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History of Ooty:
This beautiful botanical paradise was first brought to the public eye by John Sullivan,
Collector of Coimbatore district in 1819. But prior to this in 1812, the first Englishmen
who were sent up the Nilgris by the Collector of Coimbatore, were Mr. Keys, Assistant Revenue
Surveyor, and his Assistant, McMahon. They made their way via Dananayakan Kottai to Aracad
and the existing village of Denad, and penetrated as far as Kallatti, the lower level of
North Ooty, but never set their eyes on the beautiful valley in which Ooty lay. After Keys'
visit there was no further expedition until 1818 when J.C.Whish and N.W.Kindersly
(Asst. and second Asst. to the Collector of Coimbatore respectively) went up by the Dananayakan
Kottai-Denad route, crossed the plateau in a south-western direction and descended by the
Sundapatti pass from Manjakombai to the Bhavani valley and then went back to Coimbatore.
The purpose of their visit is not known.
In March 1819, John Sullivan obtained Rs 1,100 (Rupees of those days not to be compared
with the present-day rupee) from the Board of Revenue for laying a bridle path up the hill
from Sirumugai to Kotagiri and its neighboring village, Dhimatti. The work was executed by
McPherson in a period of 2 years starting 1821. This was the only route to the Nilgris
from Coimbatore until 1832, when the first Coonoor ghat road was laid, thanks to the then
Governor, S.R. Lushington, who got the work executed by Lehardy and Capt. Murray.
The present metalled ghat road from Kallar to Coonoor, a distance of 25 km which has
14 hair-pin bends and a gradient of one 18 ft, which facilitated carriage traffic
from Madras to Ooty, was mainly constructed by Colonel G.V. Law in 1871.
It is gratifying to note that the cascade of the Coonoor river near Wenlock bridge on the
Coonoor-Mettupalayam road named after Law, continues to bear the same name.
The Coonoor-Mettupalayam road was extended to Udagamandalam, covering a distance of about
15 km. The Kotagiri-Mettupalayam road (about 34 km long) which was 8 ft wide to begin with,
was widened to 17 ft in 1872-75 with a gradient of one in 17 by the Dist. Engineer,
Major Morant R.E. and handed over to the District Board in 1881. During the period from 1819
to 1830, John Sullivan's contribution was, apart from laying the route to Ooty, that he built
the first house called Stone House in this place. This formed the nucleus of Government offices.
Further, at his own expense, he conducted experiments on agricultural and horticultural crops and
in animal husbandry to find the most suitable crops and breeds of milch animals for future settlers.
Next to the magnificent task of laying the road to Ooty, the British took up, around 1880,
the stupendous task of connecting Mettupalayam to Ooty by rail. A Swiss engineer,
M. Riggenback and Major Morant of Kotagiri road fame prepared an estimate of 1,32,000 pounds
(currency) for laying the rack railway and floated a company called The Rigi Railway & Co Ltd.
Since capital was not forthcoming, Mr. Richard Wolley of Coonoor came forward to advance money
on the condition that the contract would be entrusted to Mr. Wolley by the Government of Madras.
The agreement between the 2 was signed in 1886, and the company called The Nilgri Railway & Company
came into being with a capital of Rs 25 lakh. The work on the line was started in August 1891 by Lord
Wenlock, Governor or Madras, but the company was liquidated in 1894. Later, a new company was formed in 1894,
and the work was completed in 1899. The line was worked by Madras Railway, to start with.
Though the Nilgris formed part of Coimbatore district, it was separated into an independent
district in 1868. For a period of 13 years from 1830, it remained part of Malabar district.
This was to prevent tobacco smuggling from Coimbatore. From John Sullivan's days to this date,
more than 170 years have rolled by. Udagamandalam considered a sanatorium and hill resort by the
Europeans, has come to be like any other district. The devastation was so much that a ban on fresh
construction was belatedly imposed by the Government.
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General Information
