292 



MANUAL OF THE NILAGIRI DISTRICT. 



Kecent 

 History. 



CHAP. XII. on Mr. Sullivan's protest in regard to the boundary which had 

 hitherto separated the Malabar and the Coimbatore Collectorates 

 on the Nilagiris was as follows : — 



" The Right Honorable the Governor in Council considers the 

 evidence and information adduced by Captain Ward to be conclusive 

 as to the fact that all the lands on the western bank of the Pykarra 

 (or as he calls it, the Bnkkarry) river beloug to Malabar. Captain 

 Ward could have no personal interest in the question ; his duty was 

 to survey the country ; one of the chief objects of a survey is to mark 

 distinctly the acknowledged boundaries of adjoining countries and 

 to fix them in communication with the inhabitants when they are 

 disputed. The boundary in this case was traced in 1822-23, and Captain 

 Ward's accuracy in this respect was never, so far as the Government 

 are aware, disputed' until the close of Mr. Sullivan's administra- 

 tion, when all other subjects of controversial disquisition had been 

 exhausted." 



This order is of interest in other ways, for it contains the first 

 expression of the views of Government on the claims of the 

 T6das to be lords of the soil, and of the woods and of the wastes, 

 a claim which was vigorously advocated by Mr. Sullivan, though 

 they, i.e., 450 of them, paid as grazing-tax Eupees 581 only. 

 We learn that there was already a Tahsildar on the Hills with 

 civil and criminal jurisdiction, but when appointed I have 

 not been able to trace. It is noted that the average land 

 revenue of the hills to 1813 was Rupees 14,762, but during the 

 following fourteen years Rupees 6,499 only. In conclusion the 

 Government ordered careful inquiries to be instituted into the 

 alienation of lands, the prevention of which they considered of the 

 greatest importance in view to the formation of a settlement on 

 the Hills, and the minutes of Sir Thomas Munro on the rights 

 of the Crown in the soil were commended to Mr. Sheffield for 

 careful study. 



The transfer of the taluk to Malabar accomplished, the pro- 

 gress of the station was most rapid. Whilst in 1827 there were 

 only seventeen houses in the station, within the following six 

 years the number had risen to one hundred and two. A fine 

 church, St. Stephen's, had been built at a cost of Rupees 24,000, 

 provided in part by the Government, in part by the Church 

 Mission Society, and in part by private subscriptions ; and also a 

 Roman Catholic chapel. A Grammar School " had been estab- 

 lished by the Church Mission Society for the sons of Missionaries 

 and of Europeans. Hospitals for Europeans and Natives, also 



Rapid 



exteusion of 

 Ootacamand 



1 This is hardly correct, as Mr. Sullivan called attention of the Survey Depart- 

 ment to the error in his opinion on first receiving Captain Ward's map in July 

 1826. 



2 The building is now known as Sylk's Hotel. The prospectus will be found 

 in Appendix V, Ist Ed., Baikie's Nilgiri Hills. 



