Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c13.s3.t2.124

v2.c13.s3.t2.124

An interesting by-product of the Madras-Southeast Asia-China connection in the 19^th century CE was the establishment of a small mixed Chinese-Tamil settlement on the western side of the Nilgiri hills in the then Madras Presidency. According to Madras district gazetteers, a group of Chinese convicts from the Straits Settlements were brought over to work on the chinchona plantations there. While some of them rioted, some escaped. Some of these Chinese settled in an area between Naduvatam and Gudalur where they married local Tamil women and had children. There they engaged in vegetable and coffee cultivation as well as other occupations. The existence of this mixed Chinese-Tamil community was documented by the British anthropologist in 1909.