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Art. VII.—Account of the Province of Rámnád, Southern Peninsula of India. Compiled from the “Mackenzie Collection,” and edited by the Secretary to the Royal Asiatic Society
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 March 2011
Extract
This province, the government of which is now administered by the British, formed in ancient times the greater part of the principality, or fiefship, of the Sétu-pattis, the chiefs or guardians of the passage leading from the continent of India to the island of Ráméswara, and thence to the opposite coast of Ceylon, called Ráma's Bridge, or Adam's Bridge. These chieftains, dating their authority from the period of the establishment of a place of pilgrimage on the island of Ráméswara, by the Great Ráma, claim an antiquity even higher than that of the Pándyans, or kings of Madura, but to whom, it would appear, that they were, in general, tributary, though now and then asserting and maintaining their independence. Of their history, however, we are not now to speak, but of the province as it was in the year 1814, when the data were taken from which chiefly the following account is compiled. It lies between the ninth and tenth degrees of north latitude, and the seventy-eighth and seventy-ninth of east longitude; is bounded on the north by the provinces of Tanjore and Pudukotta, on the south and east by the sea, and on the west by the districts of Tinnevelly, Madura, and Sivaganga; and comprehends an area of nearly two thousand five hundred square miles. Its general aspect is that of high and low lands, the latter having numerous artificial lakes, constructed for the purpose of promoting cultivation; the former exhibiting a variety of dry grain-fields, while the northern districts abound with extensive groves of Palmyra trees, with scarcely a vestige of jungle. The whole is divided into seventeen districts, comprising one thousand six hundred and sixtyeight towns and principal and subordinate villages, with a population, at the period to which we allude, of about one hundred and fifty-seven thousand.
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References
page 167 note 1 Properly, Rámanátha-púram, from Ráma, the god, or king of that name; nátha, a lord, and púram, a town or city.
page 166 note 1 A hall of justice, an office.
page 167 note 1 These chattirains much resemble the ancient hostelries of Europe. They are charitable foundations for the lodging and entertainment of a certain number of guests for a specified time; one day, three days, and sometimes longer. Some are founded merely for the relief of Bráhmans; others, for all classes of the natives; and some, for the accommodation and entertainment of Europeans. The late Rájá of Tanjore had one at which, for the space of three days, any European gentleman passing that way was most sumptuously entertained. Similar ones were also to be met with in other parts of the Carnatic but a very few years ago.—Ed.
page 170 note 1 A sweet beverage extracted from the Palmyra tree, similar to toddy, but with which is mixed a little chunam: when boiled, it becomes jaggry, a coarse kind of sugar.
page 170 note 2 A caste of Hindús whose particular avocation is the cultivation of the palm and the collecting of the toddy it produces. Many of them, however, apply themselves to other occupations, and some are very opulent.—Ed.
page 172 note 1 A caste of Hindús, whose principal occupation is husbandry.
page 175 note 1 A caste of Hindús whose principal occupation is merchandise.
page 175 note 2 A caste of Hindús who appear to be almost confined to this part of the country. There occupation is husbandry. In customs they differ from the Velálars, and most other castes of Hindús, and allow their widows to marry a second, third or fourth time.—Ed.
page 176 note 1 A low caste of Hindús peculiar to this part of India. They are herdsman and cultivators, and, as their name implies, thieves by profession.—Ed.
page 182 note 1 About an acre.
page 187 note 1 A kind of pease, much used in Bengal and Upper Hindústán, and in the south commonly called Bengal gram.