On 13 May, 1847 Major E. Madden belonging to Bengal Artillery of the British army came to Dunagiri during his cultural and botanical survey. His findings are mentioned in Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1848 (part 17, page 617). He describes the temple of Dunagiri where Shiva (Mahadev) as well as Devi (Bhagwati) were revered. He also mentions the stone inscription of 1181 CE. Among the more interesting of folklore he recounts “they affirm that the philosopher’s stone exists here and several peasants, cutting grass, have had their koorpies turned into gold by accidentally striking it; a fiction probably connected with the Jwalmat grass (Anthistiria Anathera) which grows here and has luminous roots.” (journal, page 617). Major Madden also attempted to identify many other species of trees and plants that grow here. Jwalmat is a rare grass found in Dunagiri having roots that glow.

In 1865-66, one Mr. Mani obtained this land from the current British rulers. Mr. Mani procured the finest tea saplings from Darjeeling and planted what was to become a very famous tea-estate here. Along with a 52 room mansion, he constructed a factory to process and package tea. This estate was spread over 22 miles with an area of 3,000 acres. There was a time when tea from Dunagiri was famous not only in India, but also in Europe. Suddenly Mani’s 52 room mansion caught fire. Discouraged by this sudden loss, Mani handed over the estate to his staff member Mr. Kirod and himself left for native England. Kirod, who was childless, left the estate to his nephew Mr. Hunterson. However, Mrs. Kirod divided estate into three pieces, two of which she gave to her brother Mr. F. Arol, leaving the third part to Hunterson. After some time, Hunterson too left this place to reside at nearby Lodh, where he planted another tea-estate. Arol was a bachelor. He passed away in 1933. Upon his death, the estate was taken over by the government, and control handed over to Arthur Ray.