The buffalo herds of the ti are also regarded as the property of the whole clan, but the rights of ownership are in these cases very shadowy. It does not appear that the owning clan derives any pecuniary benefit from its possession of the herd, while, on the other hand, the possession involves considerable expense, chiefly owing to certain feasts which have to be provided, and these expenses are given as the reason why certain of the sacred dairies are unoccupied. The people of the owning clan have, it is true, the right of choosing the palol, but as the choice is limited, and there is, in most cases, little competition for the office, this is a very empty honour.
Houses. Each house belongs to a certain family. The normal Toda family consists of a number of brothers with [[559]]one wife, and each house belongs to a family of this kind, and is handed on to the children of the brothers.
If the brothers quarrel, the affair is settled by the naim, and it is usually decided that one brother or more than one of the brothers shall occupy the house for a certain period, usually a year, and that at the end of this period he (or they) shall move to another village, when another brother or brothers will occupy the house.
Such disputes do not seem to be frequent, but one was in existence during my visit. The two younger of three brothers had taken a wife without the knowledge of the eldest. The latter did not approve of the choice, and wished his brothers to send the wife away, which they refused to do. As the dispute had not yet been settled, the eldest brother at the time of my visit was living in the house, while the other brothers were living at the village of their newly chosen wife.
If a family dies out, it seems that the house is not, as a rule, taken on by another family. It falls into disuse, and in time disappears. As a village may sometimes consist of one house only, villages may disappear in this way, and the ruins of some villages were pointed out to me which had fallen into disuse owing to the dying out of the families which formerly occupied them. A really important village, i.e., one with an important dairy, would of course never disappear in this way, but it is possible that the reason why some villages, such as Nasmiòdr and Kanòdrs, now consist of a dairy only, is that the families which possessed the houses at these villages became extinct. I do not, however, know positively that a house at such an important village may not, in some cases, be taken over by another family.
Breeks has stated that the Toda custom is that the house shall pass to the youngest son. It seems quite clear that this is wrong, and that this custom is absolutely unknown among the Todas. It is, however, a Badaga custom, and among them I was told that it is due to the fact that as the sons of a family grow up and marry, they leave the house of the parents and build houses elsewhere. It is the duty of the youngest son to dwell with his parents and support them as long as they [[560]]live, and when they die he continues to live in the parental home, of which he becomes the owner.
Buffaloes. These are to a very large extent individual property. In practice, owing to the fact that brothers usually live together, a herd of buffaloes is treated as the property of a family of brothers, but whenever the occasion arises there are definite rules for the division of the buffaloes among them.
I have already referred to the fact that certain herds of buffaloes, such as the ti herds and the kugvalir of Taradr, are the common property of a clan, but the great majority of both sacred and ordinary buffaloes belong to families or individuals.[8] When a man who owns a certain number of buffaloes dies, the buffaloes are not necessarily divided among his sons. If the sons are all living together, the buffaloes may be treated as if they were common property. The milk of the ordinary buffaloes is churned in the dwelling-hut, and that of the sacred buffaloes in the dairy, and the produce in each case is regarded as the property of the whole family. It is only when dissensions arise, or when some reason makes it desirable that the brothers should separate and live in different villages, that the laws regulating the partition of buffaloes come into force.
When such an occasion arises the buffaloes are equally divided among the brothers, with the exception that the eldest son and the youngest son each receive one buffalo in excess of the rest. This custom is known as îrvâkhtnûdr meilkûdr, or “if divide buffaloes, superior portion.”
If there are only two sons, each will get meilkudr, and the buffaloes are equally divided; but if there should be an unequal number of buffaloes, the odd buffalo is taken by the elder son.