Laws of the Malabars—Strange manner of laying a seizure on the property of another—Their trials by ordeal, sometimes thrusting the fingers into boiling oil, sometimes the hand into a basket containing a Cobra capella, sometimes swimming through a river inhabited by crocodiles—Strange occurrence—Their prisons—The rights they possess over slaves.—Sales and purchases.
As you have acquired fame by your knowledge of jurisprudence, you may like to hear something about the native laws here.
Their legal suits are tried according to old customs vivá voce. No lengthy proceedings are required to obtain the decision of the causes which are always concluded within a few days by the fiat of the Rajah, who in obscure cases consults with his Brahmins.
For laying the property of another in arrest, the warrant of a magistrate is not required; any private individual may do it; so that a man of low caste has it in his power to harass and annoy a Brahmin or a Caimal, through his lands and properties. The Rajahs possess the same power over each other. However, although license is not required for the performance of this embargo, the Rajah’s authority is necessary to settle the affair; both parties must appear before him, and after duly weighing the merits of the case, and receiving a sum of money, he gives judgment. When Rajahs thus arrest each other’s property, it is a fruitful ground for wars and dissensions: mediators are sometimes called in to arrange the matter.
The token of this embargo or arrest, is the leaf of a cashew nut or other tree which is tied on the article thus arrested, or if it be land, it is stuck up on a stick, the party exercising this privilege announcing, “this is the Rama, or arrest of the Rajah.” After this no one may gather the fruits off the lands or remove the token; such act would be considered crimes of lese majesty. The East India Company exercise the same right, and on such occasions they plant their flag on the spot: but this is only done by order of the Commandant or the proper authorities. In the lands subject to the Company, the Commandant may remove any rama placed by a native. The residents in the small outlying stations, are obliged to suffer the ramas of the Malabars, and are allowed to exercise the same privilege on their side.
The Resident of Porcad told me an entertaining anecdote on this subject. He had once caused a rafter to be brought to the station for the repair of the factory; when it was close to the building, a Nair came and fastened a rama to it, upon which the coolies who were carrying it, ran away, as it was illegal for them to touch it any longer. The Resident being informed of what had occurred immediately planted the Company’s rama on the spot, so that the parties who were so ready with their arrest, were themselves arrested; and compelled to stand without stirring a foot in the heat of the sun, until such time as the first rama was removed by order of the Rajah, then the Resident released them.
In a similar manner, when the Rajah owes money to a Brahmin who can adduce satisfactory proof of the debt, the creditor can demand the money of the Rajah, three distinct times, and if the Rajah still delays payment, the Brahmin brings a rama from a pagoda, when the Rajah may neither eat, sleep or bathe till the dispute is settled and the rama removed. Such cases however do not often happen, for the people know that monarchs have long arms.
Dubious cases in which no proof can be obtained, must be decided by solemn oaths, which are ordinary in common affairs, but extraordinary where the cause is still difficult and important. When a dispute arises between two parties about a loan or debt of which there is no proof, the debtor and creditor go together to the pagoda; and having each given four fanams or one shilling to the priest, they are led to a wooden post, upon which the creditor lays a sum of money equal to that to which he lays claim. This is a solemn attestation before their gods of the lawfulness of the debt, which the other party is then bound to pay. As, however, this mode of swearing may be false, it is firmly believed among them that a person who has perjured himself in this way will meet with a great misfortune within three months.
The extraordinary oaths which are taken in important causes, are very perilous, and resemble the trials by ordeal used formerly in Europe in the superstitious ages. When a man is charged with a heavy crime, which cannot be proved or which he will not confess, a tisal or pan containing cocoa-nut oil is brought and heated in the presence of the Rajah and his courtiers and Brahmins; the accused is then asked whether he will confess the deed, and, if he refuses, he raises his eyes to heaven, imploring the protection of the gods in the defence of his righteous cause, and then plunging his thumb and two first fingers into the boiling oil he pulls out a ring placed at the bottom of the pan. This being done, a pandyt or physician comes and binds up the three fingers with Pisang leaves, which must be left on them for three days; if at the end of this time the flesh where the skin has been burnt off is white, he is pronounced innocent, but if black, he is punished as a perjured man.
There is another ordeal, by snakes or Cobra capellas. When a man will not confess a crime, they take a mantle and wrap up in it one of these reptiles, which are not only poisonous, but are also reckoned sacred by them; after calling on the gods, the accused must thrust his hand into the mantle and lift up the snake. If he be bitten, he is considered guilty. Another ordeal takes place in a river or tank in which crocodiles are found. The Cayman’s (alligator’s) pagoda on the river Cranganoor close to Paliporte is especially famous for this process. A small heathen temple stands on the bank of this river, in which two crocodiles have for a long time been supported, their daily food being thrown into the water, so that they are induced by the bait to remain there. To undergo this ordeal, the accused is compelled, after a solemn profession of innocence in the presence of the Brahmins and nobles, and of a great concourse of people, to swim across this river and back; or if he cannot do this he must be dragged through, holding on with his hands to a boat. If the crocodile pulls him under, it is a sign of his guilt; if otherwise, he is released as innocent.
The people of Malabar tell a strange story to confirm this ordeal. There were two brothers who inherited equally from their father; one of them secretly stole and concealed a large sum of money, and on being accused of the fraud by his brother, denied it, upon which he was compelled to take the oath by ordeal in the river. The fraudulent party, thinking to deceive the gods, having hidden the gold in his turban, handed it over to some one else, and then swore that he had not got his brother’s inheritance—thinking that as the stolen property was in another person’s hand, with the turban, it could not be reckoned as his; after this, he sprang into the river, swam uninjured across it and back, and was therefore pronounced innocent. But, a wonderful occurrence took place afterwards; for, as the perjured man, fearing nothing further, took back his turban, and stood by the river to wash his feet, a crocodile leaped up the bank, seized him by the legs, dragged him into the river, and devoured him. The spectators, aghast at such an occurrence, took up the turban which he had let drop, examined it more closely, and discovered the gold concealed in it; by which they perceived the cunning of the swearer, and the justice of their gods. I leave the truth or falsehood of this tale for what it is worth; one thing is certain, that these ordeals are not to be depended on, but that the ceremonies used, the danger, and their own superstition combine to cause criminals rather to confess, than to submit to these perilous ordeals.
The prisons of Malabar are of a peculiar construction, and are generally situated in the square of their royal courts. They are not heavy edifices of stone, nor furnished with iron gratings and strong bars, but are mere quadrangular enclosures, the size of a man in length, breadth, and height, made of wooden gratings nailed together. Above them is a small loft where the Nairs who guard the prisoners pass the night and usually take a nap. Such prisons as these would in Europe be more fit to keep fowls than human beings. The prisoners often escape from them, as did some Canarese lately, who had robbed their idol’s temple. The Rajah confines in these prisons not only great criminals, but those who are condemned to pay him a fine for some misdemeanour; these seldom escape, as they would not wish to be banished from their country for the sake of a little money.
Among legal matters may be included the rights masters possess regarding the sale of their slaves. The Pulleahs are born slaves. Every zemindar, prince or wealthy Nair, has a certain number of them whose children are also born in slavery. But as these poor creatures form a peculiar and numerous caste, they have certain privileges granted them, which secure their maintenance, so that none may perish from want. Their masters are not bound to give them daily nourishment, but in the Malabar country they have the right of building and planting, for which labours they receive settled wages paid either in fanams or in measures of rice; and the estates on which they work may belong either to their own master or to some body else; for if their own master be not in want of out-of-door labour they may seek it elsewhere, always taking care under risk of punishment to appear before him at his summons.
When the paddy is cut they receive the tenth part in payment, and a sort of black paddy which springs fourteen days afterwards called Neerab is also their perquisite. Their masters have power to put them to death, without being called to account, or, if they please, to sell them; though this is not often done without some good reason.
In cases of indigence; a Pulleah uncle and mother may sell a child, but not for more than 60 fanams; and if a higher price were to be given, it would be of no use to them, as the proprietor would take the overplus. The eldest born, whether son or daughter, of a Pulleah couple is the property of the owner of the father, and the other children belong to the owner of the mother, who has also a right of redeeming the first child for the sum of 16 fanams whether the possessor like it or not. Among Europeans these things are quite different, for the master of the mother has a right to all the children, there being no legal form of marriage among the slaves. With us, too, a master or mistress may strike or chastise, but not kill a slave. And if a slave were to complain of gross ill treatment from his master or mistress and after a strict examination it were to be found that the alleged cruelties were true, he might obtain his freedom, or his master might be compelled to sell him to another. If a slave were to raise his hand to strike his master or mistress, or otherwise injure them he might be punished by death. A freed slave may give evidence, but not one in servitude. No one may sell his slave to a heathen, Jew, or Turk, for by so doing he would place his soul in peril.
To return to the Malabars; Rajahs and Princes may sell, besides Pulleahs, men of other castes, Nairs, Chegos, &c., who have committed any crime by which they have lost caste and are liable to capital punishment. No Rajah has power to sentence to execution a Brahmin or a Canarese, however heinous his crime; but he may cause his eyes to be torn out, or his hand to be cut off, by which he would be dishonoured and expelled from his caste. Capital punishment is executed in divers methods. The criminal may stand upright and have his head cut off; or he may be shot, for which purpose he is made to stand unfettered and free in an open field, and three or four shots are rapidly discharged at him. If he be not wounded and begin to run away he is pursued and fired at until he is killed, when his body is thrown into the river. Sometimes they empale criminals alive, piercing a sharp pointed stick right through the body, which soon puts an end to his life.
I shall conclude this letter with an account of the sales and loans of the Malabars, which, though they are of various kinds, may be reduced under five heads :
There is the complete sale, called Ate Patta, which does not often take place ; when a person resigns all right over a garden or estate which he has sold ; and the foundary of this deed runs thus ; that he renounces stone and mud, splinters and thorns, snakes, great and small, and everything within the four corners of the estate to him and to his successors. If the estate is situated on the river bank, the number of feet to which it extends in the water is also certified.
There is a mode of loan called Patta which is very common, and can only be explained by an example. Thus, supposing a man has a garden worth 10,000 fanams, he sells it for 8,000f. or 9,000f., retaining for the remainder of the value the right to the proprietorship of the estate ; for these 1,000f. or 2,000f. the purchaser must pay an annual interest. If the seller wishes at the end of some years to buy back his estate, he must restore the 8,000 or 9,000 fanams, and pay in addition the sum of money that shall have been fixed by men commissioned to value the improvements made upon the property in the interim by fresh plantations of cocoapalms or other fruit trees. But if the purchaser or tenant becomes weary of the estate and wishes to force it back on the original possessor, he can do so only at a loss of 20 per cent.
Berampatta is a complete lease, similar to those which take place among us.
Kararna is a species of exchange :—one man lends a garden to another worth, for instance, 6,000f. and borrows that sum in return for an appointed term of years, during which the fruits of the garden serve for interest.
Nierpatta :—A landlord gives to some individual a piece of waste land for building or for planting with cocoapalms, and receives no interest for it until the trees are so high that a Carnak sitting on an elephant can reach a leaf of them with his stick. A small sum of money is however paid beforehand for the use of the land ; when the trees have attained the height above mentioned the garden is taxed according to its value, and rent paid accordingly.