The Nilgiri (Blue Mountains), often referred to as the Nilgiri Hills or as Nilgiris, are a range of mountains with at least 24 peaks above 2,000 meters in the western most part of  Tamil Nadu at the junction of  Karnataka and Kerala states in Southern India. They are part of the largerWestern Ghats mountain chain making up the southwestern edge of  the Deccan Plateau.  In 1819, John Sullivan, the British Collector of Coimbat-ore, set out to explore the Nilgiris after obtaining an order from the British East India Company charging him to investigate the "origin of the fabulous tales that are circulated concerning the Blue Mountains to verify their authenticity and to send a report to the authorit-ies".  With a detachment of Europeans and Indian sepoys, he set out on his mission on January 2, 1819. The journey involved crossing rough and harsh terrain, steep precipices and danger from wild animals. After an expedition that lasted for six days and loss of the lives of some of the expedition members, Sullivan finally reached a plateau from where he proudly hoist-ed the British flag.  This is believed to have been the hill station of Ootacamund or abbreviated as Ooty, now known as Udhagamandalam. Sullivan found a striking similarity between Ooty and his own native England.   He advised the government that Ooty, with its salubri-ous climate, could be used as a sanatorium for British troops stationed at Madras.  The government accept-ed his proposal, and Ooty came to be developed as a major hill station.

By the early 1820s, the hills were developed rapidly because most of the land was by then privately owned by British citizens. It was a popular summer and week-end getaway for the British during the colonial days. In 1827 Ooty became the official  sanatorium and the summer capital of the  Madras Presidency. Many wind-ing hill roads were built. In 1899, The Nilgiri Mountain Railway was completed by influential and enterprising British citizens with venture capital from the Madras government.  In 1830, Major Kelso, Commandant of the cantonment in the Nilgiris, invited Indian merchants to start businesses in the Nilgiris. 

The Cutchi Memon Jamath of the Nilgiris comprises of Ootacamund, Coonoor, Kotagiri, Mettupalayam, Coimbatore and Gudalur.

Among the early Cutchi Memon settlers in the Nilgiris were Mr. Cawdeer Sait, Moosa Sait, Aboo Sait and Gul Mohamed Sait. Moosa Sait's family donated the land for the Jumma Masjid at Ooty, and the land for the burial ground near the Ooty Lake. His family now exists in the person of Mr. Iqbal Sait who lives in Ooty. Gul Mohamed Sait had his business in Ooty on land later purchased by Hajee Fakeer Mohamed Sait's family and where the present Hajee Fakeer Mohamed Sait's Memorial Hospital now stands. Cawdeer Sait also owned property in Ooty but records are not available to substantiate this fact. During the period 1840 to 1845, a few families migrated from Cutch and settled in the Nilgiris.  Hajee Fakeer Mohamed Sait's family, Ahmed Saleh Mohammed Sait Mianji, Yousuf Tar Mohammed Sait also known as Patel, Abdul Rehman Veersani, Aboo Sait, Abdul Rehman Moosa Said and Siddique Ismail Sait were the early settlers who started business ventures. Hajee Fakeer Moham-med Sait came to the Nilgiris with his two sons Abdul Rehman Sait and Mohammed Usman Sait and started his business. They were among the pioneer planters of the Nilgiris.  They started coffee and tea plantations on lands given to them by the British.