FIG. 60.—KURIOLV AND PILIMURG.
On one occasion the naim spent a whole day discussing a marriage case in the compound at Paikara. On the following day they met in a distant part of the hills to continue the discussion of the case, and I was told that this was arranged by Kuriolv because he hoped to enforce his wishes in some secluded spot more effectively than in the publicity of Paikara where the evidences of the ‘government’ probably lent moral support to his opponents.
However Kuriolv effects his purpose, there is no doubt that [[553]]he almost entirely dominated the Toda people at the time of my visit. We have already seen that he has succeeded in altering the constitution of the naim, and several examples are given in this book of his interference in the normal course of Toda affairs; interference usually in favour of his own family or friends. In at least one case (see [Chap. XVI]) during my visit he considered himself superior to ceremonial laws.
He seemed to me to afford an excellent example of the process by which one man may bring about considerable changes in the laws and regulations of a community; though I was told in several instances that the Todas would revert to their old customs as soon as Kuriolv died.
I did not obtain a full account of the duties of the naim and of the affairs which come under its jurisdiction. There is no doubt, however, that it is largely concerned with the settlement of civil disputes arising between individuals, families, and clans. As I have already mentioned, it seemed to me that it was almost exclusively engaged during my visit in the regulation of the disputes arising out of the terersthi custom. In one such case the question of funeral contributions was involved, and I have no doubt that the settlement of any dispute arising from this source would come within the province of the naim, and probably any doubtful point in the working of the social regulations would be submitted to it.
In addition to its functions in disputes between individuals, the naim has wide functions in connexion with Toda ceremonial. It decides when many ceremonies take place, and has the chief word in regulating the affairs of the ti dairies. Thus it appeared that the various arrangements and alterations of arrangements in connexion with the migration of the buffaloes of the Nòdrs ti which were made during my visit were the work of the naim, or, at any rate, of its chief members.
Crime
I have no knowledge about the power of the naim in criminal as opposed to civil matters. I never heard of inquiry by the naim into any criminal offence committed by one man against another or against the community. It is, however, [[554]]doubtful whether crime can be said to exist among the Todas.
Acts such as infanticide are committed which would be regarded as crimes by others, but since these are the outcome of custom they are not crimes from the Toda point of view. Again, we have seen that the Todas have a code of offences against the dairy, but these must be regarded as sins rather than as crimes, for they are neither investigated nor punished by the civil authority, the naim, but are punished directly by the gods, and the various ceremonies described in [Chapter XIII] are expiatory and not punitive.