Bentley.
  8. ↑ "Ooty Queen of hill stations". www.ooty.com. Retrieved 2011-06-05.
  9. ↑ Sarat Chandra Roy (Rai Bahadur), ed. (1959). Man in India, Volume 39. A. K. Bose. p. 309. Retrieved 2 March 2012. d: TAMIL-CHINESE CROSSES IN THE NILGIRIS, MADRAS. S. S. Sarkar* (Received on 21 September 1959) During May 1959, while working on the blood groups of the Kotas of the Nilgiri Hills in the village of Kokal in Gudalur, inquiries were made regarding the present position of the Tamil-Chinese cross described by Thurston (1909). It may be recalled here that Thurston reported the above cross resulting from the union of some Chinese convicts, deported from the Straits Settlement, and local Tamil Paraiyan
  10. ↑ Edgar Thurston, K. Rangachari (1909). Castes and tribes of southern India, Volume 2 (PDF). Government press. p. 99. Archived from the original on 21 June 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2012. 99 CHINESE-TAMIL CROSS in the Nilgiri jail. It is recorded * that, in 1868, twelve of the Chinamen " broke out during a very stormy night, and parties of armed police were sent out to scour the hills for them. They were at last arrested in Malabar a fortnight
  11. ↑ Edgar Thurston (2011). The Madras Presidency with Mysore, Coorg and the Associated States (reissue ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 218. ISBN 1107600685. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  12. ↑ RADHAKRISHNAN, D. (19 April 2014). "Unravelling Chinese link can boost Nilgiris tourism". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2014.http://www.bulletin247.com/english-news/show/unravelling-chinese-link-can-boost-nilgiris-tourism
  13. ↑ Raman, A (Published Date: 31 May 2010 12:48 AM Last Updated: 16 May 2012 4:45 PM). "Chinese in Madras". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 17 May 2014. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ↑ Raman, A (Published Date: 12 Jul 2010 5:40 AM Last Updated: 16 May 2012 1:38 PM). "Quinine factory and Malay-Chinese workers". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 17 May 2014. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ↑ "Chinese connection to the Nilgiris to help promote tourism potential". travel News Digest. 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  16. ↑ W. Francis (1908). The Nilgiris. Volume 1 of Madras District Gazetteers (reprint ed.). Logos Press. p. 184. Archived from the original on unknown. Retrieved 17 May 2014. Check date values in: |archivedate= (help)
  17. ↑ Madras (India : State) (1908). Madras District Gazetteers, Volume 1. Superintendent, Government Press. p. 184. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  18. ↑ W. Francis (1908). The Nilgiris. Concept Publishing Company. p. 184. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  19. ↑ Government Museum (Madras, India) (1897). Bulletin ..., Volumes 2-3. MADRAS: Printed by the Superintendent, Govt. Press. p. 31. Retrieved 2 March 2012. ON A CHINESE-TAMIL CKOSS. The measurements of a single family, excepting a widowed daughter whom I was not permitted to see, and an infant in arms, who was pacified with cake while I investigated its mother, are recorded in the following table:
  20. ↑ Edgar Thurston (2004). Badagas and Irulas of Nilgiris, Paniyans of Malabar: A Cheruman Skull, Kuruba Or Kurumba - Summary of Results. Volume 2, Issue 1 of Bulletin (Government Museum (Madras, India)). Asian Educational Services. p. 31. ISBN 81-206-1857-2. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  21. ↑ Government Museum (Madras, India) (1897). Bulletin ..., Volumes 2-3. MADRAS: Printed by the Superintendent, Govt. Press. p. 32. Retrieved 2 March 2012. The father was a typical Chinaman, whose only grievance was that, in the process of conversion to Christianity, he had been obliged to 'cut him tail off.' The mother was a typical Tamil Pariah of dusky hue. The colour of the children was more closely allied to the yellowish tint of the father than to the dark tint of the mother; and the semimongol parentage was betrayed in the slant eyes, flat nose, and (in one case) conspicuously prominent cheek-bones. To have recorded the entire series of measurements of the children would have been useless for the purpose of comparison with those of the parents, and I selected from my repertoire the length and breadth of the head and nose, which plainly indicate the paternal influence on the external anatomy of the offspring. The figures given in the table bring out very clearly the great breadth, as compared with the length of the heads of all the children, and the resultant high cephalic index. In other words, in one case a mesaticephalic (79), and, in the remaining three cases, a sub-brachycephalic head (80"1; 801 ; 82-4) has resulted from the union of a mesaticephalic Chinaman (78-5) with a sub-dolichocephalic Tamil Pariah (76"8). How great is the breadth of the head in the children may be emphasised by noting that the average head-breadth of the adult Tamil Pariah man is only 13"7 cm., whereas that of the three boys, aged ten, nine, and five only, was 14 3, 14, and 13"7 cm. respectively. Quite as strongly marked is the effect of paternal influence on the character of the nose; the nasal index, in the case of each child (68"1 ; 717; 727; 68'3), bearing a much closer relation to that of the long nosed father (71'7) than to the typical Pariah nasal index of the broadnosed mother (78-7). It will be interesting to note, hereafter, what is the future of the younger members of this quaint little colony, and to observe the physical characters, temperament, improvement or deterioration, fecundity, and other points relating to the cross-breed resulting from the union of Chinese and Tamil.
  22. ↑ Edgar Thurston (2004). Badagas and Irulas of Nilgiris, Paniyans of Malabar: A Cheruman Skull, Kuruba Or Kurumba - Summary of Results. Volume 2, Issue 1 of Bulletin (Government Museum (Madras, India)). Asian Educational Services. p. 32. ISBN 81-206-1857-2. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  23. ↑ Edgar Thurston, K. Rangachari (1987). Castes and Tribes of Southern India (illustrated ed.). Asian Educational Services. p. 99. ISBN 81-206-0288-9. Retrieved 2 March 2012. The father was a typical Chinaman, whose only grievance was that, in the process of conversion to Christianity, he had been obliged to "cut him tail off." The mother was a typical dark-skinned Tamil paraiyan,
  24. ↑ Edgar Thurston, K. Rangachari (1987). Castes and Tribes of Southern India (illustrated ed.). Asian Educational Services. p. 98. ISBN 81-206-0288-9. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  25. ↑ Edgar Thurston, K. Rangachari (1987). Castes and Tribes of Southern India (illustrated ed.). Asian Educational Services. p. 99. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  26. ↑ Government Museum (Madras, India), Edgar Thurston (1897). Note on tours along the Malabar coast. Volumes 2-3 of Bulletin, Government Museum (Madras, India). Superintendent, Government Press. p. 31. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  27. ↑ Government Museum (Madras, India) (1894). Bulletin, Volumes 1-2. Superintendent, Government Press. p. 31. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  28. ↑ Government Museum (Madras, India) (1894). Bulletin. v. 2 1897-99. Madras : Printed by the Superintendent, Govt. Press. p. 31. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  29. ↑ Madras Government Museum Bulletin. Vol II (No. 1). Madras. 1897. p. 31. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  30. ↑ Sarat Chandra Roy (Rai Bahadur) (1954). Man in India, Volume 34, Issue 4. A.K. Bose. p. 273. Retrieved 2 March 2012. Thurston found the Chinese element to be predominant among the offspring as will be evident from his description. 'The mother was a typical dark-skinned Tamil Paraiyan. The colour of the children was more closely allied to the yellowish
  31. ↑ Mahadeb Prasad Basu (1990). An anthropological study of bodily height of Indian population. Punthi Pustak. p. 84. Retrieved 2 March 2012. Sarkar (1959) published a pedigree showing Tamil-Chinese-English crosses in a place located in the Nilgiris. Thurston (1909) mentioned an instance of a mating between a Chinese male with a Tamil Pariah female. Man (Deka 1954) described
  32. ↑ Man in India, Volumes 34-35. A. K. Bose. 1954. p. 272. Retrieved 2 March 2012. (c) Tamil (female) and African (male) (Thurston 1909). (d) Tamil Pariah (female) and Chinese (male) (Thuston, 1909). (e) Andamanese (female) and UP Brahmin (male ) (Portman 1899). (f) Andamanese (female) and Hindu (male) (Man, 1883).
  33. ↑ Sarat Chandra Roy (Rai Bahadur) (1954). Man in India, Volume 34, Issue 4. A.K. Bose. p. 272. Retrieved 2 March 2012. (c) Tamil (female) and African (male) (Thurston 1909). (d) Tamil Pariah (female) and Chinese (male) (Thuston, 1909). (e) Andamanese (female) and UP Brahmin (male ) (Portman 1899). (f) Andamanese (female) and Hindu (male) (Man, 1883).
  34. ↑ Edgar Thurston, K. Rangachari (1987). Castes and Tribes of Southern India (illustrated ed.). Asian Educational Services. p. 100. ISBN 81-206-0288-9. Retrieved 2 March 2012. the remaining three cases, a sub-brachycephalic head (80-1 ; 80-1 ; 82-4) has resulted from the union of a mesaticephalic Chinaman (78•5) with a sub-dolichocephalic Tamil Paraiyan (76-8).
  35. ↑ Sarat Chandra Roy (Rai Bahadur), ed. (1959). Man in India, Volume 39. A. K. Bose. p. 309. Retrieved 2 March 2012. d: TAMIL-CHINESE CROSSES IN THE NILGIRIS, MADRAS. S. S. Sarkar* ( Received on 21 September 1959 ) iURING May 1959, while working on the blood groups of the Kotas of the Nilgiri Hills in the village of Kokal in Gudalur, enquiries were made regarding the present position of the Tamil-Chinese cross described by Thurston (1909). It may be recalled here that Thurston reported the above cross resulting from the union of some Chinese convicts, deported from the Straits Settlement, and local Tamil Paraiyan
  36. ↑ District Administration, Nilgiris (8/20/2007) National Informatics Centre, Nilgiris, retrieved 8/31/2007 Hills and Peaks
  37. ↑ The District Collector, Collector's Office, Udhagamandalam, The Nilgiris District, Tamil Nadu, General Information, RARE TREES, FRUITS, FLOWERS & ANIMALS retrieved 9/2/2007.
  38. ↑ "Nilgiri Tahr". WWF. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  39. ↑ Davidar, E. R. C. 1978. Distribution and status of the Nilgiri tahr (Hemitragus hylocrius) 1975-1978. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society; 75: 815-844.
  40. ↑ Rice, C G Dr (1984) US Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, USA, "The behaviour and ecology of Nilgiri Tahr", Tahr Foundation, retrieved 4/17/2007.
  41. ↑ Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 103 (2-3), May-Dec 2006 356-365 HABITAT MODIFICATIONS BY SCOTCH BROOM CYTISUS SCOPARIUS INVASION OF GRASSLANDS OF THE UPPER NILGIRIS IN INDIA, ASHFAQ AHMED ZARRI1, 2, ASAD R. RAHMANI1,4 AND MARK J. BEHAN3
  42. ↑ Nayar & Sastry (1987-88) Red Data Book, Plants of India Threatened Plants of Tamil Nadu
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