Cardamom Hills
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Cardamom Hills
Range of hills in Travancore State, Madras, lying between 9° 26' and 10° 8' N. and 76° 40' and 77° 7' E., south of the Anaimudi group. They form an elevated plateau at a height of 3,000 to 3,500 feet, with peaks and hills running up to 5,000 feet, and comprise the High Range in the north, the Cardamom Hills proper in the centre, and those of PIrmed in the south. Area, about 1,000 square miles; population (1901), 21,589. Though not a distinct revenue division, they form a separate division for magisterial and certain other purposes, under the charge of a Superintendent and District magistrate assisted by a first-class magistrate located at Pirmed. Cardamoms formed a State monopoly till 1896, when a system of land tax was introduced.
The ryots now receive permanent occupancy rights, with the power to relinquish their holdings at will. They are mostly natives of neighbouring British Districts, and own no property in Travancore except these cardamom lands. In 1903-4 the area under cultivation was 13,698 acres, of which 12,579 acres paid the prescribed assessment of Rs. 6-4 per acre. Since the abolition of the monopoly, European capital has thrown itself largely into this enterprise. Viewed from the economic and industrial aspect, however, the chief value of the hills lies less in their eminent suitability for cardamom cultivation than in the fact that they are now the chief seat of the tea-planting industry. A large amount of British money has been invested in this industry, the capital of one company alone amounting to a million sterling. The High Range is the centre of the greatest activity, and is the largest and most compact tea district in Southern India. The hills are tapped by roads and bridle-paths, which connect them with the Cochin State and the sea on the west and with the British Districts on the east. The expenditure by the Travancore State on public works in this area in 1903-4 was Rs. 1,47,000. The Cardamom Hills are provided with civil and criminal courts, police stations, post offices, hospitals, telegraphic and telephonic lines, schools, &c.
