Shevaroy Hills, 1908
Shevaroy 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.
A small detached range in Salem District, Madras, lying between u43 / and 11 57' N. and 78 degree 8' and 78 degree 27' E., and occupying an area of 150 square miles. They are divided into an eastern and a western section by the deep valley of the Vaniar stream. The western portion consists of three plateaux, of which the Green Hills, the highest point of which is 5,410 feet above the sea, is the largest; and on the southern extremity of the eastern portion, at an elevation of 4,500 feet, stands the well- known sanitarium of YERCAUD. The valley between the two was clearly once a deep lake fed by the Vaniar, but the stream gradually cut through the barrier which held back the water and the lake became the bed of the river.
Geologically, the range consists of Archaean plutonic rocks of the charnockite series, and these have weathered into the rugged masses characteristic of that family.
There are three routes up the hills. From the Mallapuram station on the Madras Railway a neglected but easy ghat leads for 19 miles to Yercaud, and from the Kadiampatti station a steeper way reaches the same place in n miles. But the usual route is up the ghat on the side facing Salem town. This begins 5 miles from the town and is about 6 miles long. A good cart-road has recently been constructed up it.
The upper levels of the Green Hills plateau are covered with grass, and on no part of the Shevaroys is there any considerable growth of forest. The rainfall, though nearly double that of the surrounding low country, averages only 63 inches annually and is scarcely sufficient to support heavy timber, The temperature is most equable, rarely exceeding 75 or falling below 60 ; and the soil and climate are peculiarly favourable to smaller vegetation, which grows with the greatest exuberance and adds largely to the natural beauty of this picturesque range. Up to 3,000 feet there is a zone of bamboo, and on the higher levels some teak, black-wood, and sandal-wood are found. Among the imported trees and plants which thrive readily may be mentioned the pear, peach, apple, guava, citron, orange, lime, lemon, strawberry, and potato; and the Australian acacias, eucalyptus, and casuarina do well. There are 9,000 acres planted with coffee, most of it under European management.
The indigenous inhabitants of the range are the Malaiyalis ('hill men ') or Vellalas. They are not an aboriginal tribe, but are without doubt Tamils from the low country who either emigrated or fled to the hills within comparatively recent times, and their customs present few points of ethnological interest. Their own tradition is that they came from Conjeeveram at the time when the Musalmans became the domi- nant power in the South. They speak Tamil and are nominally Hindus, but have very vague ideas of the principles of their faith. They are a timid and harmless people, who now live chiefly by primitive cultiva- tion or by working on the coffee estates.
