benjamin.weber
Munnar Tea Museum History
The Historic Transformation of the Kanan Devan Hills
1877: John Daniel Munro, an Officer of the Independent Kingdom of Travancore and Superintendent of the Cardamom Hills, makes an application to the Poonjar Chief for the grant of the property called Kanan Tevan Anchanatu Mala on payment and obtains from the Raja the first Pooniat Concession Deed.
1878: Intensive exploration of the land acquired by Munro takes place under the guidance of H. Gribble Turner of the Madras Civil Service and his half-brother A. W. Turner. Lands are offered for cultivation and a nucleus labour force is harnessed from the plains of Tamil Nadu to start a cinchona plantation under the Devimallay in Devikulam Estate.
1879: Munro obtains the second Pooniat Concession. The North Travancore Land Planting and Agricultural Society is founded to which the Concessions are conveyed. Soon… tracts are opened in the Hills in Cinchona and Sisal.
1880: The first tea is planted in Parvathi Estate (a part of today's Sevenmallay Estate) by A. H. Sharp.
1886: An expedition in 1886 to the foothills by a new and precipitous route - from Top Station in Chittavurrai to Korangani - is made in search of food. A business connection is forged with the famous Suppan Chetty to send up rice in exchange for headloads of cinchona bark. Thus a new chapter in trade opens. This route later serves as the path for a ropeway.
Soon… bridle paths spread in various directions are made. Ponies, donkeys and bullocks carrying up rice and taking the hill produce down become the way of life in the Hills.
1888: The Kanan Devan Planters Association is formed.
1890: The first apothecary is appointed.
1892: The first Post Office is opened on Devikulam Estate - The pioneer planters send a lot of post cards to their friends in the High Range itself "to get a sufficient amount of stamping registration in the post office so that the authorities would keep it open"!
1894: By now there are 26 registered small holdings in the Hills. Sir John Muir of Finlay Muir & Company visits the Kanan Devan Hills to finalize the purchase of the Concession area. Thus Finlay Muir & Company Limited's interests in tea extends to the High Ranges.
1896: The Kanan Devan Hills Produce Company is formedin the Kanan Devan Concession territory. Estates outside the Concession territory but within the High Range are owned by the Anglo-American Direct Tea Trading Company, also a subsidiary Company of Finlay Muir & Co. Ltd.
Munnar Tea Museum History
The Historic Transformation of the Kanan Devan Hills
1877: John Daniel Munro, an Officer of the Independent Kingdom of Travancore and Superintendent of the Cardamom Hills, makes an application to the Poonjar Chief for the grant of the property called Kanan Tevan Anchanatu Mala on payment and obtains from the Raja the first Pooniat Concession Deed.
1878: Intensive exploration of the land acquired by Munro takes place under the guidance of H. Gribble Turner of the Madras Civil Service and his half-brother A. W. Turner. Lands are offered for cultivation and a nucleus labour force is harnessed from the plains of Tamil Nadu to start a cinchona plantation under the Devimallay in Devikulam Estate.
1879: Munro obtains the second Pooniat Concession. The North Travancore Land Planting and Agricultural Society is founded to which the Concessions are conveyed. Soon… tracts are opened in the Hills in Cinchona and Sisal.
1880: The first tea is planted in Parvathi Estate (a part of today's Sevenmallay Estate) by A. H. Sharp.
1886: An expedition in 1886 to the foothills by a new and precipitous route - from Top Station in Chittavurrai to Korangani - is made in search of food. A business connection is forged with the famous Suppan Chetty to send up rice in exchange for headloads of cinchona bark. Thus a new chapter in trade opens. This route later serves as the path for a ropeway.
Soon… bridle paths spread in various directions are made. Ponies, donkeys and bullocks carrying up rice and taking the hill produce down become the way of life in the Hills.
1888: The Kanan Devan Planters Association is formed.
1890: The first apothecary is appointed.
1892: The first Post Office is opened on Devikulam Estate - The pioneer planters send a lot of post cards to their friends in the High Range itself "to get a sufficient amount of stamping registration in the post office so that the authorities would keep it open"!
1894: By now there are 26 registered small holdings in the Hills. Sir John Muir of Finlay Muir & Company visits the Kanan Devan Hills to finalize the purchase of the Concession area. Thus Finlay Muir & Company Limited's interests in tea extends to the High Ranges.
1896: The Kanan Devan Hills Produce Company is formedin the Kanan Devan Concession territory. Estates outside the Concession territory but within the High Range are owned by the Anglo-American Direct Tea Trading Company, also a subsidiary Company of Finlay Muir & Co. Ltd.