Brief History of Munnar

Munnar — The Early Era

The name Munnar means three rivers(aaru).It is located at the convergence of three rivers named Madhurappuzha, Nallathanni, and Kundalini. The ancient history of Munnar is not very clear. The region is always densely forested because of the heavy rainfall it receives during the monsoon. Many rare species of flowers like neelakurinji and animals found here.

It is believed that Munnar was occupied by the local Muthuvan tribes during the early days. They came here around 900 AD from Madurai due to some socio political issues there. Apart from them other tribal communities like Players, kaders, kuruvas, and Ooralers also live here.

In 1790 coloner Arthur Wellesley and his troops arrived in the kurumaly gap in Munnar to defend the Travancore from the invasion of Tipu Sultan of Mysore. He was the first recorded European to visit Munnar. As time passed merchants from various places visited Munnar. The merchants carried the cloth to Munnar and took away betel nuts.

Plantation Era

In 1870 the resident of the court of Travancore, John Daniel Munro visited Munnar to settle a border dispute between Travancore and Madras. He found that the area is good for plantation farming, especially the Kannan-Devan hills. The area was under the control of Poonjar Royal family, who were the subordinates of Travancore Maharajah. So Munro visited the royal family and met the then head of the royal family Rohini Thirunal Kerala Varma Valiya Raja. Muro leased the land for 9 years for five thousand rupees.

In 1878 HG Turner and AW Turner came to Munnar on Munro’s invitation for a shooting expedition. The turners realized the potential of a plantation in Munnar they joined with Munro and formed the North Travancore Land Planting And Agricultural Society. Tamil workers were utilized and crops like coffee, cardamon, sisal were cultivated. But after some time the society faced problems and the land was sold out.

In 1880 A H Sharp introduced tea for the first time.Finaly muir and company purchased the land started tea cultivation in 1893.In 1897 Kannan Devan Hills Produced Company was formed and tea plantion was widely established in the area.

In 1964 the TATA’s formed collaboration with the Finalys and in 1983 TATA group purchased all the shares and renamed the company to TATA Tea Ltd.Tourism sector also flourished in Munnar by this time.Today Munnar is one of the most sought after tourism location in India.
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