148 



MANUAL OF THE KILAGIRI DISTRICT. 



Mr. Lushing 

 ton encour- 

 ages settle- 

 ment of 

 Anglo- 

 Indians. 



— rat OS on 

 lands in the 

 M61ndd pro- 

 hibit ivo. 



I, tion of any considerable landed property is almost impossible/' 

 These grants, under wliicli many of tlie older properties in 

 Ootacamand were acquired or secured^ were issued by the 

 Government Registrar ; but the instructions regarding the 

 area to be occupied seem from the first to have been prac- 

 tically a dead letter. There is hardly a property in Ootacamand 

 which does not exceed the prescribed limit, nor does it appear 

 that in any case the special orders of Government were 

 obtained to secure possession of the larger area. Meanwhile, 

 however, settlers continued to pui'chase lands from the Todas, 

 notably Sir William Rum bold in the case already referred to. 



At this time also Mr. Lushington was encouraging Anglo- 

 Indian agricultural settlers to occupy waste land outside the 

 cantonment in extent according to the amount of their capital. 

 No assessment appears to have been fixed on such grants, and, in 

 addition to this implied concession, I find from a letter from 

 Mr. Lushington's Private Secretary to the Officer Commanding the 

 Nilagiris, that they were to receive a moderate supply of potatoes 

 as seed from the Government Farm, and also spare implements of 

 husbandry, to be paid for by instalments, and " such other assist- 

 ance as may tend to encourage their industry and enable them to 

 overcome their first difficulties without expense to Government. 

 Similar indulgences may be shown to the Native cultivators on 

 the Hills, and the Government anticipates great benefit to them, 

 to the community, and to the revenue from the extended culti- 

 vation of European grains and vegetables, especially potatoes, 

 which judicious aid and encouragement are likely to produce.^' 

 In a letter dated July 1833 the Collector of Malabar requests the 

 Board's instructions regarding the assessment of such lands, and 

 remarks, " but very few persons of this description (Anglo- 

 Indian settlers) have as yet been induced to settle on the 

 Neilgherries, and these are by no means in easy circumstances. 

 Some of them have bori'owed money from the Philanthropic 

 Society to enable them to carry on the undertaking, and I have 

 reason to believe they were led to expect they would be exempt 

 from the tax, at least for some years.'' He then recommends 

 that, considering the expense of labour and other disadvantages, 

 lands cultivated by them might be given free of tax for two or 

 three years, and that then they should not be assessed higher 

 than the punja rates paid by Natives. No definite orders appear 

 to have been issued upon this important matter, but it will be 

 remembered that shortly afterwards Sir Frederick Adam was 

 engaged in investigating the land history of the plateau, especially 

 in regard to the Todas and Badagas. 



It however appears from a letter from Mr. Sullivan, dated 

 January 1835, that the order of Government fixing the assessment 



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