Commentary on
William Logan’s ‘Malabar Manual’
VED from VICTORIA INSTITUTIONS
Forests
It is foretold! The torrential flow of inexorable destiny!
QUOTE: Forests in Malabar are chiefly private property and the great bulk of the land in the Nilambur valley is the property of the Nilambur Tirumulpad, a wealthy landowner not likely under any circumstances to sell land, still less for the purpose of instituting a local industry of a character to compete with his own agricultural and timber operations for the limited supply of local labour. The plantations owed their existence to the accident that one of the many religious bodies holding temple lands happened to be in want of funds and to own blocks of land scattered here and there in this valley, many of which constituted the very best sites for planting that could have been selected had the whole area been available to choose from. END OF QUOTE.
This is a very revealing statement. In general, there is a very common belief in the subcontinent as of now, that during the English rule, the administration could do what they wanted. That they can rob any natural resource or the private property of any person. It is not true. Everything was done as per the dictates of very powerful written codes of law and rules.
The Nilambur Teak plantation was a very wonderful creation of the then Malabar District Collector, Henry Valentine Conolly. However, as of now, one can find insidious writings online that the Teak plantation was created with the specific intention of looting ‘India’. The reader should try to understand who could be writing such monstrous lies.
QUOTE: In considering, however, the difficulties which had to be contended with, it is necessary to regard as occupying a prominent position, the jealousy of a local Janmi of overpowering influence whose house and pagoda formed the only point of social attraction in what was otherwise a jungle. END OF QUOTE.
This again is a very pertinent observation. In the subcontinent, due to the feudal structure of the languages, every entity is seen from a relative perspective. A big man will become small when a bigger entity comes into proximity. Words like He, His, Him, She, Her, Hers, You, Your, Yours, They, Their, Theirs &c. all have relative forms. There is a terror in another entity or individual becoming big, even if there is no competition between them in their spheres of activity.
QUOTE: The Nilambur teak plantations were first suggested in 1840 by Mr. Conolly, Collector of Malabar, who described their object as being “to replace those forests which had vanished from private carelessness and rapacity—a work too now, too extensive, and too barren of early return to be ever taken up by the native proprietor." END OF QUOTE
These are ideas which cannot be understood in a feudal language mindset mind. The ‘native proprietor’ who lives and thinks in feudal languages has only one aim. To gather as much ‘respect’ for himself or herself as long as he or she lives. What happens to others is of no care to him.
This is the exact reason why the current-day citizens of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh cannot understand the grand magnanimity of the English colonial rule in the subcontinent. As to the native-Englishmen in current-day Britain, they are no more pristine-English. For, most of them are multicultural Englishmen. Multicultural Englishmen are sinister mutants. They have literally defiled their unique antiquity by surrendering their nation, language and culture to the wild ravages of the feudal-language speaking creeps.
QUOTE: In 1863 Mr. Ferguson arrived bringing the knowledge of a forester trained in the extensive plantations of Perthshire, and operations were vigorously prosecuted for the ensuing 7 years, i.e., from 1863-1869, by which time 619 acres had been planted in this quarter. The area of suitable land here having been exhausted, the experiment was made of further extending at Nellikutta, 10 miles up stream and near the base of the hills in 1870 and 1871 rather more than 100 acres were planted. END OF QUOTE.
The British Imperial Forest School was commenced in Dehradun in 1878. This was set up with the aim of preserving the forests of the land. However, as of now, I am told that the current-day trainees coming out of this institute are very careful about getting the official assignments where they can earn the most on the sides. The forest coverage in the geography of India, I think, has diminished to less than 10% of what there was there in 1947.
QUOTE: The site, however, proved so unhealthy that it was abandoned owing to loss of life and invaliding among the establishment. END OF QUOTE.
The solid truth is that many native-Englishmen perished in the various forests and mountains of this subcontinent, where they had ventured into, to create dams and roads and other infrastructure, in an age when technology was still quite primitive. Many died of Malaria, some by poisonous creature bites and some by various kinds of accidents. Yet, they were able to create fabulous dams and other structures, where were bequeathed to a most ungrateful local low-class politicians by Clement Atlee. [For example, Google Search: Colonel John Pennycuick CSI]
QUOTE: teak of the clean, straight, sound growth, for which the Nilambur Valley teak is celebrated, a character which in the plantations promises to be fully maintained END OF QUOTE
Everything that the English rule created in this subcontinent was of painstakingly worked out, to create items of persevering quality standards.
QUOTE: especially when the absence of heartshake and the economy of working secured by straight growth is considered. A comparison of the conditions under which the two classes of timber can be brought to market shows what a hopeless disadvantage the Anamala teak labours under. END OF QUOTE.
That means that the English-administration created teak was of superb quality. The wood was with no heartshake and also quite straight, with no bend.
QUOTE: it seems impossible to resist the conclusion that eventually the result of the plantations must be to contribute to the wants of the country an immense stock of useful material, realising such a revenue as fully to reimburse the State END OF QUOTE.
The farsighted aims were good. However, it is not to be doubted that there would have been private plundering of the timber here with the connivance of the local and forest department officials after the location was handed over to the looting Indian officials.
In fact, some twenty years back, there were huge jokes about felling trees in such forests. When large-scale private plundering of forest timber started taking place legally, with official permits, some low-class science organisations started making a clamour that if trees are gone, there will be no rain. Then one politician who was thick in the midst of these tree-felling operations, gave a very sarcastic comment, ‘If rains will cease if there are no trees, then how come there is rain in the Arabian Sea?’ This became a huge joke among the people of the local state, with everyone laughing it out, when presumably the tree felling was going in unhampered. Off course, the rains did not stop even when the forest lands went barren.
QUOTE: Almost all these extensive and valuable forests are private property, except the two Government forests known by the names of the "Chenat Nayar” and the "Walayar ” Reserves END OF QUOTE
This was the tragedy. Private forests means, right for private axing of trees of age extending backward to centuries.
QUOTE: The Chenat Nayar and the private heavy forests in the Taluk, all contain more or less valuable trees, among others, teak and blackwood ; while cardamom, honey, gum, &c., constitute the chief minor produce which is collected in the case of the private forests by the resident jungle tribes and generally bartered in the plains for the necessaries of life END OF QUOTE
As of now, the ‘resident jungle tribes’ have been plucked out into the open sunlight with all the trees around them gone. They have literally become homeless dependents on the current-day state government charity. The local officials address them in the dirt-level verbal codes of the local languages. The Nee (lowest you), Avan (lowest he/him), Aval (lowest she/her) &s. are the descriptive words secured for them. The total blame should be placed on Clement Atlee and his British Labour Party.
QUOTE: The lower slopes are very malarious, but the open grass lands higher up are above fever range END OF QUOTE
Malaria is spread by mosquitoes. However, there was not much information about this in those days. Going up the mountains in those days for any work could be a very dangerous endeavour.
QUOTE: the villagers in the neighbourhood having been in the habit of pollarding the trees for manure for their paddy. In 1883, this was put a stop to and a forest guard appointed to look after this END OF QUOTE
From a very superficial view, the posting of a forest guard was a good act. However, there is evidently the issue of posting one ‘Indian’ over other ‘Indians’. This is an act which portends serious issues. The language is feudal. The moment one ‘Indian’ gets power over another ‘Indian’, the verbal codes will change. The former can and will start using the lowest indicant verbal codes of Nee, Avan, Aval, eda, edi, enthada, enthadi etc. on vulnerable persons.
I am not sure how far the native-English officials did understand this issue. However, I have seen it mentioned by one IP (Imperial Police) officer of British-India, that it is quite dangerous to hand over power over one ‘Indian’ to another ‘Indian’. For the latter is sure to misuse the power.
So, if anyone reacts to the cantankerous words of the above-mentioned guard, he or she naturally becomes a ‘freedom fighter’, and his descendents are eligible for ‘freedom fighters’ pension!
QUOTE: A working scheme of this forest has been prepared. It is fenced in, and fire protected annually, and cattle are rigidly excluded. There is a special forest pound for stray cattle. END OF QUOTE.
As of now, all this might look quite silly. However, a lot of calibre is required to set up a huge structure of administrative system in a totally insane feudal language social system, right from start.
QUOTE: Timber from the Anamalas and the Mannarghat forests is largely floated down the river during the rainy season to the timber depots at Ponnani, belonging to local merchants as well as to the Cochin sirkar, for export to foreign places END OF QUOTE.
There is a general feeling spread by low-class academic textbooks, that in British-India all major commercial establishments were run by the British. It is an absolute lie. For, what really happened was the very powerful emergence of native-businessmen to very high levels, due to the spread of peace and security all over the subcontinent. There was proper policing, incorruptible officers in the administration, written codes of law, and the extremely dangerous highway dacoits known as Thugges in the northern parts of the subcontinent were crushed &c.
1. My aim
5. The first impressions about the contents
7. An acute sense of not understanding
8. Entering a terrible social system
9. The doctoring and the manipulations
10. What was missed or unmentioned, or even fallaciously defined
11. NONSENSE
12. Nairs / Nayars
15. Content of current-day populations
16. Nairs / Nayars
18. The terror that perched upon the Nayars
20. Exertions of the converted Christian Church
23. Keralolpathi
24. About the language Malayalam
25. Superstitions
26. Misconnecting with English
27. Feudal language
29. Piracy
30. CASTE SYSTEM
31. Slavery
32. The Portuguese
33. The DUTCH
34. The French
35. The ENGLISH
36. Kottayam
37. Mappillas
38. Mappilla outrages against the Nayars and the Hindus
40. What is repulsive about the Muslims?
41. Hyder Ali
42. Sultan Tippu
43. Women
45. Ali Raja
46. Kolathiri
47. Kadathanad
48. The Zamorin and other apparitions
49. The Jews
50. SOCIAL CUSTOMS
51. Hinduism
52. Christianity
53. Pestilence, famine etc.
54. British Malabar versus Travancore kingdom
55. Judicial
56. Revenue and administrative changes
57. Rajas
58. Forests
59. Henry Valentine Conolly
60. Miscellaneous notes
61. Culture of the land
62. The English efforts in developing the subcontinent
63. Famines
64. Oft-mentioned objections
65. Photos and pictures of the Colonial times
66. Payment for the Colonial deeds
67. Calculating the compensation