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The Pulayans of Cochin form an important class of the agrestic serfs, both in point of number and as forming a typical representative of a tribe. They are, in the northern parts of the State, called the Cherumans. They are wholly illiterate and speak a kind of low Malayalam largely mixed up with Tamil words and terminations. It is very probable, that they are the descendants of the original inhabitants of Kerala who must have been Tanıil-spuaking, for the carliest form of the Malayalam language is Kodunı Tamil (the oldest form of Tamil). Dr. A. H. Keane remarks, that the fact that these and other low tribes speaking Dravidian Malayalam is very curious, and that it finds its analogue in the broken English of the Negrocs of North America and elsewhere. He thinks that they had a language which is now forgotten. When they speak of bodily members such as an eye or ear to a superior, they prefix to it the epithet old' and say 'old eve' or 'old car' Tbey call their children calves,' their silver 'copper,' and their paddy 'chaf'. When addressing one, they begin by saying, Your slave has got permission'. The Vairs they call tha mpurans (lords ). The question of their origin is still undecided. The word Traditions of the “Pulayan' is derived from pula' which means pollution. If the word 'pula' may be regarded as another form of palla', the Pallans of the Tamil Districts and the Pulayans of Cochin, Travancore, and Malabar are identical tribes, who have been, from a reruote period, subject to the same kind of trentment from their masters. The name 'Cheruinans' or Cheranakkal' is said to signify 'the sons of the soil,' but some say it incans cheriamakkul (little children), as Parasurama is said to have directed their being cared for and treated as such. Caste, It is said that Malabar constituted the ancient Chera kingdom, In the name Cheranad or the country (nad) of the Cheras given to the district lying along the coast,' and inland southeast of Calicut, we still find that the ancient name is preserved. Chernad, part of the Ernad Taluk and the neighbourhood of it, appear to have been the most thickly populated parts of the country. Ernad, Valluvanad, and Ponnani are the three Taluks of Malabar from which converts to Islam have been drawn from the slave population, which must have been denser in these Taluks than elsewhere. There is therefore something to be said in favour of the view that the Pulayans or Cherumans were the aborigines of Malabar. According to one, tradition they are supposed to be descendants of the aborigines conquered by the Chola kings who preferred slavery to freedom and starvation in the jungles. The native tradition assigns their creation to Parasurama who is said to have given them to the Brahmans to till the soil. They are regarded, by some, as the descendants of the Dravidian immigrants and, by others, as the descendants of the old Turanean race that peopled India before the Aryan invasion. Like Africa, India has received influxes of population from other parts of the world, but the dark peoples are now merged in the fairer invaders. Dr. A. H. Keane also is of the same opinion, and adds, that, judging from the short stature, low forehead, and the high cheek. bones, they belong to the Negrito race, which once formed a substratuma throughout the peninsula, though now mainly submerged by the later arrivals of the Kolerians, Dravidians, and the Aryans. From traditions current among the Pulayans themselves, it would appear, that once upon a time they had doininions over several parts of the country. A person called Aikkara Yajaman whose ancestors were Pulaya kings, is still held in considerable respect by the Pulayans of north Travancore and duly acknowledged as their chieftain, and lord, while, the name Aikkarabad still remains to suggest that there is some truth in the aöcient tale. In Trivandrum on the banks of the Velli lake is # hill called Pulayanar Kotta (fort), where it is believed that a Pulaya king once rulul. The l'uliyans round Trivandrum, assert even ir thuis olay, that in former times, a l'ulaya king ruled and has his castle not far from the present capital of Travancore. As a Para'an found at Jlelketa the image of Chelva Pillai, as a Savara Wils triginally in possession of the sacred stone which became the lol in the temple of Jagannath, so also is the worship of l'admanabha in Trivandrum, intimately connected with a lulavad. Once, the story goes, a Pulakalli Pulaya woman) who was living with ler husband in the inanthau kadu (jungle, suddenly hear the cry of a buby. She l'nished to the spot, and sair to her surprise a child lying on the grund, protected by a cobra. She had pity on it and nursed it like her own. The appearance of the snake intimated to lier the divine origin of the infant. This proved to be true, for the chill Wits all incarnation of Vism. As soon as the Raji of Travancore land of die wonderful event, lic built a shrine on the spot where the baby had been found and dedicated it to ludmanabha. Tlucre is alwe another story regarling the origin of these people. Thc Pulayans got, as a boon from the god Siva, along with a spade and an axe, the right to clear forests, to cultivate: land, in to own thou, When other picopile cane and took possession of their lanuels, they were advised to work thein. That they were the original inhabitants of the land is proved by ccrtain rights they have possessoil from time imme morial in the Bhagarathi temples in the villages they live in. Regarding the origin of the Thandu l'ularilns, one of the kub-triles among the Pulayang of the southern parts of the Siato, the following account is given. The name "Thanda l'ullayan' is given to them because of the thama guruent worn lux their females, Thandu is a water-plant (Isolepis articulatit Veed, the leaves of which ille (nt inter lengths of two feri Worcu at one cost and tied round their waist, in such a ninrcr . that the strings unwoven hang loosely round the loins up to the knees. In regard to the origin of this kind of dress, there is & curious story that a certain high caste-man who owned lands in the localities inhabited by these people, chanced to sow seeds and plant vegetables. He was surprised to find that his work was useless, for he found that everything he did, disappeared in a mysterious manner. Not a trace of what he sowed or planted was to be seen the next day. With a view to clear the mystery, he kept a clase watch at night, when he saw coming out of a hole, certain human beings quite naked. They were pursued, when a man and a woman were cuught. Impressed with the sense of shame at their wretched condition, he threw his upper garment to the male. Having nothing to give to the other, he plucked and threw a few thanda leaves on her to dress herself with. They are also called Kuzhi Pulayaus, because they were found emerging from a pit (kuzhi). In Travancore, the Puluyaus are silid to have been divided into the eastern and western clans. The eastern Pulayans were the slaves of Daryodhana, while those of the west were attached to the Pandus. These formed the two rival parties in the war of the Mahabharata. Tho defeat of Duryodhana is the cause of their degradation. Some attempts were made to trace the origin of this story, but nobody could enlighten me on the subject. (By far the greater part of the labour in the field was and is even now performed by the Cherumans or Pulayans in Malabar, Cochin, and Travancore. These people were the absolute property of the thampurans or lords, and were employed in any kind of labour which their masters pleased. They were not attached to the soil, but might be sold or transferred in any manner that their masters thought fit; only a wife could not be sold separately. Children were separated from their parents, and brothers from their sisters. The slaves were of different castes, namely, Pulayans or Cherumans, Eralans, and Parayans, and the differences in the marriage customs of these castes caused considerable variations in the Predial slavery rights of masters to thic chillien of their slaves, as these rights depended upon the caste to which they belonged. The master was bound to give the slave a cortain allowance of provisions. A man or woman able to work reccired two to three anpas worth of paddy daily. Children and old persons unable to work were given half this pittance, while no allowance whatever was given fror inlants. This was totalls inadequate to support them, but the waves on chrstite usual to fit one twenty-first part of the prisipades croip in order to encourage then tulkcareful and inlustrious. Amala slikanerive si t'i'll cubits of clothesilicionit Tor two) mumus-inwoulian Pourteen cubits--suficient for Ivo muris, Condition of the siavosin former times, Slavery wils (0)|!1130n in :1'}"rtines throughout the western revelstand the prejudices of the high casto people: renelored the devradation of the slares complete, They were in many places attached to the soil, and their market value was not much above that of the catile united with thein in the same bondage, while they were far below thein in the estimation in which they were lreld. Though a slavery descrving commiseration, it was by no means the most rigid form of that wretched state. They were regarded with capricious indifference by their masters, who were cither Brahmans, Nairs or Native (Christians, wlin), though they were civile in caste, agreed in tippression. l'ersonal chastisement was not often inflictal, yet they ctperienced little sympathy in sickness, when they were kſi to nature. They were alsan alistuissord t« poverty, anl in an abandoned. Vanumissiry was rarely practisel nor indeed even desired. They never possessed property of any kind. Thcir free low could only be productive of starvation or a change of scrvitude which occurrel, when they were presented to 4 temple in compliance with some superstitious vow. In very carly times the murder of a slave was scarcely considered a crime. The slend of transfer generally containect the clause: "You may sell or kill him or her." They had no ideas beyond their toupation, ani were never guilty of any violence to their masters, to whom they were absolutely obedient from the sluggish apnthy of their character, which rendered them ever mindful of their own lot. Being themselves born slaves, their children also were born slaves, and every landlord had a number of them. In cases of indigence, at Pulaya uncle and mother might sell a child for about fourteen or serenteen rupees, and if a higher price had been given, it would have been of no use to them, as the proprietor would have taken the surplus. The cldest son was the property of the owner, but the nother had also the right of redeeming the first child for four rupees and a half whether the possessor liked it or not. The Pulayays were cmployed only in agriculture and The subsistence of the slaves. their labours were repaid'in grain, their wages being three measures of paddy for a man, two for a woman, and one for a child. This was all they had to live upon, and even this was not regularly paid, being reduced to half on days they did not work, and withheld entirely if they showed any symptoms of refractoriness. Harvest to them was a period of comparative plenty, but their meagre, squalid appearance often betrayed the insufficiency of their diet to which both sexes were equally doomed. A large number of slaves belonged to the Government to which they were escheat: ed along with other property on the extinction of their owners' families, and they were partly employed on Government lands and partly rented to ryots. These poor creatures, as forming a peculiar and numerous caste,' were granted certain pvileges which secured their maintenance, so that none might perish from want. Their masters no doubt were bound to give them food, but in Malubar, the Pulayans had the right of building, planting, and doing all agricultural work, and for that, they received wages in paddy. The estates on which they worked might belong to their wasters or to some one else. If their master were not in need of out-door labour, they might seek it elsewhere, but they had to take care to be ready to appear before him at his summons, and if they failed to appear, they were punished, tuture. In tient times larves were brede by differunt kinels of There were sills I'mncis Buchanan, turec modes of transferring the usufruct slaves. The first was by jenin or sale. where the full value of the slave was given, and the property Wits entirely transferred to new master who was, in sene me 11-1110, bu lay his interest to attend to the wellare of his stilte'. young man with his wife used to be sold for seventy er hundred Ms. Four or five children, two of whom were lxiinning to work, would juake the family worth one hundreland forty or une June and wenty runs. The second mammer ef transferring the labutir sof slaves Wäsby kimem or righ Ihe prapriekkol' Jiy this recivel a lot of money. generally two-thirds of the value of the savis, in a small quantity rol padily tus show that lois riplat nor Uren soll existed lle miglit Cillier reste luis property; i.d., the slaves, whenever he pleased 10 reply the money Orucl without the payment of inny interest. In the case of any of the slaves dving, the lunom helder was lund to supply another of equal value. The lenulor of the mom* maintaincul them and had their lab»ur for the interest of his 10 am Por their support. The third inethod iſ transferring or (111plexing slave's was letting them out for pattum or pont. In this IS', for an annual sm, the master lept thou to another min who exmnianted their lalxour lupported them. The allmual pettum er rent was two rupees and a quarter, and ball its lunch fur i powi. The last two temres, SLV Buchman, were atopiinable; for the person who rsaeter the labour and furnished the subsistence of the slave, wasılirectly interested in increasing ille foriner :ind diminishing the latter as much its possible. In fart the slitv's were severely created in their liminutive stature anul salil appearance entities to the want us adeptate pourishment. Five families of saves numbering {1{-tive persons vfall intes illt, it may bx mentioneel, itile illate for the culuvation oltwolninda all acres til rice land. Theoretically serfelesa in Malabar was a bulisiace almout sista Tears ago Jr. Luan gives the following couit of the abolition of slavery in his Manual of Abolition of slavery.. Malabar:-- The question of slavery and the slave trade attracted the early attention of the Honourable Company's Governthent. In the year 1792, the year in which British rule commenced, 4 proclamation was issued against dealing in slaves. A person offering a slave for sale was considered to be a thief. Both the dealer and the purchaser were sererely dealt with. Fishermen and Moplahs conveying slaves Werc severely flogged and fined at the rate often rupees for each slave, and the vessels used in trade were confiscated. This proclamation was directed against the prevalent practice of robbers carrying off by force the children of the most useful inhabitants, the Tiyyans, and their cultivators. This practice was kept alive by the facility with which the slaves could be sold on the coast to the agents of vessels, engaged in the trade, sailing from the French settlement at Mahe and the Dutch settlement at Cochin. Tliese ships in general, carried the slaves to the French islands. In 1819 the Principal Collector wrote & report on the condition of the Cherumans, and received orders, that the practice of selling slaves for arrears of revenue be immediately discontinued. In 1836, the Government ordered a remission in the Collector's accounts of Rs. 927–13–0 which was the annual revenue from the slaves on the Government lands in Malabar. In 1841, Mr. E. B. Thomas, the Judge at Calicut, wrote in strong terins, a letter to Sadir Adalat in which he pointed out that women in some Taluks fetched high prices in order to breed slaves; that the average cost of a young male under ten years was about Rs. 3-80, of a female somewhat leşs, that an infant ten months in age was sold in a court auction for Rs. 1–10—6; and that, in a recent suit, the right to twenty slaves was the sole matter for litigation and was disposed of on its merits. In & further letter he pointed out that the slaves bad increased in numbers. The Government of India passed Act V of 1843 of which the provisions were widely published throughout Malabar. Any person claiming & slave as jenn, kanom or panayam, the right of such claim 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 the Government, but no measures for the emancipation of the l'hcrudülls were deemed to be necessary. The penalties for slave dealing contained in the Penal Code which came into force on 1st January's 1802 were the finał blow to slavery in Indit, e-piecially in Malabar. 1 In Die Cochin Stute also, the same kind of slavery and slave elcaling as was prevailing in Malalar, had been long in existence. I copy of the proclamation dealing with the abolition of slavery and the slave tradło was communicated to His Highness the then Raja of thic State It was published in the same year, declaring it a serious utience to buy and sell slaves in the State, to thrash and confine them for petty faults. It also put a stop to the sale of slares for court decrees and arrears of rent, and guve freedom to the Pulaya slaves residing and working in the Govcrunient lands tion of thc slavcs. Though cmancipated the Pulayans were for a long time, The present condi. illud iure cren now in any localities, more or less in the same condition as formerly, and have been unable to appreciate the benefits conferred 11 pon then. They are still obliged to depend upon their masIrrs for maintenance. The extreme conservatism of their masters and their biyotted adherence to caste, coupled with the primitive customs of the cople, and the physical configuration of the soil prevented them from laving any intercourse with the outside world and caused their utter degradation. Their nane is still conuected with cverything revolting, and they are sluunnel as if inſcctail with plague. Thc high caste-inen view ilicir presence with a mixture of alarm and indignation and even towns and waarkets would be considered to be defiled by their approach. The old inen amongst the Pulayans still say, that they were better off in the days previous to their emancipation, for tlcy were then well red, married, and looked wter by their masters, while they are now left to a great estent to shift for themselves. Though slavery has now been abolished for many years, the name slave, valliyal, fit person receiving ralli, the allowance of paddy given to a slave) still survives, am there is bondage real though not nominal. There are jenmies (landlords) aud farmers in the State owning twenty, thirty, and even more than a hundred Pulayans who work under them and are satisfied with the two or two and a half measures of paddy doled out to them as wages for their hard work in the fields cluring the day and for watching the crops at night. Now-adaye, their masters are afraid of their running away, but do nothing to improve their condition, and their wages are still at the rates above referred to. In some places that I visited, I found I was regarded with suspicion, as it was thought, that I was being employed by the Government, with a view to loosening the existing bond between the Pulayans and their masters. Nevertheless their condition is slowly changing. They have begun to understand that they are no longer in a state of bondage under their masters. Some go to plantations in the Wynaast or to work in the Kolar gold mines, where they get high wages for their work, and missionaries of various societies do their best to improve their social condition. There are numerous classes or subdivisions among the Internal structure Pulayans, and though all are regarded as degraded by the higher castes, they are as panctilious as to the shades of difference between them and as to questions of social precedence, as are their more fortunate masters, tho Nairs. The total nnmber of subdivisions in Malabar according to the last census statistics is thirty-seven, of which the most important were Kanakka Cherumans, Pula Cherumans, Eralans, Koodans, and Rolans. In the northern parts of the Cochin State, especially in the Chittur Taluk, the following sub-tribes which are merely endogamous septs are found in the order of social precedence in which it is stated: Eralans or Era Cherumans, so called because of their being permitted to come as far of the caste, as the caves (pra) of the Izhuva houses, Konga Cherunrans, Koodans, Kanakka Cherumans, and Pula Cherumans or Pasu Pulayans. In the southern parts of the State, the Pulayans are divided into several classes, namely, Kulimary or Valluva Pulayans, Vettuvans or Vettuva Pulayans, and Thanda Pulasans. There are quite different divisions in Travancore. The fact is that in rural parts they form a kind of isolated community consisting of one or two sub-tribes, each proſessing its superiority to the other wiih no intermarriage nor interlining, and professing total ignorance of their brethren in other localitics. Hence a proper ellssification in the order of social precedence becomes difficult, each sub-tribe claiming superiority to the other. Each sub-tribe is further subdivided into illans or loottams (family groups) which are ascertained during marriage negotiations so as to avoid connections being formed between the members of the same family group. The following are the names of some of them obtained from the Pulayans around Cochin: Thandelathu Koottam, Moothanan Koottam, Nambiyar Koottan, Thachili Koottam, Pulikunnethu Koottam, Paruthi Kootlam, Kochanam koottain, Mannathu Koottam, and Naringana Koottani. These names are either the house names of their inasters or those of the masters whose slaves their ancestors may have been in former tipes. Iuvariably the Koottams go after the danes of thcir masters. لم Babitations, Their habitations, which are generally called madams, are put up on the banks of fields, or nestle under trees along their borders, so that they may watch the crops after the toils of the day are over. They are so situated as to be far out of the way of polluting high caste people. The Pulayans were discouraged froin erecting better accommodation under the idea that, if they were more comfortable they would he lexs disposed to move as cultivation required. Their huts are similar to those of the poorest among other low castes. The floor is slightly raised and is generally damp during the rainy months. The roof which is thatched cither with palmyra or plaited coconut leaves, is supported on four or six bamboo or wooden posts, with the sides covered with bamboo mats, palmyra leaves, plaited cocoanut leaves or reeds. In some parts huts with mad walls and thatched roofs are also seen. There is only'a single room and the door is low and made of a single palm leaf or reeds. Sometimes a small low opening serves the purpose of the door. The fire-place is in one corner of the hut, and cooking is done inside the hut in the rainy months and outside during summer. These huts are deficient in ventilation and the air is always more or less foul. In the Chittur and Palghat Taluks, the huts of the Kanakka Cherumans are made of mud walls, with wooden doors and roofs thatched with palmyra leaves. They are provided with verandahs either in front or on all sides, and are situated in small compounds (parambas) in the midst of paddy fields. Their furniture consists only of a few mats, and their utensils of & few pots for cooking and for keeping water, and a few dishes for holding food. In addition to these, I found in the huts examined, a wooden wortar and a few pestles for pounding rice, several pans, & few fish baskets, a few cocoanut shells for keeping salt and other things, a few baskets, some big and small, in one of which their dirty cloths were kept), some niats of their own making, and a vessel for containing toddy. These form the total property of a Pulayan and seem to satisfy all his requirements.) > When a Pulaya girl comes of age, she is lodged in a separate hut for seven days, during which food is served to her at a distance, and she is forbidden to go out and play with her friends. On the morning of the first day, a song called malapattu is sung for an hour by a Parayan to the accompaniment of drum and pipe, for which he gets seven annas worth of paddy and his assistants get three annas each. As soon as this is over, seven cocoanuts are broken, and the water is poured over the hcad of the girl, and the broken halves are distributed among the fire rallons and the seren girls who Puberty customs.