The Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) was shifted from Quetta in the present day Pakistan to Wellington, Coonoor, only after Independence in 1947. However, more than 150 years ago, the British had sent their regiments to convalesce in the Nilgiris mountains, away from the dry, hot climate of the plains. A depot was established in 1862 to treat up to 500 convalescent soldiers every year, with the land for the barracks acquired from the Todas and the Badagas.

Reverend Phillip K. Mulley, a long-time chronicler of the Nilgiris, who spoke to The Hindu about the history of the Wellington Cantonment, said much of the land on which the barracks stand was acquired from the Inkity clan of the Todas and the rest was acquired from the Badagas. “Interestingly, when the land was acquired by the B

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