Nilgiri Mountian Railways

Transport in India began in the mid-nineteenth century. In 1849, there was not a single kilometer of railway line in India. By 1929, there were 41,000 miles of railway line serving every district in the country. At that point of time, the railways represented a capital value of some 687 millions sterling, and they carried over 620 millions of passengers and approximately 90 million tons of goods each year. The railways In India were a group of privately owned companies. The military engineers of the Honorable East India Company, later of the British Indian Army, contributed to the birth and growth of the railways which gradually became the responsibility of civilian technocrats and engineers. However, construction and operation of rail transportation in the North West Frontier Province and in foreign nations during war or for military purposes was the responsibility of the military engineers.
The first recorded use of the word Nila applied to this region can be traced to 1117 AD in the report of a general of Vishnuvardhana, King of Hoysalas, who in reference to his enemies, claimed to have “frightened the Todas, driven the Kangas underground, slaughtered thePallavas, put to death the Malayalas
The original inhabitants of the Nilgiri Hills were the Toda, Badaga, Kota, Irula and kurumbas. The Nilgiri Hills were part of Chera Empire in ancient times. Later, the area came under the rule of the Western Ganga Dynasty, and then Hoysala Empire in the 12th century. They then became part of the Kingdom of Mysore of Tipu Sultan who later surrendered them to theBritish in the 18th century.
The first Europeans to attempt the grueling climb to the Nilgiris included an enigmatic Jesuit priest, Father Fininicio, in 1603. They struggled up the mountains, avoiding elephants, tigers and other wild beasts, and met the Todas at the top.
From 1799 these mountains were seen daily by the British authorities from the plains Coimbatore. Revenue was collected for the British East India...