Beilby Lawley, 3rd Baron of Wenlock(1849-1912) was a British soldier and a liberal politician. He was the Governor of Madras from 1891 to 1896. Wenlock was a popular governor and many hospitals in the Madras Presidency were named after him. He also laid the foundation stone of the present MadrasRead More →
Sir William Thomas Denison (1804-1871) was a Governor of Tasmania and New South Wales before becoming the Governor of Madras in 1861. He was briefly the Governor General of India in 1863. His initial years in Madras were taken up by reforms in the Indian army following the 1857 rebellion.Read More →
Field Marshall George Hay, 8th Marquees of Tweeddale (1787-1876) was a Scottish soldier and administrator. In 1842 Hay was appointed governor of Madras by the Duke of Wellington, Commander in Chief of the Madras Army. As Governor of Madras, Tweeddale paid only one visit to Nilgiris in 1846. He arrived in Ooty onRead More →
Stephen Rumbold Lushington ( 1776-1868) was an officer of East India Company and served as Collector of Ramnad and Tinneveli before assuming power as Governor of Madras in 1828, on the death of Sir Thomas Munro. His reign was controversial, marked by a running feud with Sullivan, but he didRead More →
John Sullivan Esq (1788-1855) was an officer of the Madras Civil Service of the East India Company. He was the Principal Collector of Coimbatore District from 1815 to 1830, when the Nilgiri hills were a Taluk of that district. While the Collectors before him dreaded to explore the lofty hills,Read More →
Sir Thomas Munro (1761-1827) was a Scottish soldier and an officer of the East India Company. He was the Governor of Madras Presidency from 1820 to 1827. A liberal and progressive administrator, Munro laid the foundations of the present revenue, police and educational systems. He originated the present Ryotwari (landRead More →
Gandhiji’s Nilgiri connections started in 1914 even before he was bestowed, for the first time, the title of Mahatma by a journalist in 1916. Gandhiji returned from his eventful stay in South Afraica to India in 1914 and stayed in Tagore’s Santhiniketan. He first had a glimpse of Nilgiris throughRead More →
Ooty Centenary (June 1, 1923) Ootacamund June 1. The following is the reply of H.E the Governor ( Lord Willingdon, who later became the Governor General of Canada) to the address presented by the Hill tribes. Members of the Hill tribes of Nilgiris, I thank you for your interesting addressRead More →
The reputation of the Nilgiris as a sacred mountain has been recorded in history. According to legend in the 18th century one glance at the Nilgiris hills would suffice to cleanse a man of all his sins. It was said to be the belief of the people in the surrounding plainsRead More →
Tigers seem to have been endemic to the Nilgiris from time immemorial. Tiger is mentioned in more than 20 proverbs of the Badagas, mostly as an object of pride than out of fear. One proverb says, ‘if you walk lightly it is like an oxen, if you walk firmly itRead More →
144 years ago, this day, the Viceroy of India, Lord Lytton arrived in Ooty at 5.30 pm. Elaborated arrangements were made from the morning. A Triumphal Arch was erected at Charing Cross to welcome him. This was the first visit by a Viceroy of India. The entire European population ofRead More →
Ooty has more than one connection with Afghanistan dating back from as early as 1855. In that year a treaty was signed between the East India Company and His Highness Ameer Dost Mohummud Khan, Walee of Cabool to “respect the territories of the Honorable East India Company and never toRead More →
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964), a Statesman and politician, was the Prime Minister of India from 1947 to 1964. He was an outstanding global leader of his time. Nehru described the Nilgiris as, ‘second England’ and did much for the its post independence development with far reaching schemes like the Kundah hydroRead More →
(Indian Medical Service began soon after the birth of East India Company in 1600. Surgeons were first appointed in ships carrying men and material to India. By 1614 a Surgeon General was appointed. The Bengal Medical Service was set up in 1763 followed by similar services in Bombay and MadrasRead More →