Captain Richard Barron acted as the Governor of Madras' A.D.C. His views were made in 1835 during a brief sojourn in the Neelgherry Hills (presently referred to as the Nilgiri Hills), and were subsequently published in 1837 by Robert Havell, London. They highlight Ootacamund and its environs, one of the most important cities in the Nilgiri Hills, a southern Indian mountain range renowned for its coffee and tea plantations. The area underwent a... Captain Richard Barron acted as the Governor of Madras' A.D.C. His views were made in 1835 during a brief sojourn in the Neelgherry Hills (presently referred to as the Nilgiri Hills), and were subsequently published in 1837 by Robert Havell, London. They highlight Ootacamund and its environs, one of the most important cities in the Nilgiri Hills, a southern Indian mountain range renowned for its coffee and tea plantations. The area underwent a transformation into a favoured retreat for British officials and served as the summer seat of the Madras Presidency after its transfer to the British East India Company in 1798-99. Thousands of these types of views were commissioned by the East India Company to solidify its control over the region.

Barron's drawings made in the Nilgiri Hills came to be 'among the most evocative of all aquatints made after studies by amateur artists' (M. Archer, 'The Peoples of India', Marg, Vol XL, no. 4, p.15).

Remarks anthropologist Anthony R Walker, "Generally above the common height, athletic, and well made, their bold bearing, and open and expressive countenances, lead immediately to the conclusion that they must be a different race to their neighbours of the same hue....A large, full, and speaking eye, Roman nose, fine teeth, and pleasing contour, having occasionally the appearance of great gravity, but seeming ever ready to fall into the expression of cheerfulness and good humour, are natural marks, prominently distinguishing them from all other natives of India.' (Anthony R Walker, “The Western Romance with the Toda.” Sociological Bulletin 40, no. 1/2 (1991): 21-46)

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