Udhagamandalam

Udhagamandalam, town western Tamil Nadu state, southern India. It is situated in the Nilgiri Hills at an elevation of about 7,500 feet above sea level. In the early nineteenth century, when the British burra sahib John Sullivan first ventured into this region of the Nilgiris through the Hulikal ravine and “discovered” UDHAGAMANDALAM the territory was the traditional homeland of the pastoralist Toda hill tribe. Until this moment, the Todas had lived in almost total isolation from the cities of the surrounding plains and Deccan plateau lands.

Sullivan quickly realized the agricultural potential of the area, acquired tracts of land for Re1 per acre from the Todas, and set about planting flax, barley and hemp, as well as potatoes, soft fruit and, most significantly, tea, all of which flourished in the mild climate. Within twenty years, the former East India Company clerk had made a fortune. Needless to say, he was soon joined by other fortune-seekers, and a town was built, complete with artificial lake, churches and stone houses tha