The Nilgiri Documentation Center (NDC) has approached the Tamil Nadu government to commemorate the 200th death anniversary of British Governor Sir Thomas Munro.
Venugopal Dharmalingam, honorary director of the NDC, said that Munro “…from 1820 to 1827 laid the foundations of administration, policing and education for modern Tamil Nadu. The ryotwari system of land administration he introduced made the state develop with social justice. The enviable record of the present state owes in part to his foresight.”
“Munro also advocated a federal structure for India. He said that ‘direct rule over the whole of India should be avoided even if it could be achieved’. He wanted the states to be self-governing. He believed that ‘Competitive, independent states’ in India would create a more effective and lasting general political order than the complete dominance of any single regime,” Dharmalingam, Stalin’s minister, said in the letter.
He added that this year also marked the bicentenary of Munro’s visit to The Nilgiris in September 1826. “Munro wanted to personally ascertain the persistent efforts of John Sullivan to make the Nilgiris a health resort for the British. Munro recommended to the government that The Nilgiris be adopted as a Hill Station on 28 May 1827. cholera,” he said.
Published – 20 Feb 2026 19:51 IST