Some are of opinion that, during Hyder’s life, the land-tax assumed, in the Southern division of Malabar, the shape which it now bears in the public records. Others attribute the principles of the assessment to Arshad Beg Khan, the Foujdar, or commander of Tippoo Sultan’s forces in Malabar, about A.D. 1783. His system was carefully examined by Messrs. Duncan, Page, Bodham, and Dow, who, in 1792 and 1793, were appointed commissioners to inspect and report upon the state and condition of the country. To their laborious work[87] we must refer the curious reader, as the subject is far too lengthy and profound to suit such light pages as these.
CHAPTER XII.
THE HINDOOS OF MALABAR.
When Parasu Rama, the demigod, departed this transitory life, he left, as we said before, the kingdom of Malabar as a heritage to the priestly caste. For many years a hierarchy of Brahmans governed the land.[88] At length, finding themselves unable to defend the country, they established Nair chiefs in each Nad (province), and Desha (village),[89] called from their places of jurisdiction Nadwallee and Deshwallee. The main distinction between them seems to have been, that whereas the latter could not command more than a hundred fighting men, the Nadwallee never went to battle with a smaller number than that under his banner; some few led as many as twenty thousand vassals to the field. Both were bound to conduct the affairs of their feofs, to preserve the peace of the country, and to assemble and head their respective forces at the summons of the Rajah. There does not appear to have been any limitation to the power of settling disputes vested in these feudal superiors, nor were they prohibited from taking fines and costs of suit;[90] parties appearing before them had, however, a right of appeal to the Rajah. These dignities were hereditary; still they may be considered political offices,—for, in case of demise, the heir did not succeed without a formal investiture by the ruler, and a relief, or fine of entry, taken in token of allegiance. Like the feudal landowners of England, both the Nadwallee and the Deshwallee were dependent upon the prince to whom they swore the oath of fidelity. Neither of these dignitaries was necessarily owner of all the landed property within his province or village boundaries: in fact he seldom was so, although there was no objection to his becoming proprietor by purchase or other means. They were not entitled to a share of the produce of the lands in their jurisdiction, nor could they claim the seignoral privileges, which the heads of villages on the eastern coast, and many other parts of India, enjoy. Under the Deshwallee of each village were several Turravattakara,[91] or chief burgesses. They possessed a certain hereditary dignity, but no controlling authority. In them, however, we may trace the germ of a municipal corporation, as their position entitled them to the honour of being applied to on occasions of marriages, deaths, religious ceremonies, and differences amongst the vassals. When their mediation failed the cause went before the Deshwallee.
The anarchy introduced by this complicated variety of feudalism soon compelled the hierarchy to call in the aid of the Bejanuggur, or, as it is commonly termed, the Anagundy government, and the latter, at the solicitation of the Brahmans, appointed a Peroomal, or Viceroy, whose administration was limited to the term of twelve years, to rule the fair lands of Malabar. These governors, who are also known by the name of Cherun,[92] were first appointed in the 3511th year of the Kali Yug,[93] about A.D. 410. Seventeen of them, curious to say, followed each other in regular succession. The last, however, Cherooman Peroomal,[94] so ingratiated himself with his temporary subjects, that he reigned thirty-six years, and, at the head of a numerous army, defeated the home government, which attempted to dispossess him of his power, in a pitched battle fought near the village of Annamalay.[95] Afterwards, becoming a convert to Islam, he made a pilgrimage to Mecca. Before leaving India, he divided the province among the seventeen chiefs[96] to whose valour he was indebted for his success in war. These were the ancestors of the present race of Rajahs.
Malabar was soon torn with intestine feuds, arising from the power and ambition of its host of rulers, and the Samiry, Samoory, or Calicut Rajah, soon became de facto—if not de jure—the lord paramount. He was a native of Poontoora, in the Coimbatore province, and derived his name, Mana Vikram, from Manicham and Vikram—the two brothers present on the occasion when Cherooman conferred dominion upon the head of the house. His superiority was acknowledged until Hyder’s time, by all the chiefs from the north point of Malabar to the south extremity of Travancore.
After that Hyder had become regent of Mysore, he made use of the following pretext for invading Malabar. The Palghaut Rajah, a descendant from the Pandian sovereigns of Madura, terrified by the power of the Samiry, had, in early times, sought the alliance of the Mysore state, then governed by its Hindoo princes, and constituted himself a client of the same by paying a certain annual sum for a subsidiary force to be stationed in his territory. The ambitious Moslem, under colour of avenging his ally and protecting him against the oppressions of the Samiry and other princes, forthwith attacked them on their own ground.