Coffee Plantations

Coffee seems to have looked upon as a jungle crop, although the coffee plant is not indigenous to India. Tradition has it that coffee plant which is said to have originated in the Koffa district of Abyssinia brought to India by a pilgrim popularly called Baba Budan, who planted seven seeds in Chickmangalur in Mysore state which was a part of Tippu Sultan’s Kingdom. Captain Bevan discovered coffee in 1839 at Manantoddy in Wayanad near Kozhikode which borders Mysore state.

The first coffee... Peermade Valley

Henry Baker himself was a tall athletic man capable of great endurance and with much interest in wildlife. He later became an active member of Royal Zoological Society. As he was not content at remaining in Mundakayam, he travelled twenty miles in all directions visiting the scattered villages of hill Arrayans who lived in the fairly low foothills between Mundakayam and Peermade. During one of those excursions Henry reached Peermade. The climb to Peermade from Mundakayam though steep, takes little more than an hour by the track that winds up the Bonami estate cliff. The contrast between the humid sub-tropical vegetation below and the cool grasslands of the exposed upper slopes struck the newcomer very forcibly.

Peermade or Pir-medu - as it was then called derives its name from a Muslim hermit whose remains are buried on a hill overlooking Peruvanthanam - 'The forest where the Pir arrived.' Why or when this holy man came here is not known but it seems that he is associated with the Mooplah traders, who were among those who crossed the Ghats to trade in pepper and spices. Peermade was a staying post on 'the track over the hills from the east whence came the Tamil traders'.

The sight of these empty hills was an invitation to the adventurous Bakers. While Henry trekked through the countryside he thought of clearing the woods which could later put his eldest son Harry into a career. Travancore government was well aware that plantation crops were a useful source of revenue so there was little difficulty in obtaining a grant for land. Henry Baker acquired, in 1860, the area which is now covered by Tyford and Vembanad estates and put it under the management of F.G. Richardson who cultivated coffee on some part of the estate. In 1866 when Harry was old enough to run the place himself, Richardson sold back his share and moved on to Periyar Valley. Henry Baker Senior died in 1866. Mrs. Henry Baker Junior who hails from Tyford in Berkshire, England was interested in plantations. She sourced funds for further clearings, and was joined by Henry's brothers George and Robert who had already started clearing the forests in 1862 - the areas which are presently under Hope Plantations.

Robert Baker opened Stagbrook Estate in 1863, followed by the opening of Ashley Estate with the support of J.D. Munro who reached Peermade in 1865 to plant coffee. He was related to the Bakers as his mother happened to be the aunt of Mrs. Henry Baker Senior. John Daniel Munro (the son of Urban Verres, Conservator of Forests appointed in 1820) was responsible for much of the openings in Peermade. J.D. Munro opened a clearing called Volong John at the head of the ghat and further north opened Glenrock Estate and Bison Valley Estate, along with Ashley Estate. Munro further strengthened ties with Bakers by marrying Henry Baker Junior’s youngest daughter.

Munro cleared the main path from Peermade town through which cardamom and coffee was carried by bullock, and then went on to cut bridle paths throughout Peermade making his way to Elappara and along Cheenthalaar Valley. He and his cousins lived in bamboo huts, put up by Mannans, the roofs thatched with lemon grass, the eaves brought down to four feet from the ground to protect them from monsoon gales. Then with one or two coolies he drove through the forest to mark the limits of his clearings. Within this area timber was cleared and burned or left to rot. Coffee seeds were brought from Wayanad although Tyford had supplies from a tree grown in Kottayam. The seeds were carried in baskets and later raised in their own nurseries. Robert Baker died in Madras followed by his brother Henry Baker Junior died in 1878 in Madras leaving the Tyford, Vembanad, Ashley and Bison Valley Estates to Harry Baker and his daughters. Thus for some years planting in Peermade remained very much a family affair, before a few arrived on invitation through friendship. J.D. Munro extended his interests beyond coffee to take charge of forestry works in Cardamom Hills which was later taken over by Robert Baker, who was also appointed as Magistrate, from 1868. The work of forest department had grown to such an extent that the department had control over the production of beeswax, cardamom, black wood, ebony, teak and sandal wood, though the government held the monopoly to produce these. J.D. Munro was particularly keen on shikar (game hunting) and his interest took him far afield until he reached the highranges of Munnar by way of Cheenthalaar. He joined in partnership with the Turner Brothers to play an important part in opening tea estates of Kannan Devan Hills in 1888. Munro came back to Ashley estate where he died in 1895. Hardly had coffee cultivation got underway in 1870 in the district, then it was threatened by leaf disease which was first noticed in Celyon in 1878, then reached Mysore and in 1875 reached Ashambo in South Travancore. The disease inevitably reached Peermade and many coffee estates were abandoned. By 1886 only twelve planters remained, six having left the previous year. The prospects of planting looked poor. George Baker soon moved back to Kottayam to embark on his outstanding particular achievement - reclamation of mangrove swamps to form a coconut plantation on the edges of the Vembanad lake at Kumarakom - which is now the Taj Garden Retreat, Kumarakom.

The change to tea.....

In 1823 indigenous tea plants had been discovered growing in Assam, but everyone still thought only in terms of China tea. Already in 1834 the government had appointed a commission to study the prospects of tea cultivation in India but unfortunately they overlooked the merits of indigenous tea and advised the import of seeds from China. In 1835 boxes of plants were sent from Calcutta to Nilgiris and at the same time to Coorg, Mysore and the Agrihorticultural Society in Madras. These plants had been raised from seed brought directly from China, and were the source of the Peermade-China Hybrid, the seeds of which were obtained from Nilgiris, much later in 1870.

Government took lively interest in this new plantation crop. General Cullen, resident of Travancore noted in 1859, that the tree thrives well in Travancore territory. He first met with it in the coffee plantation of Mr. Huxam in the year 1841 on the route from Quilon to Courtallam at a farm called Caldoorty at 700 ft. above sea level. He procured plants from Mr. Huxam and put them at his spice garden at 1000 ft. above sea level on a hill in South Travancore. He soon found out that the Cardamom Hills were especially suited for tea cultivation. When there was a suggestion that the government should sponsor to encourage the development of South Indian industry, Sir Charles Trevelyan expressed his views - to experiment with the growing and manufacturing of tea and that it should be commenced as a mercantile undertaking which is the wholesome and sound footing on which such enterprises can be conducted. But as the agriculturists were conservative by nature, many of the older proprietors looked askance at the idea of growing tea until it became absolutely necessary to find a substitute for coffee.

The proprietor Hugh Crawford (a retired mariner) of Mary Anne Estate - which was later named Kuduakarnam - was one of the early pioneers. A patch of tea was planted by his manager in an area of thick woodland well out of the view. Later a road had to be cut up to it from the coffee curing yard. Planting at that time was still very much in the experimental stage and various crops were tried to find the best substitute for coffee. Chinchona was widely planted between 1870 and 1880 when Quinine was selling ten to twelve shillings an ounce. The last of Glenmary Estate’s chinchona trees were cut down in 1914.

Efforts were also made to establish rubber, for which there was good deal of enthusiasm in 1890s. The estates where rubber was planted, saw para rubber well grown, but had to be abandoned due to elephant damages. At Pasumallay, in D. Macarthur’s estate, only thirty-five trees were left out of a total number of 27000. Diseased coffee was uprooted, cinchona ceased to be profitable and rubber grew too slow. Apparently it became that, tea was the most suitable crop for Peermade elevation.

A cart road was completed from Kottayam to Peermade in 1872 but took another thirteen years to complete the stretch from Peermade to Gudalur ghat, which open to Madras state on which life moved at a snail’s pace. The first record of commercial cultivation of tea in Peermade was in Penshurst Estate, were F.M. Parker opened twenty-five acres in 1875. In 1882 some part of Fairfield Estate was planted with tea. At first the new clearings were planted with China hybrid which can still be seen in older estates. But after experiments with Assam seeds by Parker were successful it was taken across by the whole estates very soon.

Cardamom was another source of revenue. Its cultivation was actively encouraged by the Travancore government from 1823, as trade in spices with Arabs was recorded early enough from 1700. The hills were abounding in cardamom giving these hills the name Ela Malai (Cardamom Hills). Cardamom grew wild in the forest and the small cultivation done was very casual. During the end of the century prices fell due to over production in Ceylon. There were few large growers in 1886, and little capital was spent on clearing or planting with good stock as Travancore government had monopoly over cardamom and with local planters only having one third of the share, which was increased to two-fifth and eventually withdrawing the government’s monopoly granting occupancy right, which improved cultivation from 1896.

The plantation industry in India was stimulated by the trade boom in Britain in 1860 increasing the demand of tea, sugar and other commodities while the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 improved trade conditions between east and west. These developments were reflected in changing conditions in plantation industry where, although proprietary planters remained in majority, in 1890 joint stock companies appeared in Mundakayam, Peermade and Periyar. Coffee planting needed little capital - land was cheap and manufacturing simple, cultivation and labour seasonal. Tea was a different matter. The planters who remained in the district struggled through the years after coffee was adversely affected from 1885, living hand to mouth, still hopeful of a windfall that would help them to replenish their resources. Many of them tried to carry on by selling part of their land or by mortgaging their estates. So, a few investors came into the scene other than planters, of which James Darragh, a merchant prince of the west coast, invested a lot. His company was also the managing agents for many estates.

1897 was an important landmark in the history of the district for it was in that year that the Travancore Tea Estates Company was registered with an authorized capital of 1,50,000 pounds. Among the seven founding members were H.M. Knight and William Mackenzie, owners of Bonami Estate, who had interests in other estates. Mackenzie had left India after opening Talliar Estate in the highranges. Knight became the manager of the company. Rutherford, another promoter became the first Chairman.

Another company formed in 1897 was the Southern India Tea Estate Company Ltd. The promoters of the company were associated with Ceylon. Frank and Isabella Watson, W. Forbes Laurie, G.H. Austen and Buxton Laurie were the major shareholders. The estates they acquired were Glenmary and Westerton opened by J.R. Oughterson and Donald Noble, on a government grant in 1875, and at the time of sale it had 466 acres. By 1904 there were sixty-six tea estates in Travancore of which twenty-four were in Central Travancore, and the total area was eight thousand acres. Between 1904 and 1927 the number of estates in Central Travancore rose to forty-six. But shortage of labour was a serious problem. Labourers were sourced even from Ceylon, as the managers had contacts in Ceylon. The laborers came through middlemen called Kanganys. Some proprietary estates changed hands to prominent planters who wished to expand their holdings and able managers were appointed from 1900 onwards with experience in tea planting either from Ceylon or from the highranges.

J.E. Piggot was one of the first to come to India from Ceylon in 1898 and was the superintendent of Kaduakarnam for a short while, before moving down the Periyar Valley to manage Wallerdie, Chenkara and Placaad Estates owned by St. Joseph's College, Trichinapoly. Piggott was a stormy guy who wrested control of his labourers at times of any indisciplinary acts. He later became owner of Ranikoil Estate which was later sold to S.I.T.E. Company in 1926 and from there went to Nagercoil. He has written many notes about early planters and their life. G.H. Masefield was another able manager of T.T.E. Company who later became its Chairman. He brought in his cousin H.V. Masefield, a Ceylonese planter as manager of Koliekanam Estate. The local mood was that of vigorous optimism which was reflected in the yearly addition of land for cultivation. There was much activity on both ends of the valley.

Another planter who arrived in Peermade as manager of S.I.T.E. Company in 1905 was J.A. Richardson, a different kind of a man. His career incidentally illustrated the possibilities that were open to planters at the beginning of the century. He was generous and hospitable and had a charming manner and with his tact and ability made himself a great success. He turned out to be a wise investor in Mundakayam during the 1909 rubber boom.

He later joined in the opening of Cheenthalaar Estate and moved from Glenmary to Ashley and married Ethel Munro, the daughter of J.D. Munro. Dorris Munro the youngest of Munro’s daughters was married to J.S. Wilkie who later became manager of S.I.T.E. Company.

By 1910 another company named Peermade Tea Company appeared in the district. Development of existing properties went on hand in hand with new openings; roads were extended on all estates. But the attack of malaria was a major hazard which swept across the valley every year taking its toll among the ‘cooli lines’ which was made in many estates to accommodate the labourers. Stagbrook which was opened in 1863 by Robert Baker was sold to Stanley Deighton in 1898 and later sold to his brother-in-law Horace Drummond Deane. His daughter Mary Deane married Frank Bisset of Semni Valley. The Stagbrook Tea and Rubber Company formed in 1912 included the Maimullay Tea Estate and Eldorado Rubber Estate, at Mundakayam as part of it.

In 1916 the Ashley and Tyford Tea Company was formed with J.A. Richardson as general manager. The company included Vembanad, Glenrock, and Bison Valley - all associated with the Baker family. At the time of the formation of the Company, Miss Baker owned Tyford, Mrs. J.A Richardson owned Ashley, Mrs. J.S Wilkie had Vembanad and Miss Munro owned Bison Valley. All of them were the daughters of J.D Munro and through their mother, the grand daughters of the Rev. Henry Baker Junior.

Fairfield which was opened by Crawford Clarke, who planted tea in the estate in 1882. In 1906 the estate was owned by Hon. Booth Wilbraham who sold a share to R.P. Rossier who managed the estate. Lady Bertha Dawkins was also a shareholder.

Ashley was bought by A.V. George and Company in 1948. A.V George was the prominent planter who pioneered to invest in plantations at the dawn of independant India who added Stagbrook also to their vast acreage of land held. Tyford and Vembanad were bought by Messers Parkins Ltd., later sold to a band of planters from the neighbouring plains. Now the estates are owned by the Aban Group who acquired Fairfield estate also. Today their total holding comprises of about 2500 acres.

Among many personalities special mention has to be given to Frank Bisset, J.A. Richardson, J.S. Wilkie, R.P Rossier and H.V. Masefield as strong men who took the resources of the soil across the world and who retired as reputed planters. The Bissets ranked among the foremost of the Peermade society together with the Rossiers of Fairfield and the descendants of the Bakers. They lived in a style and assurance that was a far cry from the conditions experienced by their predecessors.

J.A. Richardson also became a member of Travancore Legislative Council. He initiated the ‘Planters Benevolent Fund’ in 1909 and it was at his suggestion that the South Indian Planters Association was formed in London. Richardson became a director of the South Indian and Stagbrook Companies for four years and after retiring to England, he died in 1932. Mrs. Richardson however remained on Ashley Estate. Ashley Estate thus had a long history of feminine management, for J.D. Munro’s widow had earlier run the property for many years and was recognized as a very capable planter and a good manager of labour. Mrs. Richardson’s daughter Ethel Richardson, was also a forceful character, perhaps too much for her husband. It is said that as she rode through the fields for her daily round of inspection, she was awe inspiring.

Vagamon was opened in 1926 when 534 acres were planted with tea by Walter Duncan and Company. In the following year the company planted 224 acres with tea in Kotamullai division. By 1930 the rush was over. There was little room left for further expansion, most of the good land having been taken up.

Periyar Valley

Several miles east of Peermade the track descended into the valley of the Periyar river which wind its way through the hills, its banks covered with thick jungle, where the only sounds were that of running water, the cry of peafowl and the sharp crack of eatta (bamboo) snapped off by elephants as they thrust their way through the forests. Here and there lived on either sides of the river small groups of Mannans and Uralies. The Uralie tribe claim to have once been the umbrella bearers of a ruler of Madura, whom along with the Mannans and Muduvans they had accompanied to Neriyamangalam, near Munnar and were left by him there to eventually settle in these hills. The Mannans from whose tribe the Poonjar Rajas had appointed headmen were responsible for the forest services. Even more primitive were the Pandarams who lived in the thick forest below the Sabarimalas. These were the sole inhabitants when Henry Baker visited these hills, but there are evidences that the hills may have been colonized by a neolithic people who left a trace of their culture in the dolmens that can still be seen, often on the crests of hills overlooking the Periyar river. Numerous vaults, called Pandi Kudi are still seen in all these hills.

Shortly after he left Tyford in 1868, F.G. Richardson moved to the north of Periyar Valley, where he opened three clearings which now forms part of Chenkara Estate - Paykanam and Chatheekanam (which according to him, “the soil, a finer one than it would be difficult to get”) and Thattikanam. Paddy, barley, pears, plum, peach, fig, orange and lime are grown abundantly here. This area is now a part of Thengakal Estate, which owed its name to stones in the river which resembled coconuts. The estate was planted with coffee in the seventies, and held the record for the highest yield of coffee in South India in 1873 with two tonnes of cured coffee from an acre. The lower elevation of Vandiperiyar is much fertile and the fact that the hills are mostly sheltered from full force of the southwest monsoon, resulted in the growth of dense jungles.

Another area brought under cultivation was Placaad, with the title deed dated 1868 cleared by Donald Ross, and in 1874 a further 478 acres titled in the name of Adolphus Spittler, a merchant of Cochin, came into existence. The first clearing of Wallerdie Estate was undertaken in 1877 when a title deed was issued to Henry Norman Todd of Masulipattanam, then living in Peermade. Further South, G.L. Ackworth opened a clearing called Aranakal in 1874. Deepdene division also belonged to him which was opened just before Mount Estate was opened by C.J. Maltby and F.C. Richardson on the west side of Thekkady which was heavily wooded and is still a real wild end of the valley.

The first estates acquired by the Travancore Tea Estate Company which was floated in 1897 were Bonami, Mount, Munjamullay and Koliekanam. On direct grant from government they acquired in 1899 the area now under Injikadu, Pasumallay and Nellikai. During 1897, Thengakal was bought from Rev. Leo Basse and Joseph Page. In 1898 Pambanar Estate’s Woolbedding division was bought from Mrs. R.S. Imray, and Brigton division from Leo Basse and Joseph Page (another of James Darragh legacies). Granby whose original title deed was dated 1877 was bought from Edward Harley in 1899. The other proprietary estates which were opened by existing managers were later sold to large neighbouring estates, as it was a common practise in those days. This was done by clearing more forest lands close to the estates. Tungamullay Estate was opened in 1908 by McArthur the superintendent of Munjamullay Estate. Moongalar Estate was opened after Lord Kitchers trip in 1910. Tea was planted on Haileyburia in 1907 by H.C. Mead and Westaway. Frank Bisset who at one time worked in Penshurst, for F. M Parkar before he opened SemniValley in 1907. Cheenthalaar was undertaken by J.A. Richardson, J.S. Wilkie and T.C. Forbes. Arniekudy division of Dymock was opened by Jack Drummond Deane in 1914, Carady Goody was a proprietary estate opened by R.H. Goldie in 1914.

According to Piggot, owing to frequent outbreak of malaria Wallardie Estate was in a semi abandoned state in 1899. The Jesuit fathers in 1912 sold it to Harrisons and Crossfield who in 1913 formed the Wallardie Tea Estate Company Ltd. The years between 1915 and 1930 saw many new openings and the remaining older planters offering their estates to companies for cash sales or sales of half shares still maintaining their interests. Aranakal which had 725 indigenous tea plants was offered to T.T.E. Company in 1914 but the deal did not take place. G.L. Ackworth, the owner who retired to England in 1912 was one of the best planters in the district. Aranakal which was managed by McArthur was later sold to Tea Estates India Ltd. before passing into the hands of A.V. Thomas and Company in 1943. People who speculated in plantation crops early in this century were Indians from the west coast. S.K. Ayyar, a famous advocate in Kottayam opened Choorakulam in 1920 and advised his friend P.T. Thomas, another wealthy lawyer to invest in tea with the result that Periyar and Connemara Tea Estates were opened in 1927. Murukady was opened by S.K. Ayyar’s son-in-law from Kuttanad. Heaven Valley was opened by Chacko Pothen and Pasupara by A.V. Thomas. One of the early planters who established themselves by 1930 were the Malankara Plantations who later added Penshrust Estate to their stable.

Like the European planters not all the Indian proprietors had sufficient reserves. Pattumala was put for sale by its Indian owners in 1925 and while the Sterling Companies were considering the proposition, an ex-PWD officer called Paddy Lyndon came along and bought it. Then it was sold to Harrisons and Crossfield and is now, a division of Wallardie Tea Company owned by Harrison Malayalam Ltd. By 1925 more openings of cardamom appeared on the north eastern hills and south east valleys of Periyar which was ideally wooded for cardamom cultivation. These areas earlier were only accessible from down through the highranges and up from Cumbum in Madras state. As local planters cleared small holdings, European planters like J.J. Murphy cleared large areas. Murphy opened a cardamom estate at Pambadumpara, on his way down from Munnar in 1904. Murphy did not stay long in Cardamom Hills but went down to Mundakayam where he made a fortune during the rubber boom period.

J.R. Vincent whose brother was a prominent rubber planter in Mundakayam acquired five hundred acres of cardamom at Pachakanam in 1925, from a band of planters belonging to the Kuruvinakunnel and Kallarackal and some other leading planter families who were granted a title deed, dated 1912 by the Maharaja of Travancore. Mr. Vincent planted cardamom on this estate and named it the Downton Estate, which had to be reached by valloms (country boats) from Thekkady.

Periyar Sanctuary was started by the Travancore State Government in 1934 and was preserved in view of protecting the animals as well as ecological balancing, but game hunting was also done as sport. Frank Bisset was fond of fishing the Masheer - a species of fish indigenous to Periyar. He took keen interest in the preservation of the sanctuary and started the Peermade Game Association in 1933.The Mullaperiyar dam across the river Periyar was built in 1895. The catchment area is now renowned as the Periyar Lake of Thekkady, in which boating is done. The dam was engineered by Archie Mackenzie who had his camp site on an island inside the forest. The Travancore Maharajas later built their game-hunting station, befitting a palace on the very site. This building is now the Lake Palace Sanctuary Hotel. Archie Mackenzie married Mary Deane Drummond, the sister of Horace Drummond. The couple stayed in the forest bungalow for a long time before leaving India in 1910.

After 1947 as more local planters opted to develop rather than expand the quality of their products, conveniences were improved. These attracted new large investors to buy many estates which are now seen along the valley. In 1947, the Downton Estate changed hands to the Karimpanal family who till to this day hold the property. There are 36 large estates owned by 16 groups, the biggest among them being the RBT Group, who bought T.T.E. Company in 1978. The Harrison Malayalam Ltd. being the second largest and AVT Group the third. The early planters who came up and opened up estates, some made a living and some became rich, and the laborers who gave their valued sweat and hearts to their loved mentors, still hold these valleys as a land of evergreen opportunities.

Today as we drive up these hills, in pleasant anticipation of cool weather and fine views, towards the Periyar Sanctuary, remember, that the winding but well tarred ghat road edged by plots of mixed plantations were once a bridle elephant track on which an ambitious task of road building started in 1871. It was completed in 1884 and the Vandiperiyar bridge which stands across the Periyar river was built in 1903.

Just think about these and take them as souvenirs from the past.