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| John Sullivan's Stone house,Ooty,.outlooktraveller.com |
Above image: First European house in Ooty, Nigiris mountains, Tamil Nadu. On his second visit in May, 1819 Collector John Sullivan's obsession for this place was so much over whelming, that he wanted to have a house built at Dimbhatti. The Oak tree planted by Sullivan has survived this far...........
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| Enchanting Nilgiris hills,TNtravel.india.com |
Above image: The Nilgiris mountains have lots of tea estates now and the British owned the tea estates, etc in the early colonial period. It was in 1799 upon the demise of ruler Tipu Sultan in Srirangapatna (Karnataka) in the final Anglo-Mysore war the British India company cameout victorious and annexed his kingdom, including Nilgiris hills.Theentire region became part of the Madras Presidency.........
John Sullivan, the British Collector of Coimbatore in the early 1800s, played a foundational role in opening up the Nilgiris to modern development. Deeply fascinated by the natural beauty of the hills, he led a remarkable expedition into the Nilgiris on January 2, 1819, accompanied by a massive contingent—soldiers, ponies, war elephants, English huntsmen, and scores of dogs. As the team ascended the steep terrain past 100 feet, they were forced to release their elephants and abandon heavy baggage due to the arduous climb.
After camping at Dimbhatti near Kotagiri, on January 8, 1819, Sullivan wrote a vivid letter to Governor Sir Thomas Munro describing the stunning climate and landscape. “It resembles Switzerland more than any other part of Europe,” he remarked, noting that the water in their clay pots had frozen overnight.
So taken was he with the beauty and potential of the region that Sullivan returned in May 1819 and began plans for a permanent residence. On February 22, 1821, with help from the Todas—the indigenous people of the region—he started constructing a stone bungalow in Dimbhatti Valley. He had purchased the land from the Toda tribesmen at the nominal price of one rupee per acre.
John Sullivan saw to it the rights and the culture of hill tribes Todas, et al were not disturbed and was friendly with them. The tribes, on their part, were helpful to him during his stay there. And in this respect he was at odds with nasty East India officers
This structure, completed in 1823, was the first European-style stone house built in the Nilgiris and marked the beginning of British settlement in the region.
The house was built using locally sourced granite and had a sloping tiled roof suited for the hill climate. It featured wide verandahs, fireplaces, and large windows to let in the mountain breeze. Today, it stands preserved within the campus of the Government Arts College in Ooty.
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| John Sullivan's statue,Ooty, .thehindu.com |
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| John Sullivan's statue, Ooty.simplicity.in |
Above image: 232 birth anniversary of John Sullivan, the founder of Ooty was celebrated on 15 June 2020. District Collector Ms. Divya was honoring the ex. Collector of Coimbatore....
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| .deccanchronicle.com Nilgiris Documentation Centre (NDC) |
Above image: One D. Venugopal, the director of Nilgiri Documentation Center (NDC), maintains the Sullivan Memorial at Kotagiri and is educating the youths how it is essential to preserve the heritage of the Nilgiris mountains and the colonial legacy. The NDC is making efforts for setting up Stone House Heritage Committee to better conserve the Stone House here. It is a good move and it will be useful to the posterity...........
Sullivan also introduced crops like tea, cinchona, and English vegetables, and developed roads linking Kotagiri, Dimbhatti, and Coonoor in 1830-1832.. A friend to the Todas, he respected their rights, unlike many of his colonial peers. His legacy was later carried on by his son, Henry Edward Sullivan, who also became Collector of Coimbatore.
Rev. Jacome Forico, a priest, was the first European who visited Nilgiris in 1603. Sullivan's 225th birth anniversary was celebrated on June 15, 2013.
We understand from the ND Center despite the passage of time the stone house has survived to this day and in the same house in 1826 Sir Thomas Munro, the Patron-Governor of South India stayed for two nights. Missionary scholars like Rev. G.U .Pope had taught in Stone House. Half of India was administered for nine months from Stone House over a period of 70 years. The Viceroys and Governors who sat in council in Stone House here took decisions on matters related to governance. The Government Arts College in Ooty was opened in Stone House in 1955 when the Congress Party formed the ministry.
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| John Sullivan's grave, England .newindianexpress.com |
Above image: In 1855 Sullivan died in England on January 16 at the age of 66. Sullivan’s grave is in the church yard of St. Lawrence, Upton-cum-Chalve, Berkshire, London.........
Thanks to the sustained efforts of the Nilgiris Documentation Centre (NDC), the grave of John Sullivan, British Collector of Coimbatore and founder of Ooty, was located in a church in the United Kingdom last week. The authority of St. Laurence Church, at Upton near Heathrow airport in the UK, cleaned up bushes and weeds around the grave and sent its photo to the NDC here appreciating its interest in Sullivan’s history.
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