Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 2 of 7Thurston, Edgar
History
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 2 of 7
Thurston, Edgar
Caste -- India, South; Ethnology -- India, South; India, South -- Social life and customs; Tribes -- India, South
Of the history of slavery in Malabar an admirable account is given
by Mr. Logan, from which the following extracts are taken. "In 1792,
the year in which British rule commenced, a proclamation was issued
against dealing in slaves. In 1819, the principal Collector wrote
a report on the condition of the Cherumar, and received orders that
the practice of selling slaves for arrears of revenue be immediately
discontinued. In 1821, the Court of Directors expressed considerable
dissatisfaction at the lack of precise information which had been
vouchsafed to them, and said 'We are told that part of the cultivators
are held as slaves: that they are attached to the soil, and marketable
property.' In 1836, the Government ordered the remission in the
Collector's accounts of Rs. 927-13-0, which was the annual revenue from
slaves on the Government lands in Malabar, and the Government was at
the same time 'pleased to accede to the recommendation in favour of
emancipating the slaves on the Government lands in Malabar.' In 1841,
Mr. E. B. Thomas, the Judge at Calicut, wrote in strong terms a letter
to the Sadr Adalat, in which he pointed out that women in some taluks
(divisions) fetched higher prices, in order to breed slaves; that the
average cost of a young male under ten years was about Rs. 3-8-0, of
a female somewhat less; that an infant ten months old was sold in a
court auction for Rs. 1-10-6 independent of the price of its mother;
and that, in a recent suit, the right to twenty-seven slaves was the
'sole matter of litigation, and was disposed of on its merits.' In a
further letter, Mr. Thomas pointed out that the slaves had increased in
numbers from 144,000 at the Census, 1835, to 159,000 at the Census,
1842. It was apparently these letters which decided the Board of
Directors to send out orders to legislate. And the Government of India
passed Act V of 1843, of which the provisions were widely published
through Malabar. The Collector explained to the Cherumar that it was
in their interest, as well as their duty, to remain with their masters,
if kindly treated. He proclaimed that 'the Government will not order a
slave who is in the employ of an individual to forsake him and go to
the service of another claimant; nor will the Government interfere
with the slave's inclination as to where he wishes to work.' And
again, 'Any person claiming a slave as janmam, kanam or panayam,
the right of such claim or claims will not be investigated into at
any one of the public offices or courts.' In 1852, and again in 1855,
the fact that traffic in slaves still continued was brought to the
notice of Government, but on full consideration no further measures
for the emancipation of the Cherumar were deemed to be necessary. The
Cherumar even yet have not realised what public opinion in England
would probably have forced down their throats fifty years ago, and
there is reason to think that they are still, even now, with their
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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