River Of Logs In British Era Calicut, 1898 Photo
An 1898 photo of river of logs in British-era Calicut (Kozhikode). Calicut was at that time under the Madras Presidency. It was in Calicut that the Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama first landed in 1498 in search of pepper. The photo shows bountiful of logs floating down the Kallai River. The logs are probably for the saw mills and transport to other places.
Also visible are Britishers either buyers or sellers or both, an Indian can be spotted along with them. Europeans had many business interests in Calicut, Wayanad and other nearby plantations. Not only for timber but also for spices, coffee, coconuts, and other natural produce. Sourced mainly from the hilly region of Wayanad in the Western Ghats which lay close by.
Even the Kallai was once the backbone of the timber trade at one time. Since forests rich in timber were located nearby. Timber was a brisk business because of its huge demand and easy availability of wood at the time. However, as recently as the 1980s the government put a ban on logging. Malabar timber was world-famous even before the arrival of Vasco da Gama to Kozhikode.
The timber from the Malabar region (Calicut was a part of this region) was top quality. Especially the rosewood, teak, mahogany, jackwood etc. The Britishers prized the Malabar timber for its use for furniture and construction. The teak was especially prized for shipbuilding by Europeans and Americans before steel ships came in to the scene. Even the Royal British Navy in the 19th century sourced Malabar teak for the construction and repair of ships. Encroachments and pollution caused a slow degradation of the Kallai, once a grand river. Click on the photo for better view.
Read more The Wood Legacy of Kallai. See post Coffee Estate In Wayanad Madras Presidency – Old Photograph.
Did you know- there are top quality timber from over 100 years lying at the bottom of the Kallai and if retrieved and auctioned the government of Kerala can make an immense fortune of it.
From the collection- 1906 Photo Postcard Raja Ravi Varma Portrait., Victoria Carriage In Bombay – Old Postcard 1940., Vintage Book 1912 – Kerala The Land Of Palms By I H Hacker., Aden, Bombay, Madras & Calcutta – Vintage Map 1910
