DR. JAMES ANDERSON

#history

A physician by profession. Known to be very inquisitive and persistent in academic pursuits. Fellow of Royal Society of Edinburgh. Worked as physician onboard British ships. Appointed as Assistant Surgeon in Madras Presidency, 1765. Rose to the ranks of Physician General of the British East India Company, Fort Sr George. To put things simple, let's say he was the most celebrated botanist of those times- DR. JAMES ANDERSON. 

It was his interest in plants and insects that pushed Anderson to study more about native Indian species of flora and fauna along the Coromandel Coast. Using his tremendous influence in the Board of Directors of EEIC(English East India Company), through his well preserved correspondences we can see how he lobbied for the development of the government nopalry in Marmalong (Mambalam-Saidapet) and the 110 acres of Government Botanical Gardens in Nungambakkam. Yes, you heard that right- the two most populated areas of the city today were once large gardens. 

The nopalry at Marmalong (2 acres) was Anderson's dream. Locals had introduced him the nests of an insect which was called "araku koodu" in Tamil. He mentions in his letters that the locals consumed the insect nests avidly. He continuously wrote to the EEIC for land to grow the species and do further research. He found out that the female cochineal insects produced a red dye when it was dried and processed. Spain held monopoly over the red dye- carmine which was already in abundance from its colonies in South America. Anderson sought to strike down the Spanish monopoly by engaging local labour and by introducing the cochineal insects breeding on nopal cactus (opuntia cactacea). The 'prickly pear' seeds were brought from various parts of the world and so were the insect eggs.

The nopalry successfully thrived, insects bred and Anderson produced the first batch of carmine. The EEIC was so overwhelmed with his success that it granted him 110 acres of land outside Madras (Nungambakkam was then outside Madras) to Anderson for his research. During the Mysore Wars of 1790s, Anderson was more interested in growing the mulberry trees and taking up sericulture by rearing silk worms. He knew Tipu Sultan was the pioneer in sericulture and upon learning that Tipu sent men to Bengal to bring worms, Anderson too sent men to China and Bengal for silk and worms. Shortly after receiving the silkworms, Anderson succeeded in sending silk reeled from their cocoons to London. He had obtained an experienced reeler from Bengal, Mohamed Arid Ulna, and using an illustration of a Piedmontese reeling machine, he had his own machine constructed.

The Nungambakkam gardens called Anderson's Gardens extended between the edges of Long tank along what is today's Pycroft's Gardens to probably the banks of Cooum. College Road, Haddows Road, Graems Road, parts of Mount Road and Nungambakkam High road were once part of Anderson's gardens where he has constructed a garden house for himself. He had planted variety of trees in the gardens- Thomas Twinings of the famed Twinings Tea writes in his memoirs that he found in Anderson's Gardens // a ‘wilderness of sweets’ — groves of ‘myrrh and flowering odours, numberless aromatic trees and shrubs, and flowers… the great and refreshing pummel-rose, something like an orange in its conformation and flavour, but larger than a melon, the strong jack-fruit, the delicate papaw, the luscious custard apple, the delicious and abundant mangoe in its choicest varieties, the Chinese leechee, and loquat, another fruit of China grateful to the eye and taste//

Anderson was more concerned about the caste system widely prevalent in Madras Presidency that time and wrote to the EEIC that to keep people of all rungs of life economically active, sericulture and growing of mulberry trees must be encouraged as it gave year round employment to the lower caste people who were landless and worked as coolies. In fact, 200 women worked in his gardens, all belonging to the female asylum. He wrote about the benefits of iluppai, rubber trees and umbellata (sayaver) to the government and asked for checking its commercial viability. The Lalbagh at Bangalore has trees from Anderson's gardens today. 

After a huge cyclone that ravaged Madras in 1807, the nopalry and botanical gardens were torn apart. Only few trees survived. Anderson died in 1809 and his tomb is now in St Mary's cemetery. The nopalry was already declared a failure and Anderson's gardens were  bought by Pycroft which was again fragmented. The house of Anderson is in shambles now- used by State Bank of India to dump waste. The next time you cross Nungambakkam High Road and see huge old trees, spare a thought to James Anderson, the man who could have simply lived in luxury earning money, but instead chose to strive for the local people and the flora and fauna of Madras, using his inquisitiveness. 

Pictures:

1. James Anderson

2. Statue of James Anderson in St George's Cathedral, Chennai

3. Gate of Anderson House, now State Bank of India

4. Anderson House that is being used to dump waste furniture now

5. Nopal cactus type that was grown in nopalry, marmalong

6. Cochineal insect nests

7. Anderson's Letter to EEIC where he addresses the problems of Coolies and caste system 

8. Handwritten letter accompanying nopalry report of Anderson

9. EEIC's letter closing down nopalry

10. Video on how cochineal insect is used to make carmine dye :

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1qSQuBW4GKk