The Nilgiri District

The Nilgiri District is located in the far West of Tamil Nadu, covering an area of 2452.5 sq.km and bordering Coimbatore district in the East; Kerala state and Coimbatore district and in the South; Kerala state in the West, and Karnataka state and Erode district in the North.

Etymologically the word Nilgiri means ‘blue mountains’, which some sources claim is due to the smoky haze in the area, but other sources attribute to the Kurunji flower, which blooms every twelve years producing a bluish tinge. The hills provide cool relief from the surrounding plains. The rare climatic and geological conditions, combined with the natural and cultural diversity, make the Nilgiris of great interest and importance to scientists, ecologists, anthropologists and sociologists alike. The Nilgiris have four identifiable seasons, namely winter (November to February), summer (March to May), South-West monsoon (June to September) and the inter-monsoon (October).

Due to the climate and the thick forest, the Nilgiri district was initially only inhabited by tribal communities, who passed information from generation to generation through aural tradition. Therefore, despite its ancient indigenous history, there is a lack of definite records existing until the English occupation at the turn of the 19th century. The Nilgiris remained all but undiscovered by Europeans until 1602, when a Portuguese priest named Ferreiri explored the hills. Around the 1820s, the British administration determined the Nilgiris to be a temperate haven, and the town of Ooty became India’s first hill station.

The British developed infrastructure in the area, building a network of bridle paths and then roads linking settlements and states including Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), Mysore (Karnataka) and Malabar (Kerala).

Making use of the favourable soil and climate, the British also introduced a wide range of vegetables, fruits, commercial crops (tea and coffee) and exotic trees (eucalyptus, wattle and cinchona), employing indigenous people as wage labourers and transforming the traditional subsistence economy into a commercial economy.

For administration purposes the Nilgiri District is divided into six taluks - Udhagamandalam (Ooty), Kotagiri, Coonoor, Kundah, Gundalur, and Pandalur. Ooty is the administrative headquarters for the district.

References:
“The Nilgiris” – Nilgiri Documentation Centre, 2006