Other Landscapes: Colonialism and the Predicament of Authority in Nineteenth-Century South India

257 Pages·2009·3.819 MB·English

by  Deborah Sutton

D
E
B O L
O ther andscapes
Owing to India’s extensive population and established agrarian
R
systems, European settlement of the Subcontinent was never
A
seriously considered apart from in selected upland areas with H Colonialism and the Predicament of Authority
cooler climates and sparse native populations. One such area
in Nineteenth-Century South India

S
was the Nilgiri Hills of South India which, from the early 19th
U
century, saw concerted efforts at European colonization and
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displacement of the local population as well as an attempt to
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visualize and recreate an English landscape in the area. O
Other Landscapes investigates the interfaces between N

indigenes, European settlers and the colonial state in the Nilgiri

O
Hills, focusing on land disputes, regulation of land sales, regimes
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of forest management and ethnographic projects of cultural
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‘preservation’. It examines the landscape as it was configured
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in the imperial imagination, explores the corruption and R
manipulation of local administration and argues that rarely,
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if ever, did official intent correspond to the systems of reform, A
regulation and invigilation imposed over the local agrarian N
landscape. D
S
Deborah Sutton lectures in history at Lancaster University.
C
Besides her work on the Nilgiri Hills of South India, her recent
A
research focuses on conservationist aesthetics and archaeo- P
logical practices in twentieth-century South Asia. E
S
www.niaspress.dk
Deborah Sutton
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Other Landscapes
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Other Landscapes
Colonialism and the Predicament of Authority
in Nineteenth-Century South India
Deborah Sutton
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NIAS – Nordic Institute of Asian Studies
Monograph series, No. 111
First published in 2009
by NIAS Press
Leifsgade 33, DK-2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark
tel [phone] • fax [phone]
email: [email protected] • website: www.niaspress.dk
© Deborah Sutton 2009
All rights reserved.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Sutton, Deborah
Other landscapes : colonialism and the predicament of authority
in nineteenth-century South India. - (NIAS monographs ; no.
111)
1. British - India, South - History - 19th century
2. India, South - Colonization 3. India, South - Politics
and government - 19th century 4. India, South - History -
19th century
I. Title
325.3’41’09548
ISBN: 978-87-7694-027-0 (hbk)
Typeset by NIAS Press
Produced by SRM Production Services Sdn Bhd
and printed in Malaysia
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For Paul, forever.
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Contents
Acknowledgements • x
Conversions • xii
Abbreviations • xiii
Glossary • xiv
1. Introduction • 1
2. Indigenous Precedent and Displacement • 15
3. Land, Survey and Alienation • 48
4. The Agrarian Landscape • 85
5. Changing the Nature of Forests: Conservancy, Science
and Aesthetics • 114
6. Imperial Landscapes and Inalienable Land • 160
7. Authority, Spectacle and Ethnography • 191
8. Conclusion • 222
Bibliography • 229
Index • 237
vii
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Other Landscapes
pLates
0.1. Map of the Nilgiri District. J. W. Breeks, An Account of the Tribes and Monu-
ments of the Nilagiris. India Museum, London, 1873 • xvi
1.1. ‘View of Ootacamund’, Captain Richard Barron, Views in India, chiefly
among the Neelgherry Hills, taken ... in 1835. London: Robert Havell, 1837 • 7
2.1 Map of land required by Jackatallah cantonment, including Old Coonoor.
CCRL Sept–Dec 1859 • 41
3.1 William William’s Survey Plan of the land applied for by Revd. Mr W. J.
Blenkinsop at Ootacamund. CCRL, Sept–Dec 1859, UDR • 57
3.2 Hunter’s Map, Coonoor. PMBR 8/6/1857, p. 9154 • 60
3.3 Map of Rae’s Sholur claim, CCRL, Sept–Dec 1860, UDR • 66
3.4 ‘Pseudo Puttah’, Brooklands Estate. CCRL, Sept–Dec 1960, UDR • 71
3.5 Patta Map, Ithala Village, Merkanad. Waste Land Surveys, 1893, UDR • 74
3.6 Revenue Settlement Map, Nedugula circuit. R. S. Benson, Descriptive
Memoir and Eye Sketches of Nilgiri, Madras: Scottish Press, 1883 • 76
5.1 Campbell’s Plan of his Model Forest, Jackatallah. PMBR, 8/6/1858, No. 19,
TNSA • 127
5.2 ‘Portion of Glenmore Coffee Estate from near the river’. Madras School of
Arts and Crafts, Nilgiri Photographs, album 2 • 148
5.3 ‘Portion of Glenmore Coffee Estate with a large Naga Tree, at Coonoor’.
Madras School of Arts and Crafts, Nilgiri Photographs, album 2 • 148
5.4 ‘Rock and foliage on the Coonoor ghat’. Madras School of Arts and Crafts,
Nilgiri Photographs, album 2 • 148
6.1 ‘A Tuda Family’, frontispiece, H. Harkness, A Description of a Singular Abo-
riginal Race Inhabiting the Summit of the Neilgherry Hills, or Blue Mountains of
Coimbatoor, in the Southern Peninsula of India. London, 1832 • 168
6.2 ‘A Toda Family and their Dwelling’, R. Baikie, The Neilgherries: Including an
Account of their Topography, Climate, Soil and Productions. And the Effects of
the Climate on the European Constitution. Calcutta, 1857 • 168
6.3 ‘Kandalmund…and the Toda Family Inhabiting’, Cpt. Richard Barrow,
Views in India, chiefly among the Neelgherry Hills, taken during a short
residence on them in 1835, with notes and descriptive illustrations. London,
1837 • 169
viii
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Other Landscapes
6.4 ‘A Toda Mand’, W.E. Marshall, A Phrenologist among the Todas. Calcutta,
1873 • 169
6.5 ‘A Toda Mund’, J.W. Breeks, An Account of the Tribes and Monuments of
the Nilagiris. India Museum, London, 1873 • 170
6.6 ‘Mund and Bungalow’, c.1865-66, photograph by Edmund David Lyon,
Prints and Drawings Collection, OIOC • 173
7.1 ‘Toda Green Funeral’, J. W. Breeks., Tribes and Monuments • 211
7.2 ‘The Five Hill Tribes’, J. W. Breeks, Tribes and Monuments, frontispiece •
214
7.3 ‘Kurumba and Irula Implements, &c.’ J. W. Breeks, Tribes and Monuments •
215
7.4 ‘The Tûde or sacred bush. Weapons. Bow and Arrows used at weddings
and funerals. Imitation buffalo horns’, W.E. Marshall, A. Phrenologist among
the Todas • 216
ix
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