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REFORMS OF H.V.CO NOLLY IN MALABAR Henry Valentine Conolly (5 December 1806 - 11 September 1855) was an East India Company official in the Madras Presidency who served as a magistrate and collector of Malabar. He took an active role in the establishment of teak plantations to meet the demands for teak in ship-building. He was murdered in Calicut by Mappila - Muslim for the actions he sought to take on their leader Sayid Fasal Pukkoya Tangal of Mambrum. Henry Conolly was born on 5 December 1806 to Valentine Conolly of 37 Portland Place, London. He was the elder brother of Arthur Conolly and like him was educated at Rugby School, Warwickshire and then moved to Madras, India and became a writer in the Madras Civil Service from 19 May 1824. He later served in Bellary as principal collector. He served as a translator of Kannada, a cashier and as commissioner for settlement of claims in the Carnatic. The name H.V. Connolly is more notorious than famous in the history of Kerala. As the visible representative of the Government he was the subject for attack by the agitators connected with Mappila riots of the mid 19th century. Connolly’s measures might have been oppressive to the peasants and it infuriated them. He was responsible for imprisoning certain leaders of the Mappilas and was imported Sayyid Fazal Pookooya Thangal. Canolly Canal In the 19th century, in Malabar, there were no good transportation facilities- no good roads and railways. Travelling and transportation was very difficult especially from calicut and nearby areas. H.V. Conolly, then collector of Malabar, thought that if the rivers of Malabar are connected through canals, it would improve trade as well as mobility of people. It was with this purpose that he began to construct the canal in 1848 connecting Korapuzha or Elathur River in the north with Kallai River in the South. It passes through the city of Calicut and it was planned as a coastal water way in Malabar. Conolly Canal is the part of the West coast canal network of Kerala. The Canoly Canal is 11.4 km (7 mi) long and connects the Korapuzha River in the north and the Kallai River in the south. The width of the canal varies between 6 and 20 metres (20 to 65 ft), and the water depth during the monsoon ranges between 0.5 and 2 metres (1.5 to 6 ft). The sides of most of the canal are lined with dimension stone, but at some locations the lining has collapsed. In a number of places along the canal, trees and bushes and water plants have grown, causing the water flow in the middle stretch of the canal to become weaker.  Plantation of teak trees in Nilambur As an administrator Conolly had a spirit of dedication and farsightedness. He was a dutiful servant of the English East India Company and was particular in safeguarding the interest of the Company in Malabar. It was he who planted the Canolly’s Teak Plantaion, the first teak plantation in the world at Nilambur in the South Malabar. He was appointed as the District Collector of Malabar in 1840 and he made great attention to the development of teak forest in Nilambur. Canolly calculated the annual demand of teak from Nilambr by the Bombay dockyard at a rate of one ship a year. It amounted 2230 cubic meters of Teak. For this amount of timber at least 2000 teak trees were needed. And it will take 60 years to get 2000trees fully grown. It was this that he recommended at least 670s square kilometers forest lands to be brought up. The government accepted his recommendation. With the help of Dr. Riseberg form England he selected a plot of 1500 acres at Nilambur at the confluence of three rivers- Karimpuzha, Poupuzha and Chaliyar Puzha. He was aware of the fact that the unscrupulous felling of teak trees from the forest would lead to exhorting of teak trees in the forest. It was his farsightedness that made him think in terms of planting and growing teak trees as a plantation. It was the domestication of trees. It was in the interest of the economic well being of the company that Conolly decided to start this plantation. He was fully aware of the rarities and importance of teak and its usage as a building material in Railway lines and other projects of National importance. The teak plantation was a pioneering example of systematic forest management. It contained some of the finest pieces of the tropical hardwood teak. The plantations were constructed by the Madras Government for the supply of teak timber to the port of Bombay. He is also remembered for planning a coastal waterway in Malabar — what is known today as the Conolly Canal (although the introduction of railways around the time the canal was being completed had eclipsed its importance). The first Basel Mission church of Calicut city was built during Canollyis collectorship. End of Canolly On the evening of 11 September 1855, at around nine o'clock Conolly was attacked at the Collector's Residence at West Hill Bungalow, Calicut by a small group of Mappilas. Conolly was buried in Conolly Park near South Beach Road on 11 September 1855 and the headstone of his tomb was shifted to the premises of the C.S.I. St. Mary's English Church, Calicut in 1997. The murderers, Valassery Emalu, Puliyankunnath Thenu (who had escaped from prison at Calicut a month before) and Haiderman, a hairdresser, were eventually tracked and shot dead by the government forces led by Major Haly and Captain Davis (in an encounter after 6 days at large at Edavannappara in Thiruvambadi). The Mappila rebels were using these escaped prisoners to murder Henry Conolly who suggested the idea of exile of religious leader Sayid Fasal Pukkoya Tangal of Mambrum.