Were there places called Changanacherry and Adoora near Travancore at
the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, and
were these two places (which had post offices) connected in any way
with rubber plantations?

I visited a rubber plantation in southern Goa (state in India) on my
last trip … so I was interested in your question.

First, a bit of history:

1876 - English explorer Henry A. Wickham, 30, breaks Brazil’s rubber
monopoly, smuggling 70,000 seeds of the rubber tree Hevea brasiliensis
to the Royal Gardens at Kew whence they will be transplanted in
Ceylon, India, Malaya, and the East Indies on efficient plantations.

History - Rubber Plantations in India 

The first commercial plantation of rubber, however, was started by
European planters who formed the 'Periyar Syndicate' in 1902 at
Thattekad near Alwaye, Kerala, INDIA. In 1904, further developments
took place, particularly in Travancore, central Kerala. In that year,
planting of rubber was started in 'Yendayar', 'Eldorado' and
'Mundakayam' estates. The Governments of Travancore, Cochin, Madras
and Mysore encouraged rubber cultivation by granting land, and the
next six years saw considerable activity in Hevea planting. Between
1905 and 1907 KE Nicoll and EG Windle planted over 1100 acres (445
hectares) at Palapilly and Pudukad with rubber on the forest land
obtained as grant from the Government. By 1910, Mundakayam had become
the leading centre of rubber plantations in India, with an area of
about 4000 ha. This was about 40 per cent of the then existing rubber
area in India. Some enterprising planters took the initiative to plant
rubber in Goa by 1906. But the plantations in Goa did not make headway
in later years. The United Planters, Association of Southern India
(UPASI) evinced keen interest in rubber cultivation and carried out
research on various aspects, which helped in further development of
commercial plantations.

Presently, in INDIA, rubber is planted in about 5.25 lakhs hectares of
land producing 5.40 lakhs MT of Natural Rubber per annum
approximately. The average yield per hectare is 1422 Kg. The
production of Natural Rubber is expected to increase further during
the coming years.

http://www.rubbermark.com/html/natural.htm

Also, note that Travancore (Tiruvarankodu) was a princely state.  The
capital was Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram).  Travancore later became
part of Kerala and Tamil Nadu (two other states in India.

The following company mentions that they’ve been in business for a
century … however, it is not clear if they were in the rubber
business.

Padinjarekara Rubber Industries

http://www.rubberfootwear.com/index.html

“Our older factory is situated in Changanacherry town, in Kottayam
District of Kerala State.”

“Tracing its history, the business activites of the group started more
than a century ago with the establishment of Padinjarekara Punnen
Kurien and Sons (P) Ltd.”



Another site stated that:

“One of the first rubber plantations in India and first in Kerala
(Travancore) - The midland Rubber Producers Company - was established
in 1904 in Chittar.”

(Sorry, I didn’t get the URL.)

Finally, the only mention of “Adoora” is that it is a village in the
northern state of Jammu-Kashmir.  (Found it mentioned in a news
article.)  Nor does my map book of India (Lonely Planet) include
Adoora or anything similar.  India has been changing the names of its
cities rapidly during the past few years.

The place you meant by Adoora is actually called Adoor. It is in
Pathanamthitta District of Kerala state in India.

Yes, it is known for rubber plantations. Both Changanacherry and Adoor
were part of the princely kingdom of Travancore. Travancore joined the
Indian Union around 1947.

Adoor and Changanacherry are about 30kms apart.

My credentials: I hail from a town which is 30kms from Adoor and 32
kms from Changanacherry.