[KartikeyaL]

The thread is to document the cars of the various Zamindari's in Tamilnadu.

From Wikipedia

Zamindari's were established in the Madras Presidency by the government of the British East India Company starting from 1799 onwards.

These settlements were established in order to delineate authority to landlords and thereby relieve the ryot from the control of middlemen who often exploited them. Often, these zamindars were Indian Native princes who lost their sovereignty due to British expansion. The zamindari settlement was based on a similar settlement established in Bengal. The Zamindari settlement of Madras was largely unsuccessful and was wrapped up in 1852.

However, a few Zamindaris remained till India's independence in 1947.

Uthukuli Zamin

Uthukuli which is located on the outskirts of Pollachi and the beautiful city of Coimbatore. 800 year old Uthukuli palace was built by the Kalingarayars even before the Mughals set up their kingdom in the Indian peninsula.

Zamin Uthukuli has been under the upkeep of the Kalingarayars for the last several many centuries. The Kalingarayars are an ancient clan of rulers who ruled parts of Western Tamil Nadu from the times of the Cholas. They have built temples, converted most of the forest areas into potential wet farmlands.

They constructed a canal to the people of western Tamil Nadu by creating a union between the rivers Amaravathi, Bhavani, and Noyyal – tributaries of Cauvery River. The canal is known as the Kalingarayar canal.

Courtesy - Kalingarayar.com

Generation 33-34




Generation 34-35

[KartikeyaL]

Generation 35-36











Wonder if the Cadillac survives

[KartikeyaL]

Generation 36-37






Hunting pictures

An unidentified Rolls Royce

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[KartikeyaL]

Zamindar of Pichavaram - Shri Chidambaranatha surappa chozanar


Zamindar's on drive, Idumban hill, Palani


Zamindar of Singampatti - Thiru.T.N.S.Shankara Theerthapathy


Zamindar of Kadavur

[V.Narayan]

Thank you for sharing. Good to view the cars of a by gone era. Not so long ago if you think about it. The zamindars were not necessarily a benevolent lot. Their job was to maintain law and order on behalf of the British colonial masters and in return got to extract rent/taxes from the farmers. A part of that tax was paid up the chain to the British administration. As a system it was good for the zamindars and the British but less so for the hapless ryot. I should know - my maternal lineage were hardcore zamindars! One great grand uncle was hacked to death by a ryot who had had enough of the exploitation. My vote for the ryot :-)

Off topic - I often wonder why so many car photos of yesteryears are seen posing with a animal killed in the hunt. I personally find it appalling. They were busy doing this right up to my grandfather's time. PS: the only animals (not exactly one, but still) I kill are cockroaches.

Question for the experts - which car is this in the photo on a raised jack. It looks very similar right to the dickey locking hooks to a Opel 6-cylinder we had in our family till ~2002

[G-One]

Wow wow wow. Brilliant thread. Threads like these make us realize how ignorant we are in terms with our own wonderful history.

Thank you for the eyeopener.

[Zed]

Originally Posted by G-One

Wow wow wow. Brilliant thread. Threads like these make us realize how ignorant we are in terms with our own wonderful history.

Thank you for the eyeopener.

I have to assume you are referring to the cars when you say "wonderful". As stated in the earlier post, the Zamindari system was designed to exert authority over the under-privileged. There are the occasional tales of benevolence but allegedly these were the exceptions.

[allinbalance]

Originally Posted by Zed

I have to assume you are referring to the cars when you say "wonderful". As stated in the earlier post, the Zamindari system was designed to exert authority over the under-privileged. There are the occasional tales of benevolence but allegedly these were the exceptions.

Very true! I am from Bengal and also from a Zamindar ancestry and the overall history is similar. The Zamindars were heavily British influenced and bought had some of the classic cars of that age. Many in Bengal are maintained in pristine condition even to this day. My uncle's family still has a classic Studebaker President in original paint! Will try to get a photo sometime.

[swami69]

While this thread is great from the perspective of cars, I hate to see those guys posing in front of those majestic animals which are killed by them.

If they were here today, they will be no other than poachers and shot dead by the forest authorities.

Sorry for this outburst, they are not courageous, rather criminals killing an innocent animal and those pictures do not belong to this thread.

Swami

[download2live]

Let us take it easy on the pictures. Those were different times. And we can only guess the context. Some animals might have developed a taste for livestock and hence taken out. Who knows.

Thanks OP for the thread. Expecting some anecdotes from by gone era.

[cmani0000]

Cadillac looks stunning, that said most of the classic cars that were in India were beautiful. Plymouth, Morris, RR, I can stare at them all day, had a chance to see some of them in Sri Lanka.

BTW, now i can see why the big cats are almost extinct these days. Its not something we can blame them for, its all about awareness and contemporary trends. Tobacco was once seen as a symbol of prestige, but now as a deadly killer. perspectives and priorities change as we evolve.

[Arjun Bharadwaj]

History is always fascinating because it reminds us of a world that was far simpler, easier to understand(for my primitive mind) and a feel good factor that surroundings generally used to be much greener and a sense of quality and built to last feeling of the cars as seen in the photos. Would have loved to see the interior architecture of those palatial homes also.

Sorry for going slightly off topic, but the photos of those leopards and tigers lying dead kind of dulls down the excitement. It reminds us of the grim reality that humans have been busy destroying nature from many generations if not centuries and still pride ourself as the lords.

[KPS]

This beautiful 1916 Ford Model T, Town Car used to belong to the Udayarpalayam Family

Udayarpalayam was ruled by many kings in the history such as Early Cholas, Kalabhras, Pallavas, Medieval Cholas, Later Cholas, Later Pandyas, Delhi Sultanate, Madurai Sultanate, Vijayanagar Empire, Thanjavur Nayaks,Thanjavur Marathas, and British Raj.

It has many government and private schools and education institutes also.

The main occupations of this town is agricultural, fishing, and hand looms

The zaminadiri system existed still 1956, Chinnanalla Udayar, was the last Zamindar, who ruled till 1956. Even now their successors are found in the town. The town has a large palace and a temple and temple tank within its premises.

Source

TEAMCSA in Chennai has delivered another stunning restoration of this car







Cheers

KPS

[mac187]

I can understand why Bhpians' are not happy with some of the pictures in this thread, but asking for removal of the pictures or the thread is not the answer. By deleting history we are pretending it didn't happen, good or bad, these pictures provide a glimpse into the past and its upto the reader to understand the context and learn for our rich history.

With that out of the way, I wanted to ask Bhpian's like KPS and others, where do they think cars like these went? I was told that back in the 80's/ 90's there were specialized brokers who used to hunt down classics and ship them to US as the demand of these classics was peaking there. Not sure how much truth is there in this story, but I refuse believe that cars like these have rotted away.