Malabar Manual

The tax upon the pattam or varam which was levied by the Rajas in the Northern Districts of Malabar before Hyder's time to pay the tribute of the Bednore or Ikkaree Raja. The Chirakkal Raja states it amounted to 2 in 10 ; in some places it is said to have been 3 in 10, or 30 per cent of the pattam.

MARUPATTAM.

From Dravidian maru ( = other, next, back again) and pattam (q.v.)

Is the counterpart of the Pattam Pramanam which the Janmi keeps by him, and may be referred to as a document in failure of the Grandhavari.

It is written upon the Karimbana palm or palmyra leaf.

MUNPATTAM.

From Dravidian ( = priority in time or place, first) and pattam (q.v.).

Note. No condition of 12 years’ enjoyment attaches to a Munpattam lease. — S.B.C., 215 (1878).

PATTACHCHITTU.

From Pattam (q.v.) and Dravidian chittu ( — a note, bill, bond).

A receipt.

Note—It is not a receipt, as Mr. Græme says, but a lease given by the proprietor to the tenant. The counterpart is Marupattam (q.v.).

PATTAMALI or PATTALI.

From Pattam (q.v.) and Dravidian ali ( = a holder).

Is a subordinate officer attacked to a Hindu temple, subject, generally, to the Uralan or to his locum tenens the Karalan. Generally speaking the office is hereditary, but the Uralan may procure his dismissal for any crime by representation to the Raja or the reigning authority.

The hereditary Karanam or register of a Naduvali The fixed or permanent writer. It is not applied to registers of Desavalis or others.

PATTOLA or PATTAMOLA.

From Pattam (q.v.) and Dravidian Ola ( = palm-leaf, deed).

Is a deed executed by the mortgagor in favour of the mortgagee, making over certain rice-land to the possession of the latter in consideration of money received, called Kanappanam. In the deed the amount of the debt is specified, the whole number of paras pattam which the land yields, the number of paras which are to be deducted1 for the interest of the debt, and the remaining number of the paras pattam of rice in the husk, called purappad, which are to be paid to the Janma. It describes the particular kind of para in which the residue is to be paid, and that it is to be delivered at the house of the proprietor. The deed states that the Kanam money received is equal to the pattam, by which is to be understood that the amount of the principal does not exceed the annual pattam, and it is said that the original intention of the proprietor receiving an advance was merely that of securing himself against the tenant failing in the payment of his pattam.

The necessities of the proprietors in aftertimes drove them to borrow far beyond their annual incomes. Though not specified in the deed, it was formerly customary to give from 3 to 5 per cent, on the amount of the principal to the proprietor upon making out this deed as a fee2 under the name of Oppu or signature, and further the mortgagee had to give 2 per cent, under the denomination of Suchi, or the point of the iron style used for writing the deed. This was given where the Janmi’s established Pattolakkaran or register was employed, but the fee was less where the mortgagee appointed a person for the occasion.

NOTEs: 1. Among deductions is likewise the equivalent in paddy of the amount of assessment on the land in cases in which the tax is agreed to be paid by the mortgagee.

2. At present the rates differ with different Janmis. In some cases these are ad valorem, more frequently they are fixed. Other fees are usually paid now-a-days, such as fee to attesting witnesses, and small presents to the mortgagor’s relatives.

In the case of the Zamorin and his Kovilakams the fines and fees ordinarily levied are the subjoined :—

(1) Avakasam, at so much per para, or fanam, Janmapattam. The rate varies from 8 to 12 annas.

(2) Twenty per cent, on ditto under the name of “Aduppatha.”

(3) Stalat chilavu (expenses on the spot), that is, fees to local Karyastans.

(4) Tiruveluttu valivadu, i.e., the signature fee.

(5) A fee to the agent of the Janmi, who, under a Power of Attorney, admits execution of the documents before the registering officer. END OF NOTEs

Altogether the Oppu and Suchi are supposed not to have exceeded 5 per cent, on the amount of the debt in general. But these payments1 have been for some time discontinued in practice in most places ; they have only reference to a state of things in which the interest of the mortgage debt bore little proportion to the annual rent yielded by the land in the possession of the mortgagee, and are too excessive to be applicable to the altered circumstance of the interest of debts being equal to the pattam receivable by the mortgagee. With respect2 to this deed it is understood that if the mortgagee insists upon payment of the mortgage debt, the mortgagor has a right to deduct from the principal from 10 to 20 per cent, the rate depending upon local custom, under the name of Sakshi, and he is under no obligation to return the fees of Oppu and Suchi which he has received.

NOTEs: 1. I dare say they were when paddy was so cheap that the Michcharam received in kind hardly enabled the Janmi to meet the Government demand.

2. I am not aware that where a mortgagee demands money, any deduction in Kanam is allowed. The Janmi is not liable to refund fees. Within the last few years a practice has been introduced by certain janmis of inserting a clause m the Kanam deed whereby the mortgagee is deprived of his right of holding for 12 years if he keeps rent in arrear or does any act to the prejudice of the Janmi. Sometimes it is provided that the land shall be surrendered on demand. In all these cases the mortgagee is entitled to the refund of a fraction of the fines and fees whereof the denominator is 12, while the numerator is the number of years out of 12 which still remain to run out. The Janmi, however, takes care to mention in the document only a portion of the fines, etc., actually received by him, and when it is remembered that only a certain fraction of the principal is claimable, and not interest thereon, the hardship this practice works on the tenant becomes clear. END OF NOTEs

If the mortgagor refuses payment upon demand, the mortgagee has a right to withhold the whole of the pattam yielded by the land in his possession until his claim is satisfied, or he may mortgage the land or sell his interest in it to another. He has no claim upon any other but the particular property mortgaged belonging to the mortgagor, or any right of causing the arrest of the mortgagor. If the mortgagor of his own accord tenders payment of the mortgage debt contrary to the wish of the mortgagee, he must pay the full amount without any deduction for Sakshi, and if the mortgagee has not held possession for three years, the mortgagor must return to him the Oppu and Suchi fees which he has received.

If the mortgagee3 under this deed fails to pay the proprietor the purappad or residue after deducting the mortgage interest from the pattam, he forfeits all claim to the debt, and the proprietor has a right to demand restitution of the land. The Polichcheluttu claimable under this deed seems intended as an equivalent for the tenant’s profit, named Cherlabham, which he has derived from the land.

NOTEs: 3. At present the law, except in the cases mentioned in Note 4, is, I believe, that the Janmi shall sue for rent from time to time, or set off the accumulated rent against the Kanam money at the end of the 12 years. END OF NOTEs

On the demise4 of the tenant it is a fine of entry to his successor. The amount of it and the frequency of its renewal seem to depend upon the quality of the soil and the quantity of Cherlabham which has been enjoyed by the tenant. The latter is generally ascertained by the competition of neighbours who offer better terms to the proprietor. In the Northern Division the practice of Silakasu, or taking one year’s pattam once in three or four years, or a quarter or a third of the pattam every year, as an equivalent for the Cherlabham, has prevailed in lieu of Polichcheluttu.

Notes.—1. See Kanam and the notes of judicial decisions appended thereto.

2. The foot-notes to Mr. Græme’s text are by an experienced Native Revenue official of the district.

NOTEs: 4. This is obsolete now. END OF NOTEs

PATTAN

Corruption of Sanskrit bhattan ( = a class of foreign Brahmans). Honorific plural == pattar, applied as a caste name.

Is the foreign Brahman, not an aboriginal of Malabar. In the Palghat and Tommalapuram Districts they are the chief money-lenders and traders.

PATTINNU RANDU.

(Dravidian) = literally, two in ten.

Is where the Kudiyan pays only 2 in 10 of the pattam to the Janmi, whatever the Nikuti may be, and the difference between the Nikuti and what remains is his profit and loss.

PEPPER - VINE.

By a vine in the public accounts is meant the standard tree supporting a number of pepper-vines, or as many pepper-vines as there may be clinging to a standard tree are reckoned as one. The vine of assessment, again, the Nikuti valli, is as many vines as produce a certain quantity of pepper ; these are counted as one assessment-vine ; the quantity is 15 Idangalis of pepper in the Southern Division.

Notes.—1. The 16 Idangalis were of green pepper, which would turn out about 6 Idangalis of dry pepper.

2. The pepper-vine assessment was abolished in 1806—7, and an export duty levied instead. This continued till 1874—75.

PERPETUAL LEASE.

Notes.—1. A perpetual lease is an absolute alienation of the land subject to a perpetual obligation of paying the quit-rent, but failure to pay the quit-rent will certainly not justify resumption of the land.—S.S.C., 405 (1854), 10 (1865).

2. A perpetual lease is irredeemable, but usually not assignable.— S.D.C., 188 (1877), 29 (1878), 374 (1878), and 236 (1879).

PERUM ARTHUM or ALUKIYA ATTIPPER.

From Dravidian Perum (from peruka=to bring forth, to obtain, acquire, get) and Sanskrit (= aim, scope, object desired, gain, wealth, riches, money), and from Dravidian Alukuka (=to rot, decay) and Attipper (q.v.).

Is a deed under which the Janmi has received the full value of the property mortgaged and is not entitled to any, the smallest, share of the pattam, or even the smallest token of acknowledgment of proprietorship, but he withholds the ceremony of giving water that he may retain the empty title of Jamni.

Notes.—1. This tenure approximates closely to that of Otti, the mortgagee being in possession and enjoying the whole produce. The peculiarity of this transaction is that the sum advanced, which is always the full marketable value of the land for the time being, js not mentioned in the deed ; and the landlord, in redeeming his property, does not repay the amount originally advanced, but the actual value of it in the market at the time of redemption. In other respects the same rules that apply to Otti mortgages are applicable to this also. Deeds of this kind are in use only at Palghat and Temmalapuram.—(Proceedings of the Court of Sadr Adalat, No. 18, dated 5th August 1856.)

2. Perum Artham is a mortgage under which, when the mortgagor redeems, the mortgagee is entitled (before restoration of the mortgaged land) to be paid its market value at the time of redemption, not the amount for which the land was mortgaged.—I.I.L.R., Madras, 57.

3. Query : Was Janmi, as Mr. Græme says, an empty title after his share of the produce of the land had been thus mortgaged ? It is contrary to all reason to think so. The Janrni still retained his ‘‘water contact birthright’' (Nir-atti-peru). With various privileges attached to it. See Attiperu, Janmam, Sthana-mana-avakasam.

PHALAM.

Sanskrit, probably from Dravidian palam (==ripe fruit), fruit especially of trees, result, produce.

Fruit, profit, compensation. Under the name of Kaval-phalam or compensation for protection the Zamorin in 933 M.S. levied a general tax of one quarter of a Viray fanam upon every para of seed-land specified in Pramanams or deeds.

A bearing tree.

Note.—It was in parts of Palghat only that the Zamorin levied the tax.

PODI-CHERU.

Podi, dust ; Cheru, mud ; alluding to the different states in which land is before and after the rains. The seed without preparation is sown in the dry land and the sprouted seed on the wet.

POLICHCHELUTTU.

From Dravidian polikka (=to break open, undo) and Dravidian Eluttu (= writing).

A deed on the periodical renewal of lease, a new bond.

Literally, tearing (of documents). Is the remission or donation which the mortgagee makes periodically to the Janrni upon the amount of the debt and upon renewing the mortgage-bond. It was formerly renewed once in twelve years, the cycle in use before the present Malabar era, and generally speaking may be reckoned 2 in 10 upon the principal, but every family has its peculiar custom. At present the twelve years are not observed, but it depends on circumstances. The former principal is not reduced in the new bond ; for instance, it might have been 1,000 fanams, and the Kanakkaran gives one or two hundreds to the Janmi ready money, but the 1,000 are brought into the new bond. It is not receivable when the mortgage has arrived at that stage which is called Otti, nor is it payable upon Kadan Vayppa mortgage.

POTIPPADU.

From Dravidian poti (==a measure) and Dravidian padu (= falling, subjection, nature, measure of space, time).

Poti is a measure equal to 30 Idangalis, Potippadu is an extent of land which requires this quantity of seed to sow it.

POTIPPATTU.

From Poti (q.v.) and Dravidian pattu (=ten).

KAVATTU NEL.

From Dravidian Kayattuka ( =to increase, raise) and Dravidian nel (= unhusked rice).

The tenth of the seed, the tax which pagodas used to receive from the Kudiyan’s share in some Hobalis in the Kavali Taluk. It seems to have been consolidated with the Sircar assessment upon the Company's first survey, and no adequate compensation provided for the pagodas.

PRABHU.

(Sanskrit) = lord, prince, chief of Nayar militia.

A military chief or leader of a large force.

PRAMANI.

(Sanskrit) = chief, influential person.

Village arbitrators in the time of the Rajas, respectable inhabitants.

PRAVRITTIKKARAN.

(Sanskrit) = man of business. Often corruptly written Parputty or Parbutty.

The native collector of the revenue of a Hobali or subdivision of a taluk or district, of which there are in general from 9 to 15 to a district. It is rather a modern term, substituted for the ancient term of Pravrittikkaran.

PROPRIETORS.

It has been supposed (Mr. Warden’s letter to the Board of Revenue, 16th June 1813) that there are 44,378 proprietors1 in Malabar, the average revenue of whose estate is 480,000 pagodas, and that there are about 150,000 individuals who pay revenue direct to Government, whose payments do not exceed 3-3/16 pagodas each ; that almost the whole2 of the Janmam property is vested in pagodas and other religious establishments, and that about three-fourths of the land are held under foreclosed mortgages. This information is founded upon the account given in by the landed proprietors in 981 or 1805-6 ; but it has not been adverted to that an immense number of proprietors possess estates in several districts and different Hobalis.

NOTEs: 1. One-twentieth of them only pay-revenue to Government.

2. This was, perhaps, the state of things at the time this was written, but it is not at present, although Mr. Chattu Nambiar states that Devaswam lands form not less than one-third of the Malabar lands. There is probably some truth in the complaint, so frequently preferred of late, that the Uralars of Devaswams are converting into private (i.e.Taravad) janmam lands belonging to the pagodas. It is however, I believe, well known that all Devaswams are not public institutions. Many are strictly private property. It is considered a great point to own a Devaswam, and many janmis, until quite recently, had a tendency to set apart for their Devaswam lands till then their Taravad property. Others, again, used to do the same in order to guard against lands being sold by posterity (it being considered sinful to dispose of pagoda property, but apparently not to misappropriate the produce thereof) or held responsible by Courts for debts contracted by the owners of the Devaswams. END OF NOTEs

The account of 981 was made out by Hobalis, and a proprietor who has estates in many Hobalis appeared separately in the account of each Hobali, or perhaps three or four times in the account of a district, though properly he should only have been entered once. The number of proprietors is therefore swelled beyond all proper proportion, and their actual number is not supposed to exceed 15,000 The number of persons paying revenue direct is much exaggerated from the same cause, though the payment is certainly in very great detail and the number is no doubt very large who pay within one rupee.

I have only, however, been able to see Hobaliwar accounts, and many individuals have to pay in several Hobalis of a district. There are no accounts to show how much each individual pays in each district. It has been stated that almost the whole of the Janmam property is vested in the pagodas and other religious establishments. Much of this property must, however, be considered to belong to individual Brahmans to whom the whole landed property is said at one time to have appertained.

Taking the number of proprietors at 15,000 each estate may be reckoned to give 32 pagodas revenue, but it is conjectured that half of the whole revenue is due from estates yielding from 1,000 to 5,000 rupees assessment, though the proprietors do not themselves hold the lands in their possession or pay the assessment, the mortgagees being the occupants and paying the revenue.

The mortgaging system has been considered injurious, because the mortgagee in possession could not improve his land without the risk of being dispossessed, without affording to the proprietor the temptation to demand more or to transfer possession to another ; but it must be recollected that the proprietor cannot dispossess a mortgagee without foregoing the benefit which would be derivable to him if the mortgagee himself were to require payment of a deduction of 20 per cent from the mortgage debt under the name of Sakshi ; that it is not customary to alter a pattam long established upon an average estimate ; that every fresh demand on the part of the proprietor for an increased rent diminishes his and strengthens the rights and interests of the mortgagee in the land, gives the latter an additional mortgage interest and an improved prospect of becoming the ultimate proprietor.

By the gradual operation of this system the greater part of the mortgagees have indeed already become the virtual proprietors of the land. It seems to have been considered that lands were expressly and for the first time made over to mortgagees to discharge1 an existing debt contracted from causes unconnected with the occupation of the land ; but the fact is, I believe, that the money was almost invariably borrowed from tenants who were previously in possession.

NOTEs: 1. I do not believe that in former times the Kanam money was borrowed in order to discharge debts, for it will, I am sure, be found on investigation that in every case, without exception, the existing Kanam on any given land might have been borrowed on a mortgage of a portion of it. The fact is, I believe, that the money was received rather as security for rent. In short Kanam originally was not mortgage but was lease. Otti was mortgage. A janmi who assigned land on Otti did so because he was pinched for money. Of this, however, further on.

A “Kanam" is probably equivalent to the Roman emphyteusis, under which the tenant possessed the right of enjoying all the fruits, and disposing at pleasure of the thing of another, subject to the payment of a yearly rent to the owner (dominus). The idea of a 12 years’ holding is quite modem. Indeed it originated, I believe, with Mr. Holloway, who, taking Kanam as equivalent to emphyteusis, is said to have substituted Vyalavattam or jubilee, and thence argued that under Kanam demise the tenant was entitled to hold for a Vyalavattam or 12 years.

The meaning of the term Kanam is not clear. It is said by some to be “small fee,” “usufruct,” the word being of Persian origin. The root may perhaps be "കാണുന്നു" see, and the meaning, “money secured on the land,” i.e., seen, visible, or mentioned in the deed ("കാണുംപണം") as opposed to "കാണാപണം" invisible money, i.e., not secured on the land. The latter term is widely used in respect of renewal fees. Generally the word kanam is used as meaning money, as in Kulikkanam, Vettukanam, Tusikanam, etc.

The origin of these loans seems to have been that the tenant should give a year’s rent (pattam) in advance to the proprietor, either as a necessary security for payment or as a bonus for the profit he was allowed to enjoy, and the extravagance or necessities of the proprietor induced them to continue to borrow till the rights and interests of the mortgagee in the land became stronger than those of the proprietor.

The inherent principle of redemption which the mortgage of Malabar is described to possess, and which applies strictly to the Kanam tenure alone, is accountable for by the Cherlabham or cultivator’s profit from the soil, which the proprietors have allowed them to possess independently of the deduction from the pattam on account of the mortgage interest. This is the origin of the Polichcheluttu, the Sakshi, which may be considered fines for the renewal of leases, of 10 and in some places 20 per cent according to local custom and the degree of profit enjoyed by the tenant.

Mr. Warden says truly that “The variety and number of the mortgage tenures, till they reach the deed which for ever alienates the janmam, affords the most conclusive evidence that can be adduced of the tenacity with which the ancient landholders clung to the janmam right.” They may also be considered as the result of a circumspect and jealous1 precaution on the part of the mortgagees, who, whenever they accommodated the necessities of the janmi, did not fail at the same time to add gradually but strongly to their securities for the ultimate acquisition of the proprietary right, for every step of the different mortgages involved a condition which increased the difficulty of transferring the land to any but the mortgagee.

Notes.—1. The foot-notes to Mr. Græme’s text are by an experienced Native Revenue official of the district, Mr. P. Karunakara Menon. As regards the derivation of Otti the derivation shown in its proper place in this Glossary seems preferable ; and as regards Kanam, the original meaning (supervision, protection) is fixed by Deeds 3 and 4, Appendix XII.

2. The number of Pattadars in Fasli 1290 (A.D. 1880—81) was 178,790.

3. See Chapter IV, Section (a) of the Text. The fact that the cherlabham or kolulabham (q.v.), the cultivator’s share of the produce, was “possessed independently of the deduction from the pattam on account of the mortgage interest” by the cultivator should have suggested to Mr. Græme that the thing which the Janmi mortgaged under kanam, otti, etc., was not the soil itself, but the Jamni's interest in the soil, his share of produce, the pattam in short. And this should also have suggested to him—that the Janmi had only a limited interest in the soil— that the Janmi was a co-proprietor of the soil not the dominus thereof.

NOTEs. 1. This is easily accounted for if Kanam is assumed to have been security for rent. Under Kanam, then, the mortgagee (I use the word because it is convenient) used to enjoy large profits, and he could not well impose conditions on the janmi. When however, the latter became needy and assigned land on Otti, the profits to the tenant became smaller and he naturally demanded at least greater permanency of title. And here I may attempt to derive the term Otti. I believe it is derived from "ഒറ്റൽ" (which see in Dr. Gundert’s Dictionary). The verb is "ഒറ്റുക" i.e., to secure (fish) in an "ഒറ്റൽ". The Otti holder secures the land to a certain extent, for the janmi cannot sell away to another without first giving the Ottida, the refusal. END OF NOTEs

PUKIL

A crop.

PUNJA.

(Dravidian). The name of a rice which is always cut in Medam or Edavam (April and May), It may be the only crop of the season, for some lands only admit of one, or it may be the second or the third, but it must be the crop that is cut in Medam or Edavam to entitle it to the appellation of punja.

PUTTADA.

From pu (Dravidian) == flower.

In the Northern Division of Malabar this species of rice is sown upon paramba land, whilst the kind of rice sown on lands overgrown with wood, which requires to be dug rather than ploughed, is called Punam.

REAS pronounce RIAS.

An imaginary coin introduced into the public accounts of the Malabar province, since the Company became possessed of it, from the Bombay Presidency. There are 100 of them to a quarter or 400 to one Bombay rupee.

REVENUE.

Different sources of the former revenues of Rajas in Malabar, viz. :

ANKAM.

(Dravidian) = fight, duel, battle-wager.

Was as high as 1,000 fanams or 250 rupees ; was only leviable by the Raja. It was the money which he received as umpire between two combatants under the system of battle-wager. These quarrels arose from private feuds and were meant to wipe off stains cast upon an individual's honour. A preparation and training for twelve years preceded the battle in order to qualify the combatants in the use of their weapons. They were not necessarily the principals in the quarrel, generally their champions. They undertook to defend the cause they had espoused till death. It was indispensable that one should fall.

Battle-wager or trial by single combat was a source of considerable revenue to the Rajas in former times, for each combatant was obliged to deposit with the Raja a certain sum of money. Women were the chief origin of the quarrels which occasioned these combats. They were confined to the Nayars. They were thought necessary to prove or disprove the charge of seducing women under particular protection. It was not indispensable that the parties themselves in the quarrel should be the combatants. Champions were admitted, and, in general substituted. The champions settled all their worldly affairs before the onset of the combat, for it was unavoidable that one must fall. A notification of twelve years took place before the day of combat.

CHUNKAM.

(Dravidian) == toll, custom.

Customs—land and sea—upon imports and exports. By some said to be only 2½ and 3 per cent and by others as high as 10. Naduvalis were also entitled to inland customs.

ELA.

(Dravidian) = fine, penalty, exacting presents.

The systematic usurpation of the estates of such neighbouring Rajas or Naduvalis or other chiefs as might be incapacitated from poverty or other cause from governing. The Sastra says the peculiar duty of a king is conquest.

KOLA or CHARADAYAM.

KOLA

(Dravidian) = violence, forced contribution, extortion.

CHARADAYAM.

From (? Dravidian) char (=confidant, third person) and Sanskrit adayam (= gain, income).

Forced contributions levied by Rajas for particular emergencies according to the circumstances of the individuals.

TAPPU.

(Dravidian) = blunder.

Fines levied by Naduvalis and Desavalis from their inferiors, and by Rajas from them, for accidental unintentional crimes.

PILA.

(Dravidian) = slip, fault, fine.

Fines levied in the same manner for intentional crimes, according to the magnitude of the crimes and the circumstances of the individuals. It might be a total confiscation of property.

PURUSHANTARAM.

(Sanskrit) = the next generation, succession duty.

Literally, the death of the man. Sums varying from 120 to 1,200 fanams, levied by Rajas from Naduvalis, Desavalis, heads of commercial corporation, from the holders of lands in free gift or under conditional tenure, and generally all persons holding sthanam, manam, or official dignities in the State,

They also, in common with other Janmis or private proprietors, levied Purushantaram from their tenants as a fine of entry upon the decease of a proprietor or tenant. It has been supposed that the Rajas were entitled under the head of Purushantaram to a certain share of the property of deceased Mappillas, but the prevalent opinion is that there was no fixed proportion, and that it was not levied generally upon all Mappillas, but was confined to individuals possessed of wealth and holding situations or privileges dependent upon the will or favour of the Raja. The Purushantaram was sometimes enjoyed by the Desavali and Naduvali, instead of the Raja, according to the extent of right and authority which was granted or usurped, and on all occasions they were exclusively entitled to the Purushantaram of their own private lands.

PULAYATTA-PENNA.

(Dravidian) == lewd, adulterous women.

Pulayatta-penna, or degraded women, were a source of profit to Rajas ; outcastes, not exclusively, but chiefly of the Brahman caste, they were made over to Rajas to take care of. As a compensation for their maintenance and for the trouble of preventing their going astray again, the family of the outcast were in the habit of offering to the Rajas as far as 600 fanams or Rs. 150. The Rajas then disposed of them for money, but their future condition was not exactly that of a slave. They were generally bought by the coast merchants called Chetties, by whom they had offspring, who came to be intermarried among persons of the same caste, and in a few generations their origin was obliterated in the ramifications of new kindred into which they had been adopted.

PONNARIPPU.

(Dravidian) == (pon) gold (arippu) sifting.

Ponnarippu, the sifting of gold, or, generally, gold dust, was considered a royalty and the perquisite of the Rajah or the Naduvali as the case might be.

ATTADAKKAM or ATTALADAKKAM.

From Malayalam attam ( = extremity, end) and Dravidian adakkam (= subjection, possession, enjoyment).

Under the name of Attadakkam the Raja was entitled to the property of Naduvali, or Desavali or an Adiyan (vassal), or any person who held lands in free gift, dying without heirs ; and no Datt Swikaram or adoption could be valid without his sanction. A Naduvali and Desavali enjoyed the same privilege with respect to persons in the same manner dependent upon them.

ADIMAPPANAM or TALAPPANAM.

From Adima (q.v.) and Dravidian tala ( = head) and Dravidian panam (= money).

Adimappanam was the yearly payment of 1 and 2 fanams which every Adiyan was obliged to pay to his Tamburan or patron, whether he was Raja, Naduvali, Desavali, or other great man.

CHANGNGATAM.

(See note on this word in its proper place in the Glossary.)

Whenever a person wished to place himself under the special protection of a man of consequence, he paid from 4 to 64 fanams annually for Changngatam, or companionship or association, making sometimes an assignment on particular lands for the payment. It was meant for the maintenance of a kind of honorary sentinel, a belted official peon of the present times, whom the patron furnished to the person who sought his protection, but this implied also a necessity for the patron to assist with a stronger force if required in his defence.

RAKSHABHOGAM.

(Sanskrit) — Raksha, protection, and bhogam, enjoyment, hire.

Rakshabhogam payments were much to the same extent and for the same purposes. It implies an engagement of protection generally without being limited to any specific aid in the first instance.

KALCHA.

Verbal noun, from Dravidian kanuka (= to see), means perception, offering, gift.

Note. - Compare Kanam.

(Answering to Nuzzur) or presents of from 2 to 1,000 fanams, according to the circumstances of the parties, of congratulation and condolence were made to Rajas and Naduvalis by all ranks of people on occasions of the ascension of Rajas to their pattam or throne ; of the opening of a newly-built palace, a marriage, a birth, the ceremony of placing rings on a child, and a death in the family of Rajas and Naduvalis.

ADINYNYA Urukkal or Wrecks

From adinynya (Dravidian) = touched bottom, drifted ashore, and urukkal (Dravidian) = vessel, ship.

Rajas alone were entitled to shipwrecked vessels or Adinynya Urukkal.

CHERIKKAL or private domains.

From Dravidian cheri ( = assemblage, village), and, perhaps, Dravidian kal ( = foot, stem, quarter, place in general).

And they besides possessed extensive private domains in proprietary right, whether by purchases, lapses, or escheats, called Cherikkal.

EIMMULA

From Dravidian ei ( = 5) and Dravidian mula ( = udder).

MUMMULA.

From Dravidian mu ( = 3) and Dravidian mula ( = udder).

CHENOMBU.

Literally, red (chem) horn (kombu).

KANNADAPPULLI

Literally, eye spotted.

ANAPPIDI

Literally, elephant- catching.

PUVAL.

Literally, spot or speck tail.

KOMBU.

(Dravidian) = horn, ivory.

KURAKA.

(Dravidian) == the quarter, horn, thigh of an animal.

VAL.

(Dravidian) = the tail of an animal.

TOL.

(Dravidian) = the skin of an animal.

KINATTIL-PANNI.

Literally, pig (fallen) into a well.

Rajas and Naduvalis were besides entitled to Eimmula and Mummular, cows having 5 or 3 dugs ; to Chenkombu, or cattle that had destroyed a man or any animal ; to Kannadappulli, cattle having a white spot near the corner of the eye; Anappidi, elephants caught ; Puval, a buffalo having a white spot at the tip of the tail ; Kombu, the tusks of an elephant killed ; Kuraha, the leg of a deer, wild hog, or other eatable wild animal ; Val, the tail of a tiger ; Tol, its skin : and Kinattil panni, a hog fallen into a well.

MODERN LAND REVENUE.

The revenue in rice-lands, applying t.he existing professed rates of assessment per 100 paras to the average value, as fixed by Mr. Græme, of the actual pattam as rendered by the Janmis in 981, is Rs. 84 3 qrs. 52 reas per cent in the Southern Division, and Rs. 72 1 qr. 15½ reas in the Northern Division of the pattam, or for the whole province Rs. 82 0 qr. 1¼ reas.

RICE.

According to Arshed Beg’s Settlement of 1783-4 or M.E. 959 of the Southern Districts, exclusive of Palghat:-

RICE LANDS.

There are 231,114 cawnies of rice-land in the Malabar Province, with the exception of Wynad, according to the survey by measurement in 983, and according to Mr. Warden’s abstract accompanying his report to the Revenue Board of 16th June 1813, of which 149,143 yield only one crop, 59,720 cawnies produce two crops, and 1,031 cawnies produce three crops ; but deducting 24,214 cawnies for waste and for pagoda and other Inams, there were remaining assessable to the revenue cawnies 209,899, of which 149,143 produce one crop only, 59,727 two crops, and 1,031 three crops, According to the JanmaPymaish accounts of 981 each cawny gives 67 standard paras and 3¼ Idangalis gross produce, and 5 rupees 42½ reas assessment, if the total revenue of 980 is applied to the total cawnies.

Note.—The rice-lands of the district are now supposed to measure, including Wynad, 394,411 acres, and excluding Wynad 366,466 acres, equivalent to 277.140 cawnies. The total revenue on the rice-lands is Rs. 11,65,921 or Rs. 2-15-5 per acre.

ROBBIN

Is what in the English correspondence is understood by a muda of rice. I cannot discover its origin.

SAKSHI

(Sanskrit) = witnessing, evidence.

Means renewal or confirmation connected with Polichcheluttu ; 2 in 10 is given for Sakshi upon the renewal of a mortgage-deed.

Note.—-See Pattola, Polichcheluttu.

SALT.

From Fasli 1216, the first year of the monopoly, to the end of Fasli 1227—

In Bombay the price rarely exceeds 2 rupees per ton. In 1821 it had risen to 6 and 7.—(Bombay Gazette, 18th April 1821.) A ton is 2,240 lb, ; a Madras garce of Bombay salt (reckoning a para at 90 lb. and 120 paras to a garce) is 10,800 lb. or 4 tons and 1,840 lb. The price of a Madras garce at 2 rupees a ton is therefore 9 rupees 2 quarters and 57 reas. The usual price at which Bombay salt has been bought in Malabar has been 13 rupees a coomb or 39 rupees a garce at Cannanore, Tellicherry, and Mahe, 42 at Calicut, and 45 at Ponnani.—(Mr. Warden's report of 3rd October 1828). At 7 rupees a ton the price is Rs. 33 3 qr. the Madras garce.

According to a letter from Government to the Revenue Board, of 20th March 1820, the present average consumption of salt in all the territories under the Madras Presidency may be taken at 25,000 garces ; reckon them at Rs. 112 the garce, monopoly selling price, they will come to 27,90,000 rupees ; but reckoning 30 per cent, for prime cost and charges, the net revenue will be Rs 19,53,000, or between 5 and 6 lakhs of pagodas. In this calculation there is nothing authenticated but the number of garces sold.

Note.—The annual average importations of salt for the five years preceding the introduction of the excise system was 4,2391 garces. Since the introduction (1877) of the excise system the annual average importation has been 3,016 garces, i.e. 10 garces of Government salt, 2,596 garces of duty prepaid salt, and 401 garces of foreign salt.

SALT PANS.

The owners of salt pans in Malabar used before the monopoly to employ labourers for the manufacture of salt, or to let the pans out on rent or pattam. The pattam was not fixed for a length of time together as on rice-lands, but depended upon the annual produce. It is generally supposed to have been a third leaving two-thirds to the manufacturer.

SHANAR.

The name by which Tiyars or toddy-drawers are called in the Temmalapuram and Palghat Districts, who are not aborigines of Malabar, but come from the districts to the east of the ghats.

Note.—See Iluvar and Tiyar.

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SISHT-BAKKI.

From Sanskrit Sishtam ( = remainder) and Arabic bakhi ( == surplus).

A balance of revenue uncollected from the person from whom due, in contradistinction to Dast-bakki, a balance collected but not brought to the account of Government.

SISU or Tei.

Sisu (Sanskrit) = young animal or plant. Tei (Dravidian) = shoot, young tree.

A young plant.

SLAVES.

Amount taken in 1807, to 96,368.

Note.—In 1857, when the last census of slaves was taken, the number was found to be 187,812, of whom 148,210 had up to that time remained with their former masters. See Cherumakkal.

STHANA-MANA-AVAKSAM.

From Sanskrit Sthanam ( == standing, place, situation, rank) and Sanskrit Kanam ( = honour, rank) and Sanskrit Avakasam ( = title, claim, right).

Dignity and emoluments of a public situation.

Note.—This probably denoted the true position of a Janmi or holder of the "water contact birthright" (Nir-atti-peru). See Attiperu, Janmam, Perumartham.

SUDRAN, plural SUDRANMAR.

(Sanskrit) = the fourth caste in the Hindu system.

Who according, to the Sastram, are the fourth class of Hindus, are a particular caste of Nayars in Malabar, whose duty it is to perform ceremonies or Karmam in Brahman families on the birth of a child, etc.

Note.—Nayars generally do now style themselves as Sudras.

SVARUPAM.

(Sanskrit) = one’s own shape, image, idol, dynasty.

Means descent, family, race, house, answering to Vamsam. The Calicut Zamorin Raja’s family is called the Nayaririppu (or vulgarly, Nediyirippu) Svarupam, that of the Kadattanad Raja is the Porlatiri Svarupam, that of the Chirakkal Raja, Kolatthi or Kola Svarupam, that of Kottayam or Cotiote the Puranattukara or Purattara Svarupam, that of the Kurumbranad the Kurumbarattiri or Kurumbiyattiri Svarupam. The Walluvanad Raja is the Arngngottu Svarupam, the Cochin Raja is the Perimbadappu Swarupam, the Travancore Raja is the Trippa or Trippappu Svarupam.

SVARUPAKKUR.

From Svarupam (q.v.) and Dravidian Kuru ( = part, share).

Office, dignity, and Kuru, share, partition, allotment. It means the property attached to the official rank of a Raja.

SVARUPAM.

See Svarupam

Head of a family. Ten necessary for a Kartavu or lordship of 3,000 men.

TALA UDAYA TAMBURAN.

Literally == the head-possessing lord.

The Kartavu or superior lord of a vassal.

TANDU.

(Sanskrit) — palanquin hanging on silk cords

An open palanquin, which in the Malabar Province is also called and which Englishmen call Manchil. The attainment of the rank of Valum-pudavum is indispensable to qualify any person, whether a common man or a Raja, to ride in a palanquin.

TARA.

(Dravidian) == foundation, mound, ground, village, quarter. Similar to Tamil and Malayalam teru, Telugu teruvu, Canarese and Tulu teravu.

A village. The same as Desam in the Malabar Province.

Note.—See Ur and Desam. This and not the Desam was the true village of Malabar, that is, it was the Nayar village or unit of organisation for civil purposes among the Nayars. Conf. p. 87 of the text.

TARAVADU.

From Tara (q.v.) and Dravidian padu (=falling, falling into one's power, place, situation, rank, authority)

A house or family.

Note.—Compare pattam. Dr, Gundert defines the term a house chiefly of noblemen, ancestral residence of landowners, a family. The term was applied only to the families of authority in the Nayar village (Tara).

TARAVATTUKARAN or PRAMANI.

From Taravadu (q.v.) and Sanskrit Karan (=doer, one who has to do with), and Sanskrit Pramanam (== measure, authority).

In every Desam four householders or Taravattukarar possess a certain hereditary sthanam or dignity which points them out as the proper persons to apply to whenever a marriage, a death, a religious ceremony or dispute takes place. They are sometimes called Pramani, or principal inhabitants, and latterly, under the Company’s Government, Mukhyastanmar. They did not possess the Koyma or controlling authority in the Desam, but were a kind of arbitrators. When a dispute could not be settled by their mediation it went to the Desavali.

Names of former heads of villages.

Note.— Mr. Græme, contrary to previous notes, here states correctly, if Tara be submitted for Desam, the position of the Taravattukkarar. The Desavali was usually one of the Taravattukarar of his tara or village. See Madhyastanmar and Mukkyastan.

TARISU.

(Dravidian) = waste rice-land.

TINGALPPANAM.

From Dravidian tingal (==the moon) and Dravidian panam (=money).

General monthly levy on all classes of the inhabitants. One of the contributions levied in Malabar by the Rajas.

TIPPALI.

Is the same as Nali, a measure of which 4 go to a Idangali. It is supposed that in Malabar a man has enough to eat if he has 1½ Tippalis of rice and ½ Tippali of conjee a day, or 1 Idangali of paddy of 4 Calicut Nalis There are many in a starving condition who get less, and many affluent who eat more.

TIRUVATIRA NYATTUTALA

From Tiruvatira (==the sixth asterism, including Betelgeuze) and Dravidian Nyattutala (= the time of a constellation).

Nyattutala is a period of fourteen days. It is in the fourteen days commencing with about the 7th of Mithunam (June) that there must be constant rain for the proper growth of the pepper ; the failure of this season may cause a difference of produce of perhaps 25 per cent.

TIYAN.

Formerly written Tivan, that is islander (from Sanskrit dvipam).

Toddy-drawer and cultivator of land. Upon asking a number of Brahmans and Nayars assembled at Calicut whether Tiyars were included among the Sudras of the Sastra they professed ignorance, and said they must refer to the Sastra. Their number, according to an account taken in 1807, was 128,045.

The Tiyan woman (Tiyatti) wears no cholee, or any cloth thrown over her shoulders and neck. Her body down to the waist is entirely exposed.

Notes.—1. See lluvan, Shanar.

2. This caste now numbers 527,928 (Census, 1871).

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TOBACCO.

Average annual consumption 1,500 candies of 640 lb., or 1¾ per head in the whole population.

TODUPPANAYAM.

From Dravidian Toduka = to touch, feel, come into contact with) and Panayam (q.v.).

A deed in use.

Notes.—1. The land is here pledged as security for the repayment with interest of certain sums advanced, but the lender has no right to interfere m the management of the property. In some cases it is stipulated that on failure on the part of the borrower to pay the interest, the lender shall be placed in possession of the land. Where such stipulation exists the lender can sustain an action for possession. In other cases he must sue for the recovery of the principal and interest of the loan, the land being liable in the event of the money not being paid.—(Proceedings of the Court of Sadr Adalat, No. 18, dated 5th August 1856.)

TUSIKKANAM.

From corruption of Sanskrit Suchi (=a needle, iron style) and Kanam (q.v.).

Is the fee to the writer of a new mortgage-deed. This and the Oppu may amount to 7 per cent, sometimes more, sometimes less.

ULA-PARAMBU.

Ula for ulavu (Dravidian) = tillage, and Parambu (q.v.).

Ploughable or arable highland by which the hill rice cultivation, or Modan paramba, is distinguished from the plantations, which are more properly called paramba.

Note.—Applied to land made over temporarily for use.

UNDARUTI.

From Dravidian Unnuka (==to eat) and Dravidian aruti (end) ; literally, therefore, it means having eaten and ended, that is, the property is enjoyed until the money advanced has been fully recovered with interest.

Undaruti means a settlement1 (of the debt) by the enjoyment of the profits by the usufruct. It is a species of mortgage which seems to answer to the Vivum Vadium, where the mortgagee holds the estate till the rents and profits repay the sum borrowed ; with this exception, that the pattam or rent is previously determined, and it is therefore known beforehand in how many years the debt will be liquidated, and the mortgagee is under no necessity of rendering to the proprietor an account of the produce of the estate.

NOTEs: 1. Undaruti is, I conceive, a lease. The full rent for the term of the lease is paid in advance. In fixing the rent, of course the tenant will take care to see that only the present worth is offered and paid. An Undaruti lessee is never entitled, as a matter of right, to cancel the lease. In any case he would get back no interest for the reason just advanced. END OF NOTEs

In this deed the pattam being first determined and specified, whether in rice or garden lands or in grain or money, a provision2 is made out of it to the mortgagee for the interest of the debt at the rate agreed upon, and a further provision for such a share of the pattam as shall, within, a certain time, repay the principal. If the mortgagee relinquishes the land before the expiration of the time and claims the debt, the mortgagor may take credit for the amount which the mortgagee has received, during the period he has been in possession, out of the fund allotted towards the discharge (not of the interest, but) of the principal, and from the remainder he is entitled to deduct 23 per cent for Sakshi and Suchi. The mortgagee having undertaken the responsibility of the management, this deduction is considered a just fine for his breach of engagement.

NOTEs. 2. Not that I know of. END OF NOTEs.

It has been1 said that the mortgagee does not receive the Kolulabham or cultivator’s profit, but according to my inquiries he is entitled to it.

The interest under the Undaruti deed is greater than that under the principal deeds of mortgage which have their rise from the Kana Janma Maryada. It is generally 10 per cent.

Though it affords the means of early liquidating the debt, it is considered in a less friendly light by the mortgagee in general than the Panaya Pattola deed. It is true he recovers his money, but what he receives annually is probably expended annually, and at the end of the specified period he does not become the laird of the land. It is a mere mercantile speculation which does not add to his dignity. The old proprietor, on the contrary, prefers this kind of tenure ; for though he suffers deprivation for a period, he is ultimately restored to his station of proprietor of the soil.

NOTEs: 1. Major Walker's treatise cm Mortgages. END OF NOTEs

Notes.- Notes.—1. The foot-notes to Mr. Græme's text are by an experienced Native Revenue official.

2. The tenant is much in the same position as a Kanam mortgagee having possession and recovering the interest of his money from the rent produce ofthe land. Instead, however, of making over the surplus produce to the landlord, he places it to his credit in account, to be applied to the reduction of the principal. As soon as the principal is in this manner repaid, the mortgagee must restore the land to the proprietor.—(Proceedings of the Court of Sadr Adalat, No. 18, dated 5th August 1856.)

3. Undaruti is a species of mortgage, the nature of which is to absorb the principal amount in the profits of the mortgaged property till it is reduced to nothing. —N.D.C., 25 (1874).

UR or KARA.

Ur (Dravidian) = village, hamlet. Kara (Dravidian) — shore, bank, hamlet.

A collection of houses in different directions, a number of which constitute a Desam. Houses are generally built round a tract of paddy land, and, according to their bearings, are named Vadakku kara (a collection to the north), Tekku kara, and so forth. The Urus or Karas have no separate boundaries and no distinct names, but are comprehended in the Desam.

Notes.—1. See Tara and Desam.

2. Those were probably congeries of houses inhabited by husbandmen, cultivators, subordinate to the Desavals in military, and to the Taravattu Karanavar in civil, matters.

URALAN.

From Ur (q.v.) and Dravidian at (person, able poison) Their office Uranma or Urayma.

May be considered the patron or founder of a pagoda, whether established in the time of Parasurama or in more recent times by Brahmans or Rajas.

Notes. —1 . When the pagoda is itself the property of the family, by the custom of Malabar the lands attached thereto are alienable as any other private possession.- M,S.C., 64 (1861). A sale of Urayma right is invalid. N.D.C., — 34 (1874). Lands attached to a pagoda cannot be alienated by the whole body of Uralar. N.D.C., — 102 (1843). Uralur cannot sell their rights.— 1 M.H.C.R, 210 ; 1, I.L.R., Madras I, 235.

2. See Desam.

VAKACHCHAL.

From Dravidian vakayuka ( == to divide).

The share of 2 in 10 in the pattam, in kind, which the Rajas used to receive in the northern districts, before Hyder’s conquest, from all but the pagoda lands, after which, in 953, the Huzzur Nikuti or the basis of the present assessment was established. The Vakachchal is said to have been introduced first in 90, when the Ikkery or Bednore Government first invaded Malabar.

VAKACHACHA(L)KKARAN.

From Vakachchal (q.v.) and Sanskrit Karan ( = doer, one who has to do with).

The collector of the share (of the pattam), He held the situation under the Rajas formerly nearly corresponding to the Pravartti of the present day.

Note.—See Pravrittikkaran and Varam.

VAKKU.

(Malayalam) = hemp. From Vala (Dravidian) = net, hence Valkkuka or Vakkuka == to catch fish and vakku, the material used for lines.

Hemp. It is sown in paramba land, but it is supposed to thrive best in the land called Palliyal, which has a sufficient command of water without being too low. The cultivation of it has extended of late years In consequence of the encouragement given to it by the canvas manufactory at Beypoor, but in the Kilakkampuram. and Vadakkampuram and Polnad Districts there is an ancient prohibition against its culture, as there is against that of ginger and against the use of buffaloes for ploughing, said to have been issued by a Raja of these districts, from whom the Zamorin Raja usurped them, and who has since become the Kadattanad Raja.

VALLI and VITTU.

Valli from val (Dravidian) = strong, means proper subsistence given in kind to slaves or labourers. Vittu (Dravidian) = seed.

Is the charges of cultivation, and with Vittu or the seed is called Vittuvalli. As the hire of labour applies only to slaves, Kuli or Cooly is the term when free men are employed. Vittu-valli comprehends the expense of ploughing, of digging, of sowing, of manuring, of weeding, and of threshing. (On the Eastern Coast the paddy is trod by bullocks, in Malabar by men.) The Valli is reckoned to amount to a third of the gross produce (deducting always 10 per cent, for reaping), but where the produce falls short of seven-fold the Valli exceeds this proportion. It must be paid, it is supposed, out of the Kolulabham or the cultivator’s profit.

Mr. Rickards, in his proposed settlement for Malabar, recommends the quantity of seed sown and an equal quantity for charges to be deducted on account of Vittu-valli from the gross produce, and the different shares to be determined on the remainder. The proportion to the gross produce varies according to the quality of the soil and its estimated produce. (See the account given by the Janmis to Mr. Rickards in 978). The lowest sort of land in this statement is supposed to produce three-fold only, which is 333/10 per cent, the highest thirty-fold, which is only 33/10 per cent, of the gross produce for Vittu-valli.

Note.—See Kolulabham, etc.

VALUM-PUDAVUM.

Val (Dravidian) = sword. Pudavu (Dravidian) = double cloth.

Is a certain rank conferred upon Rajas and Naduvalis, the external ceremony of which is conferring a sword and some cloth. To a Raja the ceremony is performed by a Namburipad Brahman, and to a Naduvali by a Raja. Money is given on these occasions by the person upon whom the honour is conferred.

VALUMEL KODI.

Literally = coloured tip of the tail.

A buffalo having a white tip to the tail, belonging to individuals, became the property of Desavalis in former times as one of their privileges.

VANOKKI.

Perhaps from Vanam (Dravidian) = sky, and nokkunnu (Dravidian) = to look, observe, meaning crops dependent on the sky, rain-fed.

Same as Punam and Modan.

VARGE.

A word used in the early records of Malabar. From the Portuguese word Varja, and means field or meadow.

VASTU and VASTU-Mutal.

Vastu (Sanskrit) — substance, matter, thing, property, weighty action, provender. Mutal, (Dravidian) = beginning, blossom, principal or capital, stock in trade, property, money.

Means generally the landed property of an individual, to include the personal property it is necessary to say Vastu-mutal.

VELLAKKEDU.

From Dravidian vellam ( == water) and Dravidian kedu ( = destruction, loss, damage).

Loss by flood. In fixing the pattam for the Kudiyan remission is allowed on this account.

VEYILKKEDU.

From Dravidian veyil ( = sunshine) and Dravidian kedu (=, destruction, loss, damage).

Injury by heat or drought. In fixing the pattam in Malabar permanent allowance appears to have been made on this account.

VILACHCHAL MENI-PATTAM.

Vilachchal, from Dravidian vila ( = vegetation, crop), means produce of corn, ripe crop. Meni (Dravidian) = body, shape, sample, average Pattam (q.v.).

Is the pattam deducible from taking, according to Mr. Rickards’ proposed settlement, two-thirds of the Vilachchal or gross produce of the Janmi Pymaish account of 981, after deducting a quantity equal to the quantity of seed sown, and one-third for the cultivator’s share. In the Malabar Province, with the exception of Wynad, it amounts to standard paras 6,210,562 and 5 Idangalis. It is to be distinguished from the Verumpattam of the same account, which is the quantity stated by the Janmis to be actually receivable by them from their tenants. It amounts to standard paras 5,910,375 and 3 Idangalis. The Vilachchal-meni-pattam with respect to gardens is two thirds of the gross produce according to Mr. Rickards’ proposed settlement.

Note.—See Pattam and Kolulabham.

VILUMPADI.

From Dravidian viluka ( = to fall) and Dravidian padi = measure at the rate of, according to).

Is a mode of agreement in practice between the Janmi and Kudiyan in Kilakkampuram and Vadakkampuram of the Calicut Taluk.

It has above been explained to mean the proportion of the public assessment which a Kanakkaram agrees to pay out of his share of the produce in common with the Janmi. Refers also to a mode of levying the assessment in Walluvanad, etc., taluks on Modan and hill produce. For instance, the permanent jamma under these heads being in any village considered to be 100 fanams, an annual inspection of the produce takes place, and 2 in 10 being assumed as the Sirkar share, this share is valued at a higher or lower rate on the different lands as may be necessary to bring the jamma exactly to 100 fanams.

As a farther illustration, the Sirkar share of the produce might, in one year, be 100 paras , one fanam would accordingly be fixed as the rate for 10 Idangalis. In another year the Sirkar share of the produce might be only 80 paras ; the rate would then be a fanam for every 8 Idangalis. In both cases the total amount would be equal. Vilumpadi means generally proportion, ratio, rate.

VIRIPPU.

Dravidian = bedding, crop out in August and September.

The name of a rice which has only one crop in the year, and that crop is only cut in Kanni (September and October).

VITTUPADU.

From Dravidian vittu (= seed) and Dravidian padu ( -= falling, falling into power of, rank, nature, measure of space and time).

Answers to Verripadoo in Tamil and Beenjivurree in Hindustani. It means seed-land, that is, the quantity of seed which any land requires to sow it for a single crop. That is, suppose a land takes 10 paras to sow it or one crop and that it yields three crops. It would altogether require 30 paras for the different crops, but it would be called only a 10-para Vittupadu.

A specific superficial extent in cawnies or acres is not to be ascertained merely by the quantity of seed required to sow any land, because bad soil requires a larger, and good soil a smaller, quantity to sow it in the same extent of land.

Note.—See one Para Seed Land

VYALAVATTAM.

From, vyalam (Sanskrit) = the planet Jupiter, and vattam (Dravidian) = a circle ; means the cycle of Jupiter, about 12 years.

A cycle of 12 years, to which all transactions in Malabar had reference previous to the establishment of the present Malabar era,—renewal of leases, bonds, and rent of gardens. Each year of the cycle was named alternately from the 12 signs of the Zodiac, and as months were distinguished in the same way, the name of the month and the name of the year might often be the same in a deed.

Note.—-The word andu, in the Jews’ Deed. (No. 1) and in the old Kanam Deed (No. 4) printed in Appendix XII, signified this cycle of Jupiter, or a cycle of 60 years.

VYAVAHARAMALA.

From Sanskrit vyavaharam ( = dealings, usage, practice of Courts, lawsuit) and Sanskrit mala ( = garland, wreath, necklace).

A book containing the law of division of produce between the cultivator and proprietor, without allusion to any assessment which did not at that time exist.

Note.— As matter of fact, the Vyavaharamala is more taken up with judicial matters than with matters agricultural.

Commentary MMVol 1 MMVol 2

1. Appendices 1

2. Appendices 2

3. Port rules

4. Proverbs

5. Collection of Deeds

6. Mr. Græme’s Glossary 1

7. Mr. Græme’s Glossary 2

8. Mr. Græme’s Glossary 3

9. Chiefs and Residents

10. Proclamation