The year 2019 marked the bicentenary of British contact with the indigenous people of the Nilgiri Hills, in south India. This contact was initiated by John Sullivan, a local official from Coimbatore, who over a few years founded the town of Ootacamund from scratch.

Interestingly, and contrary to many accounts of colonial expansion, there is no indication anyone here was harmed by the outsiders, let alone enslaved or killed. Thus south India's first hill station came into being, in 1821.

The Nilgiris District is a bare 1,000 square miles in extent, yet it remains one of the most heavily researched areas of India. This volume brings together new articles from writers and scholars, including ecologists, filmmakers and a musicologist, local writers and overseas experts, on topics that have never before been examined:

• ancient metallurgy;
• the gathering of wild honey;
• Toda views of the British;
• the mythology of the Badagas and traditional healing systems of the Irulas and Alu Kurumbas;
• the music of some of these tribes; and
• the unique climate and several ecosystems of the region.

These fresh topics add to our understanding of this mountainous area; and stunning photographs, both historical and of the modern day, complement the chapters to bring the region alive.

Paul Hockings is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Illinois, and also Editor-in-Chief of Visual Anthropology.