Forests, Conservators and other Evils

Kerala Rainforest picture courtesy of http://biggestteak-john.blogspot.com/2011/11/teak.html

Like so many of the other Englishmen sent out to India, Thomas Baber had an in-built love of hunting and therefore affection for forests. When he arrived in India in 1797 the areas immediately surrounding Calicut and Tellicherry had already largely been cleared of all the larger trees, which had previously felled for many miles around the actual settlements themselves.

These had occurred by the middle of the 18th Century when drawings clearly shown barren treeless hills.  The records of the factory at Tellicherry are full of correspondence arranging for the acquistion of wood for fuel from locations up the coast as far as Mt Deli, or from Calicut.

However further inland the situation was very different, as is apparent from the following account by James Welsh, written to describe his experience when marching through the Wayanad in 1812, where he assisted Thomas Baber and the other troops to put down the rebellion that had broken out there.

"On 15th, two parties formed, under Captain James and myself, Mr. Baber accompanying mine. We saw no more rebels in arms, but many of them came in with Mr. Baber, who appeared to know every man in the country; and pledged themselves to give up their leaders in six days on a promise of a pardon to the rest. This part of the country is strong, wild, and beautiful; consisting of a number of small hills, covered with jungle, and separated by narrow valleys, in which there are neither rivers or paddy fields. Yesterday in particular, we passed through a narrow defile, nearly a mile in length, in which we discovered trees of such enormous height and magnitude, that I am fearful of mentioning my ideas of their measurement, further, than that some of them did not commence spreading from the parent stem, until they had reached the height of the topmast-head of a man of war; the name of these trees is Neer parum, the wood of which is not valuable, and the Ayany, or wild jack, the tree from which the largest canoes are made, as well as the best beams for building".[1]

Welsh's observations must have been a regular experience for Thomas who had been travelling within these regions since 1797.

That Thomas Baber was aware of the great potential of the huge trees contained within these forests is demonstrated by the events in 1807.

"Extract of a letter from Sir E Pellew to the Hon’ble Wm Pole Secretary to the Admiralty dated his Majesties Ship Culloden Bombay Harbour 20th May 1808.

A twelve month since I had an opportunity of receiving much valuable information from Mr Baber at Cannanore one of the Coll’tors of the Province of Malabar by whom I was satisfied that great impositions had heretofore been experienced by the Confederacy & the Merchants on the Coast from whom as the only dealers in timber the Naval Service had been formerly supplied & he gave me management to make the experiment of procuring them by means of an agency which supported by his authority would enable me to obtain a considerable supply at a trifling comparative expense –

The result has proved most satisfactory, a native agent has been employed under my directions to cut 50 large spars for the use of the squadrons who has accomplished his undertaking by bringing the whole of them down to the beach in Tellicherry at an expense of less than 6,000 rupees from which they will be conveyed to Madras & Bombay by the men of war which touch thereon their passage along the coast without any further charge & creating a nett saving for His Majesties government of £18,730.

I have the honour to enclose a list of their dimensions and have not to observed the price at which 52 large spars have thus been procured, has heretofore been paid at Bombay for two only by individuals as well as for the King’s service.

I consider the supply has been obtained upon these very advantageous terms entirely under the Benefit of Mr Baber’s local authority in preventing imposition & by the aid he has been able to give to the agent & proceedings." [2]

The Royal Navy in the Indian Ocean was engaged at that period in a life and death struggle with the French Navy and privateers based on Bourbon and Isle de France.

In the days of sail, suitable masts were vital not just to victory, but also for very survival.

With the French in possession of most of Continental Europe's ports, and controlling the routes to the vital Baltic forests, which traditionally provided the masts so important to the Royal Navy, it was becoming difficult to refit the navies ships.

Although a large dockyard existed at Bombay, the nearby forests on the Konkani Ghats were exhausted, and masts had to be brought up from Malabar or half way around the World from a less than friendly America.

The merchants were taking the maximum advantage of the navies desperate need for new masts, by applying very high margins to the price of these mast timbers.

The details of the naval events in the India Ocean, are too complex to set out here, but are ably described in Stephen Taylor's recent book "Storm & Conquest, The Battle for the India Ocean, 1809."

Between 1807 and 1809 the East India Company and Royal Navy were to come within an ace of loosing control of the Indian Ocean, and suffered some appalling loses due to the unmanning and the weak condition of many of their ships.

Thomas Baber had more cause than most to dislike the French on Isle de France and Reunion. His younger brother John Baber (1783-1807) had been captured by French privateers operating out of Isle de Reunion.

It appears that for some reason John, possibly from ill health, who had arrived in India in 1802, as an EIC infantry officer was travelling aboard the East India ship Phoenix, which was captured on 20 Vendemaire an 14 (12th October 1805), by the French Corsaire ship “La Henriette.”

French records show that a “Jean Barber Lieutenant d’infanterie passager” was landed as a prisoner on “1er Brumaire an 14” (23rd October 1805) on the Ile de la Reunion.

Presumably Jean Barber was as close as the French clerk could get to spelling John Baber.

It is possible that John was already ill, or that perhaps the conditions in the prison killed him, for he died on 20 Pluviose an 14 (9th February 1806)

The records say “cet homme est resté malade à l’Ile de la Reunion – mort le 20 Pluviose an 14" [3]

There was considerable uncertainty over the date of his death. According to Hodsons' Index of officers of the Bengal Army, he died on Mauritius 16th July 1807.

It is clear that for a long time after the event that the Baber family in England had no idea what had become of their brother. In the flyleaf of his “Memoranda relating to the life of Henry Hervey Baber” is a rough draft by his eldest brother of a family tree. Sadly it is not possible to exactly date the tree, but from the dates given by later additions on January 28th 1809, it would appear that as late as January 1809, John was thought by the family in England to have “perished by some unknown means (supposed shipwrecked) in the East Indies.”

Thomas Baber in India, may have been the first to learn of the loss of the Phoenix.

The death of his brother, may well have strengthened Thomas resolve to get back at the French, or at least prevent this happening to others.

It appears that he identifed fifty suitable trees and organised for them to be brought down to the coast for shipment to Bombay.

"-- Of the Duty of a Conservator of Forests I never could understand that it extended beyond receiving and paying for timber felled in the Malabar Forests when brought down to the coast, the whole timber being contracted for with the proprietors and former timber merchants – A greater misnomer than conservator cannot be conceived, Mr Fell, to my certain knowledge, never has seen the Forests, and although his assistant Captn Pinch has occasionally visited them, it is the most ridiculous idea conceivable to suppose that it is in his or any mans power to superintend such a prodigious extent of mountain jungle as the Malabar Forests, with an establishment of 3 inspectors and about 40 peons (that is I believe at utmost extent) and if they could, eui bono when not a tree can be exported, nor brought down to the coast without permission from the Collectors of land or sea Customs – So that in fact all that the Conservator & his officers have to do is, to take care of the Timber, which can be done just as well, and to a great deal better by a Collector than any other person – That never was a more useless appointment or establishment than that of Conservator of Malabar, and if my opinion was allowed to have any weight it should be in favour of a petition from the Merchants I sent up to Government in 1808 praying to be restored to their rights in the Forests, and to be allowed to continue to trade in such timber as the Government do not its self require for naval purposes, and all such timber they offered to give to the Company at ---- cost, and to give security, required of them, that they would not cut down any trees than such as the Government permitted them to __ I know not what the profits to the Company are upon the timber they sell, but they must be very trifling and go a very little way to defray the enormous annual expense of the Conservator & his establishment. I never heard that the cost of Timber before it reaches Bombay is more Now then when the trade was open and the company were obliged to buy their wants from the Merchants – But the monopoly is so odious a measure and one that has given rise to so much discontent , that one sacrifice a little for the care and welfare of those whom we are bound to conciliate there is most objection which seems wholly to have escaped the Consideration of Govt and that is, that the monopoly has put a total stop to ship building amongst the coast merchants, and this indeed may be considered as one of the causes of the great stagnation of trade in Malabar – The old Bupee of Cananese wanted to build a new ship of 4 to 500 tons burthen, and applied to the conservator of the Forests for the necessary Timber – who answered He has no orders to sell timber – I send the original answer, as a specimen of the uncourtly reception the old Lady’s application met with." [4]

From our knowledge of Thomas Baber’s forthright opinions, and his directness, I imagine that poor Mr Fell must have felt the full weight of Tom’s displeasure on more than one occasion.

In his 1830 evidence to the House of Lords Thomas explained the difficulties brought about by the timber monopoly.

Was there not, during the Period of your Residence in Malabar, a Monopoly of Timber?

There was, both of the Timber and of the Forests, which were taken Possession of by the Government.

Did that Monopoly extend, not only to the Forests but to Timber in the Gardens and Fields of the several Proprietors?

It was not, I imagine, so intended in the first instance; but the Conservator, the Officer whose Province it was to superintend the Monopoly, extended it to Timber grown in Gardens; but I believe it was that Officer's own Act. Great Complaints were frequently made, but I never heard of any Redress, until Sir Thomas Munro abolished the Monopoly altogether. This, I think, was in 1823.

During that Time was the Price of Timber much raised, so as to stop Shipbuilding on the Coast of Malabar?

It was not procurable on any Terms. The Company took the whole Quantity, except what was called the Refuse, which was of little Use in Shipbuilding.

Was Shipbuilding stopped on the Coast of Malabar in consequence?

Entirely. I have seen Applications from the principal Shipbuilders to the Conservator of the Forests and to the Government, to sell to them, or to be allowed to purchase, Timber to build and repair their Vessels. They offered to purchase at any Price.

Since the Monopoly was taken off, has Shipbuilding improved?

Yes; Four or Five Vessels have been built, or are building.

What is the State of the Government Forests since the Cessation of the Government Monopoly?

The Forests were given up wholly to the Proprietors.

Are there no Forests belonging to the Government now?

In the Northern Part of Canara, that is, from the Subramanny Pagoda, East of Mangalore, there are; all the Forests to the Eastward, or on the Ghaut Mountains that is, are the Property of the Government; I never, at least, heard of any Individuals laying Claim to them. But the whole Tract of Forests South of Subramanny is claimed, and I have no doubt is the Property of private Individuals. I have seen many of these Title Deeds upwards of a Century old.

The Reason for the Monopoly originally was, that the Timber might be supplied at a lower Rate to the Dock Yard at Bombay?

The ostensible Reason given in the first Proclamation by the Principal Collector of Malabar, dated 18th July 1806, stated, "That The Honourable Company had Occasion for Teak Trees for the Purpose of building Ships, and therefore the Government had resolved to grant a Monopoly to one Chowakkara Moosa, in order that it might be furnished with the Trees it wanted at a low Price," &c. The subsequent Proclamation by the Madras Government, dated 25th April 1807, announced, "the Assumption, in pursuance of Orders from The Honourable Court of Directors, of the Sovereignty of the Forests in the Provinces of Malabar and Canara."

Was Timber cheaper in consequence of that Monopoly at Bombay than it is at present?

I rather think the Price was considerably enhanced to what it was before the Monopoly, owing to the Expense of the Conservator's Establishment.

Was the Conservator sent by the Government of Bombay, or by the Governor of Madras?

By the Governor of Bombay; the Forests were re-transferred to Bombay by Orders from the Court of Directors.

There was no Survey originally of the Forests?

There never was. I beg to refer their Lordships to a very able Minute, one of the Documents published in Sir Thomas Munro's Life, containing full Information on this Subject:

Once Thomas had decided on a course of events, or on the rightness of his opinions, he would pursue his cause, through thick and thin, and in the face of any amount of opposition.  No wonder he was often deeply unpopular.

[1]James Welsh, Military Reminiscences volume 2, page 12.
[2]Taken from the Appendix to the Report on Indian Affairs letter 188. OIOC Collection.
[3]I am much indebted to Philippe Lahausse,and Marina Carter for this information taken from the Mauritius archives.
[4]From letter written by Thomas Hervey Baber to Sir Thomas Munro, 5th May 1817. OIOC Private Papers IOR:MSS. F151 / 43 folio 30 -- 31. to Sir Thomas Munro

Mr Bailie's Bungalow Tellicherry, Circa 1790.

In the collection at the British Library is a fine water colour of Tellicherry painted in about 1790. Please click on the image for a larger version. [1]

The picture is accompanied by the following description and a request for further information if possible.

"Water-colour painting of Tellicherry from the island of Darmadam, or Darmapattam, by an unknown artist, c.1790. The inscription, overwritten on the reverse reads: 'Tellicherry from Durmapatam. Hills round Mahe. Charles Point. P[...] Church. Telly Fort House. Ghauts Calick Wells. A Bungalow built by Mr Falconer. Cochin Cundy Fort ditto by Mr Bailie. Codoly Fort. The entrance to the Dumapm & Codoly rivers'.
Tellicherry, founded in 1683, was the first regular settlement on the Malabar coast. The fort was completed in 1708 by the Kolattiri Rajah and handed to the East India Company for the protection of their factory. In 1776 the factory was reduced to a Residency and in 1794 the factory was abolished by Sir John Shore. It has not been possible to identify Falconer and Bailie with certainty; an Alexander Falconer was in the Madras Civil Service at this period."

So I have set about finding out who Mr. Bailie was.

In 1801 Edward Moor published a compilation of all the orders issued in Bombay between 1750 and 1801. He had done this at the request of Governor Duncan who wished to consolidate all of the many standing orders that had been issued over than period to the Bombay Army.

At that time Tellicherry and the Malabar fell within the Bombay Presidency, although it was moved into the Madras Presidency shortly afterwards.

Moor records on page XXXIII that in 1794

" The commandant of artillery thinks it his indispensable duty to acquaint the military board that he has received a letter from captain Bailie, commanding officer of the artillery in the province of Malabar, mentioning that all ordnance and stores wanted for the 'artillery department, are, without his approbation or knowledge, indented for by the deputy commissaries of stores, and that consequently no degree of responsibility can rest with him respecting the state and condition of the ordnance and artillery stores of the different stations on the coast-: as this practice, in his opinion, militates against the spirit of the regulations, .he wishes to suggest to the board the propriety of explaining the relative connexion betwixt the artillery officer and the deputy commissaries: particularly in the present situation of the troops on the coast, as all the field train ought to be immediately under his charge and he ought to be answerable that they are in good condition, and fit for immediate service: and he further wishes, as the officer in command of the artillery is the first and immediate check, of the commissariat department, that he should inspect all repairs to gun carriages, and the making of every description of ammunition and artillery stores."

A private letter arrived in the Seahorse, an East India Ship from Madras that was published in the Exeter Flying Post dated Thursday the 14^th of October 1802. It gives a great deal of news about other events in 1801 in the South of India before saying…

"The Factory at Tellicherry has suffered by a most dreadful fire.  The greatest part of the Bazar was destroyed.  The native Merchant Bandary, and Mr. G. M. Baillie have experienced the greatest loss."

Although the spelling of the two names are different, Bailie and Baillie, it is quite possible that it refers to the same person.

[1]  http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/other/019wdz000004355u00000000.html

News of Major Cameron's Defeat reaches Britain.

Major Cameron played an unwitting part in the story of Thomas Baber and this may have given an edge to Thomas Baber's later hunt for the Pyche Rajah.  The Major was the husband of Helen, who once widowed went on to become Thomas Baber's wife and who stuck with him throughout all his later troubles.

News of the Major's death which had taken place on the 18th of March 1797 reached Britain shortly  before the 28th of August 1797. It is a measure of just how serious an incident this had been, that the news was thought to warrant overland post.

Usually the dispatches to Britain went by sea, and would have taken many more months to have arrived in London. An overland dispatch had to go via the Red Sea to Egypt and on to London by ship via the Mediterranean, and would have cost approximately £400, a very large sum in those days, the equivalent of  annual salary of a senior official or Colonel, per letter.

The following report was picked up by the Reading Mercury, most probably from a London Paper published a day or so before.

Reading Mercury - Monday 28 August 1797

Friday and Saturday’s Posts.

EAST-INDIA INTELLIGENCE.

Yesterday a Court of Directors was held at the East-India house, for the purpose of reading dispatches received over-land from Bombay.

Their purport is understood to be of a disagreeable nature, but by no means so hostile to the peace of India as had been reported.

In consequence of some dispute between Tippoo Saib and the Rajah of Cotiote, respecting elephants, a detachment of our troops, consisting of a thousand men, headed by Colonel Dow, marched towards that province, for the sake of ending the dispute by treaty or arms; when, on passing Wynaad into Cotiote, they were attacked by the refractory Rajah Pyche.  On the early retreat of Colonel Dow, the command devolved on Major Cameron, who after a gallant resistance, fell at the head of his troops.  In this unfortunate action we lost 300 men. And great part of our ammunition.

The following is a list of the killed and wounded.

Killed.  Major Cameron, Lieutenant Nugent, Ensign Mudge, Ensign Ruddiman.

Wounded.  Captain Budden, Ensign Fallow.

In consequence of the above unhappy contest, Governor Duncan, attended by General Stewart, proceeded from Bombay to Tellicherry, in order to confer with the Ministers of Tippoo, leaving Sir Charles Malet and Mr. Page, in charge of Government.

The latest advices from Bombay state the agreeable news of Tippoo’s return to Seringapatam, from what had been termed a hunting party; and of every prospect of tranquillity being about to be restored to the Cotiote Province.[1]

A full report of the action in which these men were killed is given in my Blog of Wenesday 27th December 2006, The Death of Major Cameron. [2]

[1] From the British Library Newspaper Collection.

[2] http://malabardays.blogspot.co.uk/2006/12/death-of-major-cameron.html

The Development of the Forts at Tellicherry 1680 to 1750

Figure 1. A drawing of Tellicherry published in 1736, showing the fort as it appeared some years earlier. [Please click onto the image for a larger version.] Courtesy of the British Library.

This engraving is thought to have been based on a painting done in about 1721. It shows a stone built fort, however the fort is clearly shown to have four equally sized corner bastions, quite unlike the fort we can visit today, with its pair of diagonally opposed bastions.

I believe that this stone fort around the factory is the English fort referred to in the following account.

Captain Alexander Hamilton in his "A new account of the East Indies," wrote the following about Tellicherry, which he had visited several times between 1702 and 1723.

"In Anno 1702. I hired a Ship called the Albemarle, in Service of the new established East-india Company, to serve me three Months and an half on a Voyage from Surat to the Malabar Coast, and back; and having Occasion to call at Cannanore, I accompanied the Captain of the Fort and an English Factor from Tellicherry to the Court of Omnitree, Successor to the eldest son of the Samorin before mentioned, who died in his voyage to Mecca......"

"The next Province to Adda Rajah’s dominions is Tellicherry, where the English East-india Company has a factory, pretty well fortified with Stone Walls and Cannon.

The Place where the Factory now stands belonged to the French, who left the Muddwalls of a Fort built by them, to serve the English when they first settled there, and for many Years they continued so, but of late no small Pains and Charge have been bestowed on its buildings; but for what Reasons I know not, for it has no River near it that can want its Protection, nor can it defend the Road from the Insults of Enemies, unless it be for small Vessels that can come within some Rocks that ly half a Mile off, or to protect the Company’s Ware-house, and a Punch-house that stands on the Sea-shore a short Pistol-shot from the Garrison.

The Town stands at the Back of the Fort, within Land, with a Stone Wall round it, to keep out Enemies of the Chiefs making, for in 1703, he began a War that still continues, at least there were Folks killed in 1723. When I was there: and I was informed by a Gentleman of Judgement there, that the War and Fortifications had taken Double the Money to maintain them that the Company’s Investments came to.

The Occasion of the War, as I was informed, began about a Trifle. The Nayer, that was Lord of the Mannor, had a Royalty, for every Vessel that unladed at Tellicherry, paid two Bales of Rice Duty to him. There was another Royalty of every tenth Fish that came to the Market there, and both together did not amount to 20 L. Ster. Per Annum. The Chief either appropriated these Royalties to his own, or the Company’s Use, and the Nayar complained of the Injustice, but had no Redress. These little Duties were the best Part of the poor Nayar’s Subsistence, which made it the harder to bear, so his Friends advised him to repel Force by Force, and disturb the Factory what he could, which he accordingly did (by the secret Assistance of his Friends) for above 20 years. The Company are the best Judges whether the War is like to bring any Profit to their Affairs there, or no.

The established Religion of this Country is Paganism; but there are a few black Christians that live under the Protection of the Factory, and some of them serve for Soldiers in the Garison. They have a little Church standing within the outward Wall of the Factory, served by a Portugueze Priest or two, who get their Subsistence by the Alms of the Parish. And the English have Punch-houses, where the European Soldiers to Bacchus, and if thy want Devotion, which their Accounts can certify at Pay-day, they are forced to commute with their Officer, or undergo some wholesome Discipline or Chastisement."[1]

I believe the fort in Figure 1, was built on the site of the original French mud fort.

The French colonial system was run by the French State unlike the privately owned English East India Company, and was centrally controlled by Colbert who had set up the "Compagnie des Indes" in August 1664. The company will have used its experience from other earlier settlements to aid it's development of the new settlement at Tellicherry.

It is possible that the first French traders at Tellicherry were led by Monsieur Dellon, as Robert Orme describes below ..

"V. Dellon, the physician, sailed from France in March 1668, and after some employment at the settlements on Madagascar and Bourbon, arrived at Surat in September 1669, from whence he sailed, in the beginning of 1670, with the orders to remove the French factory at Beliapatam to Tellicherry, where they established a house in the month of June. This was several years before the English settled there. In the way the ship stopped at Rajapore and Mirzeou, where the French" company had likewise factories. From Tellicherry Dellon was occasionally employed in their concerns of trade at Callicut, Tanore, and Chaly, and incidentally saw Bergerah and Cognally, which lie between Callicut and Tellicherry.In the month of June 1671, Flacour, the French agent, went from hence to settle a trade at Seringapatam, the capital of Mysore. Dellon intending to accompany him, went as far as the foot of the mountains, but was deterred there by the excessive violence of the torrents, and came back: Flacour persisted, and returned from Seringapatam in November. In January 1672, Dellon sailed from Tellicherry on his return to Surat: …."[2]

The French company used very much the same fort building techniques in all of its overseas colonies, and we can therefore compare French forts in India with those being built in Canada at around the same time, in order to get some idea of what the original French fort at Tellicherry would have looked like.

Figure 2. Fort Frontenac, built by the French on the shores of Lake Ontario in Canada.
[Please Click on the image for a larger version.][3]

Fort Frontenac occupies a very similar site, and had a very similar function to the French settlement at Tilcheri or Tilchery as the French called Thalassery. However instead of dealing in pepper, Frontenac was designed for trading furs with North American Indian's and to protect those goods before they were taken away across the river routes to the St. Lawrence and across the Atlantic to Europe.

The similarity in size and layout of Fort Frontenac with the early fort that I believe existed on the site of the modern bazaar at Thalassery and which is shown in Figure 1 can easily be seen.

The factory buildings and warehouses can be seen inside the walls in the Frontenac drawing, as well as their associated bastions.

On the enlarged image of the drawing of Frontenac it is also possible to see a mixture of walls built out of timber stockades, and walls being re-built in stone, which were at most risk of being attacked. I believe the same process occurred between 1690 and 1725 at Tellicherry.

I believe the 1720's painting shows that the English had replaced the original French mud walls and wooden stockade with stone walls, probably after 1703 and probably as a response to the Nair's attacks.

William Logan names this Nair as the Kuragoth Nayar, and perhaps he should rightfully receive the title of the first resistance fighter against the English, and not Pazhassi Raja. On the 20th August 1708, the Northern Regent made over the site of the Fort to the English.

Royal writing from Prince Badacalamcuro of the Pally Palace, to the Honourable English Company in the year 883 (1708).

The fort of Tellicherry has been built at the request and entreaties made by me as a friend. To acknowledge the love and friendship which the Company bears towards me and my palace, I give and make over the said fort with its limits to the Honourable Company, where no person shall demand, collect and plant. Our custom house will be obliged to give us what has been settled.

This day, August 20th, 883.[4]

The earliest surviving documentary evidence for the English settlement at Tellicherry is the first entry made in the English East India Company Factory Letter book dated the 24th October 1699, which suggests that the English had arrived in Tellicherry shortly before then.[5]

It is very likely that they initially made do with the old French mud walls until they had established that the settlement was a viable trading venture.

By 1708, the old stockades and mud wall had probably reached the end of there effective life, having rotted away or been eroded by the monsoon rains, and the HEIC was faced with replacing it. I expect that they reached an agreement with the Prince to ensure that their investment was on land that they had title to.

The hostilities with the Nair probably account for the lack of houses outside the walls of the fort and the compound between the fort and the beach in Figure 1.

I believe the tall open fronted building on the beach was probably the customs house, but it could just as easily have been the fish market.

Where was the Punch House?

Punch was the old English word for a fruit drink, and the English were here applying it to the Arrack or Toddy they encountered in India, which of course from it's potency was perceived to pack quite a punch. A pun that no doubt when down well with the rough and ready expats living in Tellicherry at that time.

I think the Punch House described by Hamilton is probably the building above the steps. At Fort St. David at this same period, these arrack houses were often supplied by Malabari distillers, working for European's who held the concession to sell the Arrack to the troops. These poor sick and homesick soldiers would often drink themselves into oblivion. The gun room sergeants were often allowed to brew Arrack themselves for sale to the newly arriving ships. These ships usually arrived in a three or four week period once a year, staying for perhaps four to six weeks.

The first days ashore must have been fairly wild in the Punch House, as all those thirsty sailors quenched their thirsts. How the poor soldiers must have wished that they could leave on those ships, like the transitory sailors, and many soldiers must have known that their chances of ever getting home again were very slight indeed.

For a long time I thought that the existing Fort was probably built on top of the site of the former French mud fort, but I no longer think that this was the case.

The French fort, and its earliest English successor structure was built primarily to defend against Indian enemies coming from inland.

The fort and its associated settlement had to be of sufficient size that it was able to protect the warehouses, which had to be large enough to contain sufficient trade goods collected over the course of a year to fill the holds several 400 ton ships arriving each season from England. It also had to be large enough to store food and ammunition to enable the garrison to hold out for nine or more months in case the settlement was cut off from supplies, until the annual fleet arrived to rescue any remaining survivors.

This means it had to be larger internally than the fort that survives today, which is quite small inside. There is also no real space for barracks inside the current fort. Where did the men live?

The French had moved out of Tellicherry, not because the English had forced them to move away, but because they had been able to negotiate for a much better site with the rival Raja at Mahé about five miles to the south. This site had a much better river for an anchorage, and was easier to fortify.

It was the British who had arrived last, long after the Dutch at Cannanore, and the French at Mahé had secured the best trading spots. It was the English East India Company who had had to take over the remaining and least favourable site on this part of the coast.

Even they had really wanted to set up to at Dharmapatam, but that was already occupied by the Bebeé of Arrakal, who at that stage was still powerful enough to keep out the Europeans.

In the early days of the 18th Century the French and the English at Tellicherry and Mahé had a gentleman's agreement to maintain neutrality towards each other, even if wars broke out in Europe between their respective countries.

However this was not always possible and by the 1720's the French had begun to build very substantial fortifications at Mahé which were much superior to any of the English forts in the region.

The French under Vauban, with long borders to defend in Europe, had had to build many huge forts during the late 17th Century and early 18th Century. They had developed military engineers and surveying schools, that were the best in Europe, and far in advance of anything the English possessed at that time. Some of these engineers and surveyors arrived in India during the 1740's.

Their highly detailed and very accurate drawings survive in large numbers in the Centre des archives d'outre-mer.

Many of these drawings are of Mahé, and one in particular extends far enough up the coast to show the Forts shortly before 1741 at Tellicherry. It is quite possible that this drawing had been prepared in case the French had the opportunity to attack the settlement.

The plan quite clearly shows that there was a large extension to the east of the fort that survives today, stretching out over most of the area currently occupied by the modern bazaar.

This fort extension contains many red blocks on the plan, which are I believe the houses the garrison lived in, and also the warehouses the pepper was stored in. This was probably a secure trading area, occupied by Portuguese and Mopilla merchants working as intermediaries for the East India Company. Groups of porters would be constantly coming and going bringing pepper and cardoman from the interior. There was probably trading going on with local representatives of the Rajas coming into this part of the fort.

Figure 3. An extract of a French map dated to 1741, showing the Fortifications around Mahé.
The map is especially interesting because it shows us that the fort was much larger than the structure that we can currently see.
Centre des archives d'outre-mer (CAOM)[Please click onto the image for a larger version.]

When you scale up the drawing and you superimpose it onto a Google Earth image, you start to find that many of the alignments formerly occupied by fort walls, are still present on the ground preserved in modern road alignments and property boundaries.

Figure 4. The Lines of the Fort from the 1741 French map superimposed
onto Google Earth. [Please click on image for a large picture.]

There seems to be a discernible sequence to the development of the Fort. I believe that the existing fort was built after 1723. It is quite possible that it was built in the 1730's in the face of increasing hostility from not just the Indian's but the French as well.

The original fort was criticised by Hamilton for not commanding the "Road". When he uses the word road, he doesn't mean a track on land, but he is using a nautical term referring to a place where ships could lay at anchor.

Most of the trading vessels on the coast were Pattimars and other coastal vessels of Indian origin. Many of these were under charter to East India Company officials acting in both their professional capacity, but also undertaking private trade on their behalf.

These vessels were at risk not just from the French, but also from European pirates as well as Indian fleets under Angria and others who routinely attacked passing coastal shipping.

These small vessels were between 20 and 200 tons in draught and could enter the bay and anchor inside the rocky reef, under cover of cannon from the raised fort batteries.

I believe that the fort we can currently visit was built as an artillery platform intended not so much to fight of Indian attackers coming from inland, as European landings from passing ships or attacks on the roads by Indian shipping coming along the coast from places like Geriah.

Figure 5. Showing the 1730's Fort. Courtesy of Jissu Jacob.

The fort we see today is built much higher above the surrounding ground than most forts constructed at that period e by Europeans, who tended to sink the walls down behind ditches in an attempt to make them less vulnerable to destructive cannon fire, that could soon cut a ramp and breach into an unprotected wall. It is also fitted with a Cavalier, to be able to dominate the surrounding area with fire in a more effective manner, than would have been possible before from a position further from the shore, and with lower cannon platforms.



Figure 6. Sketch of existing Tellicherry Fort, with a Cavalier on top of the bastion at the top right hand corner.

A Cavalier is a smaller bastion, sitting on top of the lower bastion, mounting a second higher tier of cannon. Every foot of elevation gained, gave a longer range to the cannons in the fort.

I believe the English in the settlement had also become concerned about the number of "Blacks and Portugeze" living in the older fort who might not always be reliable in the event of a serious attack, and had prepared the new fort to act as a refuge in the event of the town inside the earlier lower fort falling to assault, perhaps started by one of the columns of porters and merchants entering the gates ostensibly to trade.

That coastal attack was also a major concern is also illustrated by the Hornwork and Bastions that are also shown to have existed between the modern fort and the sea, which must have occupied the site of the recently restored churchyard.

I believe that the first French fort was built between 1670 and 1690 on the alignment shown in red. During the period after 1699 and before 1723 it was refaced in stone by the English, both to make it more secure, and to stop the continual erosion of the earthworks which must have occurred with every monsoon.

Figure 7. A Google Earth image marked up to show the probable development phases of the Tellicherry Fort. Red, French & English Forts, 1670 to 1723. Blue, English 1723 to 1735, Black outer works by 1735.[Please click onto the image for a larger version.]

The outer Hornworks on the site of the present graveyard may only have been built in earth and timber as they seem to have been replaced by a stone wall with crenellations by 1761.

Figure 8. Tellicherry drawn from the deck of the ship America on the 17th March 1761. [Please click onto the image for a larger version.]

Figure 9. The 1761 drawing marked to show the existing surviving bastion and the flagpole, as well as the outer crenellated wall, that had replaced the Hornwork in the 1741 French Map.

Figure 10. A drawing showing the presumed line of the Crenellated Wall shown in the 1761 drawing. [Please click on the image for a larger version.]

It is possible that the line of the crenellated wall might have been preserved by the modern wall along the top boundary of the existing churchyard. The recently restored church is mid 19th century, and the crenellated wall had been demolished long before the church yard wall was built. However by the time the church was built, many hundreds of English and Europeans had already been buried in the graveyard.

It would have been logical that these graves and hence the graveyard should be just outside the line of the defended settlement, and yet still in a position where it was positioned under the eyes of the forts garrison to ensure that it was not vandalised.

It is also very likely that the foot of the crenellated wall was the place that the earliest graves were dug, and that this set the later boundary for the Victorian churchyard. Whilst there was a derelict church on the site of the existing one, which was replaced, it may not have been very well constructed. The 18th Century was not a particularly religious time in Britain, and most garrisons of East India garrisons at this time probably held services in the gun room as was the case in 1750's Fort St. David.

Figure 11. Photo showing the recently restored wall at the top of the churchyard. Photo courtesy of Jissu Jacob.

Oddly enough, it is very probable that none of the forts described above saw any action, apart from defending against the early attacks of the gallant Nair in the 1720's.

By 1730 the settlement had moved inland by several miles, and an outer ring of forts was built.

It was these forts that held off the Mysore Armies during the invasion by Hyder Ali, that I will describe in another post in the coming weeks.

[1] Captain Alexander Hamilton, "A new account of the East Indies," volume 1,published in 1727, pages 296 to 298. Alexander Hamilton.
[2] Historical fragments of the Mogul empire: of Morattoes, … Robert Orme, published 1782. Section 1. xii
[3] From a Wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Frontenac , the image can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_frontenac.jpg See also http://oldfortniagara.org/history/fortdev.php?id=2 for a very similar fort at Niagara also in Canada, which also evolved over the same period, in much the same way as Tellicherry did.
[4] From "A Collection of Treaties, Etc., Relating to British Affairs in Malabar, by William Logan, published in 1879, 1891, 1951 & 1989, page 2. The original was in Portuguese and the Portuguese text can also be found in Logan.
[5] William Logan, Malabar Manual, page 347.

Caranakera Menoen's Palanquin

Caranakera Menoen's Palanquin in 2004

On our way back from Thalaserry to Kochi our ever helpful hosts had arranged that I should meet Professor M.G.S. Narayanan, a renowned local Kozhikode historian. Professor Narayanan had formerly been Head of the Social Sciences and Humanities Department at Calicut University.

Prema Jayakumar, a direct descendant of Menon,[2] had previously told me that her ancestor's palanquin was preserved at the university History Department, and that it was in a store room.

Because of the difficult cramped nature of the storeroom, the carrying arms had already been cut off, and the palanquin was deteriorating fast. It had not been at all easy for Prema to get good photos in the restricted light, but the ones she had sent me clearly showed that it had been an official gift from the East India Company to Menoen.

An inscription giving details of the award of the palanquin.

On one of the doors, the coat of arms of the East India Company could clearly be seen.

East India Company Coat of Arms

At the university we were met by Professor K.N. Ganesh the current Head of the History Department, a most courteous and interesting man to talk to. I could have quite easily have spent the whole day discussing the period with him.

When the time eventually came for us to visit the palanquin, I quickly sensed that all was not well. Eventually I was taken to the head of the stairs in a second floor corridor, and there in the corridor stood the shattered palanquin.

It was explained to me that high spirited students had jumped on top of, or had otherwise smashed the palanquin during the previous months. The university was trying to find a way of fixing the palanquin, but that they lacked the necessary funds.

The Palanquin in December 2006.

It was quite clear that the palaquin although badly broken, was not beyond repair, as it had largely come apart along the joints.

I took the following series of photos in order to try to record its construction.

One of the sawn off carrying poles can be seen on the floor

The following photo, shows the interior of one of the two end bulkheads, with a metral reinforcement that carried the weight from the bottom of the box into the carrying pole.

Interior of carrying compartment

Roof of compartment, tilted upwards

The roof of the compartment, is the left hand or "upright" panel.

One of four steel reinforced feet or legs to keep the palanquin off the ground,
when put down by the bearers


Longtitudinal view of palanquin.

At the time, it was hard to know what to feel about the sad end of this palanquin, as I felt powerless to be able to do anything about its restoration. In the following days I had discussions with a number of people to see if we could come up with a rescue package.

Part of this would require researching the history of the palanquin, which is what I did on my return to Britain.

There is a strong tradition in Kerala that the palanquin was awarded to Menoen for his part in the killing of the Pazhassi or Pyche Rajah. In fact records of the correspondance clearly shows that the palanquin was awarded to him for his part in putting down the 1812 revolt in the Wayanad.

The details of the award were given in a letter dated 5th March 1813.

Extract Judicial Letter from Fort St George Dated 5th March 1813.

Para 33. In paragraph 273 of our letter from the Military Department under the date the 17th of December 181 we informed your Honourable Court that a disturbance in Wynaad which derived importance rather from the recollection of former rebellions in that district than from the number and consequence of the persons engaged in it had been immediately and completely suppressed by the exertions of the Magistrate Mr Baber and the Troops employed on the occasion.
Para 34. On reference to the proceedings noted in the margin your honourable Court will observe a report from the Magistrate which affords proof of the exertions used by him and the Natives on that occasion, and we had great satisfaction in bestowing a Palankeen with the usual allowance upon Kulpilly Kareencona Menon the Native Registrar of the Zillah Court.
We shall communicate the result of the trials of the persons apprehended and committed on account of their being concerned in that disturbance. [1]

At the time I was hoping to return to Malabar in late 2007 or 2008, and to try to see if it would be possible to get the palanquin repaired, and perhaps moved to somewhere like the Pazhassi Rajah Museum at East Hill, which already has a very fine Indian palanquin.

Other events have since intervened to delay my return.

Image my distress when today, I have received a note from my friend Manmadhan Ullattil drawing my attention to a blog published in April 2008. This blog by Chekkutty N Pudussery says that:

"Ironically, even as the people of the region were celebrating the memories of their folk hero, the authorities at Calicut University, the premier centre for higher education in the region, were busy inquiring into the mysterious circumstances in which a historic artefact, intimately connected with the history of Pazhassi Raja, has been missing from its museum. A beautifully carved palanquin, donated by the East India Company to one of its officers who helped hunt the Pazhassi Raja, kept in the museum of the University's history department, was later recovered from a nearby bush."

The full article can be read at
http://chespeak.blogspot.com/2008/04/pazhassi-raja-and-missing-palanquin.html

I wonder if the university authorities were so embarrassed that the palanquin had been allowed to become so badly damaged, that they threw it away. Or if the broken timbers were simply thrown away in a spring cleaning exercise, by staff with little or no interest in the history behind this 195 year old artifact.

If Mr. Pudussery is correct and the palanquin has been stolen, I would urge whoever has it to return it to the university.

[1] British Library, OIOC IOR /F/4/406 (10136) folio 3.
[2] See http://malabardays.blogspot.com/2007/01/day-three-14th-december-2006-interview.html