Chapter VI
THE CRIMINAL TRIBES ACT AND
THE DECLINE OF KAVAL SYSTEM
Criminal Tribes Act, 1871
The ostensible purpose of the Criminal Tribes Act (CTA) of 1871 had been
to enhance the power of the police administration to suppress the ‘hereditary’
criminal section of the Indian society. This Act originated from the fact that the
courts declined to accord legality to some of the practices followed by the police,
like restricting the movement of certain communities and confining them to
specific areas. This led to authorizing by the law the same practices. The police
administration of the North Western Frontier Province (NWFP) used this practice
for decades. But in the 1860’s this practice was declared illegal by the court.
Following this the provincial governments of NWFP and Punjab approached the
Government of India seeking legislative enactment which would make
registration of all itinerant communities compulsory and breach of this rule a
penal offence. The Government of India in order to have a better understanding
of this problem, approached all the provincial governments including Madras,
seeking their opinion regarding whether such a legislation was necessary.
However in the midst of opposition from the courts the Criminal Tribes Act of
193
1871 was instituted by the Government of India and came into force in NWFP,
Punjab and Oudh.1 Later it was extended to Bengal too.
After the implementation of CTA in some North Indian Provinces, in the
early months of 1897, the Government of Madras as per the direction of the
Government of India, prepared a circular and circulated it among the higher
officials of divisional and district administration asking them about the presence
of hereditary criminal communities and their criminal exploits in their district or in
the districts where they have served earlier, necessitate the implementation of
CTA. While A.W.B.Higgens, the District Magistrate of Tirunelveli, and J.Twigg,
the District Magistrate of Madurai, welcomed the implementation of CTA against
the Maravars and Kallars in their districts, officials of other districts firmly rejected
it on the ground that no such communities inhabited their districts and that the
existing laws were sufficient to tackle the prevailing problems.2 The provincial
level police administration of Madras too rejected this proposal on the ground
that it was impossible to implement the CTA and monitor it with a low paid police
force. It was also pointed out that oppression and misuse of power would follow.
Moreover the Government of Madras viewed the formation of rehabilitation
settlements as a statutory obligation for those who would be covered under this
act as impracticable.
It also feared that this Act would only drive these
communities into the neighbouring princely states.3
1
Meena Radhakrishna, Dishonoured by History, pp.27-29.
2
G.O.No.473, Judicial, 31 March 1897.
3
Meena Radhakrishna, Dishonoured by History, p.30.
194
This kind of thinking of the colonial officials of the Madras Presidency
underwent a significant change during the first decade of the twentieth century
due to the new developments which took place in the political and socioeconomic spheres of the province.
The outbreak of anti-kaval movements in Madurai and Tirunelveli districts,
the sack of Sivakasi in 1899 and the determination of the Kallars and Maravars to
re-establish their Kaval rights in the southern districts of the Presidency prompted
the provincial administrators to seek a more scientific explanation of crime.
Consequently they came out with the idea that it was the loss of the means of
livelihood by a large number of people during the nineteenth century because of
the wrong economic policies of the colonial state in the nineteenth century which
made the people to adopt the criminal way of life. The famines which broke out
in the Madras Presidency, particularly the famine of 1876-1878,4 were also taken
into account as a factor which pushed the people towards crime.5
However, whatever may be the causes of crime, it became more important
to the colonial state to support the agrarian elite against the challenges posed by
the western educated elite in the urban centres and to suppress those who
preyed on the agrarian society.
Consequently the idea regarding the
4
David Arnold “Famine in Peasant Consciousness and Peasant Action” in Ranajit Guha
Subaltern Studies III, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1984, p.68.
5
The 1876-1878 famine was unusually widespread as well as exceptionally persistent. Of the
21 Madras districts 14 were badly affected. They represented 83,000 square miles and
(according to 1871 census) a population of 19 million. It was officially estimated that atleast
3.5 million died in the famine in Madras.
195
implementation of CTA was widely articulated in the administrative circles of
Madras Presidency. Finally, the Criminal Tribes Act was introduced in 1914 in
the Madras Province in an amended form.
The Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 provided enormous powers to the police
administration over a large number of people. Under this Act, individuals from
communities who were identified and declared as criminals were to register
themselves and their family members with the police. They were not permitted to
leave their villages without getting a temporary license or pass from the police
which permitted their movement within the district only. This license was to be
shown to all police stations during travel to other villages.
If an individual
registered under CTA was found absent from a village without a license for a
second time he was liable to three years rigorous imprisonment.
In the
Zamindari tracts, it was the responsibility of the Zamindars to look after the
effective implementation of this Act. Another interesting and important provision
of this Act was that the administration could not proclaim a community as criminal
and register it unless its members were settled first and provided with a means of
livelihood by the government. This obligation on the part of the government was
ultimately removed when the Act was amended in 1911. Thus the government
was empowered to use the Act against larger communities as a whole.
The Criminal Tribes Act of 1911 was more comprehensive than the
previous Acts.
The 1911 Act widened the powers of the local governments
regarding the implementation of the act. It enabled them to declare any tribe,
196
section or class of people to be a criminal tribe.
They could order for the
registration of criminal tribe members and the taking of their fingerprints6.
Refusal of registration of fingerprints was a criminal offence punishable by six
months imprisonment or a fine of Rs.200 or both.7
There were severe
restrictions on mobility too. Members of the criminal tribe were permitted to be
absent from their home villages at specified times and only allowed to reside at
places approved by the authorities. Persons notified under this Act were asked
to report to the nearby police stations and should stay there for fixed hours.8 The
reporting time was fixed at 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. to prevent them from committing
crimes.
According to a provision of this Act the legal courts had no jurisdiction over
the operation and could not question the validity of notification issued by the
government. Previous crime records were not necessary to notify a community
as criminal. A ‘reason to believe’ that the community was addicted to crime was
in itself considered sufficient.9
In the Madras Presidency, among the communities which were intimately
associated with the Kaval system, Ambalakarars (a branch of Kallar community)
6
Since fingerprints of all those who were declared Criminals were taken, the Criminal Tribes
Act, in Tamil was popularly known as ‘Rekai Chattam’. Rekai means fingerprints and
Chattam means Act.
7
The Criminal Tribes Act 1911: A Collection of Acts passed by the Governor General of India
in Council in the year 1911, Calcutta, 1912.
8
Ibid.
9
Meena Radhakrishna, Dishonoured by History, pp.37, 38.
197
of Tiruchirapalli district, Piramalai Kallars of Madurai, Tiruchirapalli and Thanjavur
districts, Maravars of Sembinadu, Appanadu and Kondayankottai branches in
Ramnad and Tirunelveli, and Valayars of Madurai and Coimbatore districts were
notified as Criminal Tribes.10
To start with, in May 1914, the Piramalai Kallars of Keelakuilgudi a village
situated very near to Madurai on the western side, popularly known as ‘Keelakudi
Kallars’, who had a strong Kaval control over the inhabitants of Madurai town
were declared as a Criminal Tribe.11 In the next year itself the Piramalai Kallars
of Sorikkampatti, Mela-Urappanur and Poosalapuram villages in Tirumangalam
taluk of Madurai district were notified under the Act.12 Later on it was extended
to the Piramalai Kallars as a whole.13 By March 1921 the names and fingerprints
of 23,642 Kallars belonging to 848 villages were registered on local police station
rolls.14
Among them those who were registered under Section 10(i)A were
expected to report to a roll call every night at the nearest police station at both
11 pm and 3 am. Those who were registered under section 10(i)B could not
move out of their villages between sunset and sunrise without proper passport.
10
“List of ‘Criminal Tribe’ communities, Bhasha San Shodhan Prakasan Kendra”, cited in
Meena Radhakrishna, Dishonoured by History, Appendix-I; G.O.No.1023, Judicial, 4 May
1914; G.O.No.2233, Judicial, 16 September 1915.
11
G.O.No.1023, Judicial, 4 May 1914.
12
G.O.No.2233, Judicial, 16 September 1915.
13
G.O.No.1331, Judicial, 5 June 1918.
14
G.O.No.596, Law (General), 16 June 1921 cited in Anand Sankar Pandian, “Landscape of
Redemption: Cultivating Heart and Soil in South India” unpublished Ph.D thesis, University of
California, Berkeley, 2004.
th
198
By 1923, 32054 Kallars were covered under this piece of legislation.15
The
number of Kallar men registered increased further in the coming years.
Thousands of Kallar men, instead of travelling twice a day in the odd hours of the
night, spent every night sleeping in the verandas of the police stations.
When the Criminal Tribes Act was rapidly implemented by the British
administration it was considered by the Piramalai Kallar community as a social
humiliation of the first order. Committees were formed by them consisting of
prominent inhabitants of different villages to workout a plan to overcome this
humiliation.
Telegrams were sent by them to the Government pleading to
exempt them from this Act since they were peaceful peasants paying all the
taxes regularly.
In some villages only after repeated warnings of “dire
consequences” did Kallars come forward and register their names. The Kallars
of Perunkamanallur strongly resisted the registration move, particularly section
10(i)A of the Act, which ended in a violent clash between the Kallars of
Perunkamanallur and the police leading to the death of sixteen Kallars including
one woman in the police firing on 3 April 1920.16
15
Deputy Magistrate of Madurai to L.Davidson, on 14 July 1920, in G.O.2307, Home (Judicial),
15th September 1920, India Office Records cited in David Arnold, Police Powers and Colonial
Rule, p.253, Ft.No.158; Administrative Report of the Police of the Madras Presidency, 1924,
p.24.
16
E.T.H.Stevenson to Inspector General, 8 April 1920. G.O.1315, Home Judicial (Confidential),
26 May 1920, cited in David Arnold ‘Dacoity and Rural Crime in Madras’, The Journal of
Peasant Studies, Vol.6, No.2, January 1979, p.158, Foot Note No.36; P.Muthu Thevar,
Muvendarkula Thevar Samuga Varalaru, Kakaveeran Publication, Karumathur 1976, pp.285286.
199
Before declaring the Kallars of a particular village as a criminal tribe,
elaborate statements were prepared regarding the name of the gang or tribe,
professed mode of their livelihood, character of the crimes committed by them
and the criminal methods adopted by them. This was one of the ways of the
colonial administration, to justify the application of the Act. Under the heading of
‘professed mode of livelihood’ of the Kallars of Mela-Urappanur it was stated that
In addition to a professed mode of livelihood derived from
agriculture, 14 of the families comprising 251 adult males collect
kaval fee from certain villages in the Madura and Thirumangalam
taluks of the Madura District and in the Aruppukottai taluk of the
Ramnad district, each family having its well defined area from
which the kaval fees are collected. This kavalship is only a form of
blackmail; it involves no responsibility as regards residence or
patrolling in the localities.17
Regarding the Poosalapuram Kallar’s professed mode of livelihood the
following description was made:
…In addition 85 individuals are known to collect kaval fees from the
villages of Anaikoottam (Sattur taluk, Ramnad District), Tulukkapatti
(Sattur taluk, Ramnad District), Sinnakampatti, Keelappanaickanur,
17
G.O.No.2233, Judicial, 16 September 1915, p.9.
200
Kadaneri, Ammapatti (Thirumangalam taluk, Madurai District),
Sithanatham and Metupatti (Nilakottai taluk, Madurai District)18.
In addition to the implementation of the Criminal Tribes Act over the
Kallars, the colonial state was pondering over some programmes for the socioeconomic development of the Kallar community which could be the only
permanent solution for the century old problem of Kallar criminality. Suggestion
were invited from Christian missionary establishment who gained some
experiences in this field by managing some criminal settlements or through
voluntary services.
The changes which were taking place among the Kallar
population of Melur taluk located on the eastern side of the district also served as
a catalyst. The final outcome was the “Kallar Reclamation Scheme”.
Kallar Reclamation Scheme
The most important and significant measure which accompanied the
implementation of the Criminal Tribes Act against Piramalai Kallar was the
implementation of a scheme popularly known as the “Kallar Reclamation
Scheme”.
This scheme was a liberal and modified version of another
programme called as “Criminal Tribes Settlement”; a wider strategy of the
colonial government to deal with ‘extreme cases’ among those notified and
registered under Criminal Tribes Act.
This strategy of establishing separate
settlements for ‘extreme cases’ of criminals, to start with, was attempted by the
18
Ibid., p.20
201
Thuggee and Dacoity department of the colonial state in north Indian provinces
as early as in 1830’s.19 When the Criminal Tribes Act was enacted in 1871 this
settlement strategy was incorporated in the provisions of the Act and
consequently many ‘Criminal Tribes Settlements’ were established in different
parts of north India.
In managing such settlements the colonial government
invited the help of Christian missionary organizations who were considered to be
more appropriate and experienced for this task.20 As a result, with the financial
help extended by the government, missionary organizations particularly the
‘Salvation Army’, was managing many Criminal Tribes Settlements in north
Indian provinces.21
The ‘Criminal Tribes Settlements’ were established with the principle of
‘Reclamation and Rehabilitation’ of the so-called incorrigible sections of the
criminal tribes notified and registered. As per this strategy ‘Settlements’ were
established in different parts of north India both in the rural regions and urban
centres, and the registered criminals were settled there either forcibly or by
voluntary means. The major objectives of these settlements were to inculcate in
the criminals a taste for civilized way of life and through this wean them from
criminal habits, to make them to understand the dignity of labour by forcing them
to work in agricultural farms and in industrial units, and ultimately making them fit
for the mainstream of social life. However, though high sounding in principle,
19
Meena Radhakrishna, Dishonoured by History, p.17.
20
G.O.No.2233, Judicial, 16 September 1915.
21
Meena Radhakrishna, Dishonoured by History, pp.75-78.
202
many of these ‘Settlements’ whether functioning directly under the government or
managed by missionary organizations, were worse than prisons, reminding us
the theory of Michel Foucault regarding prisons, schools, reformatories and
asylums.
With the introduction and implementation of Criminal Tribes Act in the
Madras Presidency from 1911 ‘Settlements’ were also established in different
places for different groups of Criminal communities notified including the
Kuravars and Yerkulars, the nomadic and itinerant communities of the Madras
Presidency. The following settlements were functioning in the year 1917.22
Sitanagaram
Stuartpuram
Guntur
Guntur district
Kala Chedu
Kavali
Nellore district
Aziznagar
Stuartpet
South Arcot district
Bhumannagadda
Chittoor district
Pallavaram
Chengalpet district
Perambur
Madras city
Pillaiyarpatti
Tanjore district
Kulasekarapatnam
and voluntary settlements of
Tirunelveli district
Siddapuram
Kurnool district
The Kallar Settlement [Gudalur] Madurai district
22
The History of The Madras Police, p.529.
203
Of these settlements, Pillaiyarpatti in Thanjavur district and Gudalur in
Madurai district were meant for the Piramalai Kallars. The other settlements
were for the criminal tribes other than the Kallars such as the Kuravars,
Yerkulars, Korchas and Dommaras.
Many factors were at play in prompting the colonial government to plan for
the reclamation of the Kallars. It sincerely felt that it was obligatory on its part to
undertake some sort of social reform measures for the Piramalai Kallars who
were covered under the CTA and subjected to unusual sufferings. Besides they
were very much inspired and motivated by the remarkable changes which took
place in the social life of the Kallars of Melur regions with the availability of water
for irrigation from Periyar project.
The Periyar dam construction commenced in 1887 and John Pennycuick
was the Chief Engineer.23 The first waters passed through the tunnel in 1895 to
reach the lands around Melur region. The Melur Kallars were motivated and
offered with irrigated lands. They held a full caste meeting, discussed at length,
and brought out some changes in their caste rules and accepted the offer.24 By
23
Regarding John Pennycuick and his personal involvement in constructing the Periyar dam,
much information packed with emotion are available from the colonial records. Every section
of the population of Madurai district benefited by Periyar water loved him. Pennycuick too
exceeding the boundaries of his official responsibility considered the dam construction work
as his life time service to the people. He always identified himself with the people. Even
today he is remembered by the common people, and in the Cumbum valley regions in every
house-hold there is a child named after John Pennycuick. Two years ago, when one of the
great grand sons of Pennycuick with his family came to Cumbum region to visit the dam
constructed by his great grand father; he was given a carpet welcome by thousands of
people. He was astonished and emotionally moved to see many a children with his greatgrand father’s name and many wall posters adorning the streets carrying his great grand
father’s image.
24
Gilbert Slater, Southern India: Its Political and Economic Problems, George Allen and Unwin
Ltd., London, 1936, p.36.
204
1901 about 132000 acres of paddy fields, mostly in the drought-prone Melur
Taluk of Madurai district dominated by Kallar population were watered by the
Periyar river project.25 This development in turn brought out major changes in
the life style of Melur Kallars. The impact of the Periyar water project over the
Melur Kallars has been described in the Madurai District Gazetteer thus:Hope for the reformation of the Kallar has now recently
arisen in quite another quarter. Round about Melur the people of
the caste are taking energetically to wet cultivation to the exclusion
of cattle lifting, with the Periyar water which has lately been brought
there…. The department of public works may soon able to claim
that it has succeeded where the army, the police and the
magistracy have failed and made a honest man of the notorious
Kallars.26
The District officials of Madurai very much inspired by this development,
decided to undertake some socio-economic reform measures for the Piramalai
Kallars too.
Another important factor was that with the implementation of CTA on a
wide scale against them, the Piramalai Kallar community became highly
antagonistic and presented a belligerent posture against the government. This
25
Anand Sankar Pandian, “Landscapes and Redemption: Cultivating Heart and Soil in South
India”, unpublished Ph.D., thesis, p.248.
26
W.Francis, Madura District Gazetteer, pp.92-93.
205
boiling situation was accelerated further when eleven Kallars were killed in a
police firing at Perungamanallur village on 3 April, 1920, when the community
resisted the state’s attempt to register their fingerprints under the provisions of
the CTA. The situation resulted in a violent outbreak of a riot of great magnitude
remembered to this day in popular memory.27
Besides these factors the Congress party which was organizing the
people towards the non co-operation movement took initiative in politicising the
CTA issue. If it was permitted to develop further, the government feared that
there was every possibility that the entire Kallar community could rally round the
Congress. Any delay on the part of the government in undertaking ameliorative
measures, it was further feared, could invite serious problems. Such were the
circumstances which forced the colonial government to implement the ‘Kallar
Reclamation Scheme’ on a war footing.
The outline of the ‘Kallar Reclamation Scheme’ was prepared and given
proper shape by Loveluck, the Superintendent of Police of Madurai district. As a
man of vision he was very meticulous in preparing the scheme. The scheme was
so comprehensive that it incorporated all the essential ingredients for the overall
development of the Kallar community.28
The formal Kallar Reclamation Scheme was formally initiated in the 1920
in the Madurai district.
The colonial authorities in their analysis of Kallar
27
Muthu Thevar, Muvendarkula Thevar Samuga Varalaru, p.289.
28
The History of The Madras Police, p.535.
206
criminality came to the conclusion that pressure on land was the most important
reason. Consequently even before the Kallar Reclamation Scheme was given
the final shape, they decided to establish agricultural settlements for the
land-less Kallars in uncultivated government lands. Finally it was proposed to
establish a compulsory settlement at Gudalur under the supervision of the police
officials with a propertied Kallar as overseer.29 However, with the intervention of
the provincial authorities in Madras, the settlement became a voluntary one and
the management of the settlement was also vested in the hands of one Edward
P. Holton of the American Madura Mission.
American Madura Mission was
working among the Kallar population of Madurai region right from 1833 and was
involved in civilizing activities through establishing boarding schools, medical
dispensaries, industrial training centres and model farms.30
Before the
establishment of the settlement at Gudalur the district authorities held many
meetings and discussions with the missionaries.31
However, contrary to the expectation of the colonial government the Kallar
settlement venture at Gudalur proved to be a failure. Problems erupted from
unexpected quarters. The local ryots of Kulappa Goundenpatti a village situated
very near to the settlement were antagonistic towards the Kallar settlers.
A
portion of the land reserved for the settlement was already in their temporary
29
Anand Sankar Pandian, “Landscapes and Redemption: Cultivating Heart and Soil in South
India”, unpublished Ph.D., thesis, p.202.
30
Ibid., p.203.
31
G.O.No.2233, Judicial, 16 September, 1915.
207
enjoyment under a different scheme and they were paying an annual tax to the
government as per the government norms. They considered the settlers as their
competitors. Coupled with this problem an epidemic of malarial fever broke out
which killed one child and forced several other settlers to leave the settlement.
By July 1919, the Gudalur settlement had become moribund. Another attempt
was made to open another compulsory settlement in the Melur Taluk of Madurai
district but was soon given up because the authorities realized that this strategy
was not suitable for the Kallars. Consequently in its place a panchayat approach
was introduced which proved to be more successful.32
Elaborate administrative arrangements were made by the colonial
government for the successful implementation of the Kallar Reclamation Scheme
together well in advance in 1920. A special administrative wing was created
consisting of staff drawn from both the police and revenue departments. Almost
all the administrative departments were instructed to render their co-operation to
the scheme. The team of Reclamation staff consisted of one Inspector, seven
Sub-Inspectors, fifteen Head Constables, thirty nine Constables, one Deputy
Thasildar, three Revenue Inspectors, six supervisors of schools, one Scout
Master and four Co-operatives working under one Kallar special officer whose
rank was raised to that of a Superintendent of Police.33
32
Anand Sankar Pandian, “Landscapes and Redemption: Cultivating Heart and Soil in South
India”, unpublished Ph.D., thesis, pp.212-213.
33
The History of the Madras Police, p.534.
208
The Kallar Reclamation Scheme was formally sanctioned by the
Government of the Madras Presidency on 24 February 1920 and one A.K. Raja
Ayyar, known for his sincerity and hard work, was appointed as special officer of
the scheme on 6 November 1920.
The Kallar Reclamation Scheme was a
package of multi-faceted programmes which could be listed as follows.34
1) Mass Education to the Kallar children.
2) Industrial Training Centres for Kallar youth.
3) Agricultural Loan facilities to the Kallars.
4) Establishment of Kallar Co-operative Societies.
5) Improving Transport facilities.
6) Panchayat system in Kallar villages.
In order to popularize the scheme and to enlist the co-operation of the
people at large mass meetings were organized in the villages which were
attended by thousands of people. District level officials addressed the gatherings
and explained the principles of the scheme. In every village they personally met
the principal inhabitants and enlisted their co-operation.35 “Nowhere else in the
Presidency was such a comprehensive scheme undertaken”, comments David
Arnold.36
34
P.Muthu Thevar, Muvendarkula Thevar Samuga Varalaru, pp.291-294.
35
Ibid; The History of the Madras Police, p.533.
36
David Arnold, Police Power and Colonial Rule in Madras 1859-1947, p.145.
209
The implementation of the Kallar Reclamation Scheme commenced with
much enthusiasm and expectation soon gained much momentum. A.K. Raja
Ayyar and some other higher officials personally visited many Kallar villages met
the leading inhabitants and other explained the purpose of the scheme. As a
striking innovation Kallar caste Panchayats were established in many villages
consisting of leading Kallar inhabitants as members. These Panchayats were
made responsible for destroying the levy of Kaval fee and Thuppucooli for
reporting crime, for reporting absences, for surrendering and excommunicating
the guilty, for sending children to schools and for encouraging the Kallar youth to
emigrate to tea estates.37 By 1921 A.K. Raja Ayyar, successfully established
Panchayats in 501 Piramalai Kallar villages and with their assistance many
warrants which were long standing were executed.38 Here it is possible that by
this strategy of creating village Panchayats the colonial state was trying to win
over the rural Kallar elite to its side and driving a wedge between the richer and
poorer sections of the Kallar community.
Within two months of the implementation of the scheme 28 schools for
Kallar children were opened and education was made compulsory for the Kallar
children in the age group of 5 to 12. Parents were also warned with punishments
if they failed to send their children to school. In course the number of schools
37
Louis Dumont, A South Indian Subcaste, 1986, p.27; The History of the Madras Police,
p.533.
38
The History of the Madras Police, p.533.
210
and schools with boarding facilities increased. By 1925 there were about 321
schools functioning and among them four were for the girls.39
In the meantime industrial training centres were established at
Tirumangalam,
Sathangudi,
Poosalpuram,
Chekkanoorani, Puliankulam and Cumbum.
Usilampatti,
Keelakudi,
They imparted training to Kallar
youth in spinning, weaving, tailoring, carpentry, rope-making and basket-making.
During the training period they were provided with stipend.40
Besides the above efforts the government concentrated on popularizing
co-operative movement in Kallar villages and distribution of lands to landless
Kallar families.
Within a short span of time about 3013 acres of land was
distributed and 90 co-operative stores were established. Loans for buying bulls
and sinking wells were provided by these societies.
In the meantime,
employment was found for about 5000 Kallars in the tea estates. Regarding the
success of the programme and the man behind the programme J.F. Hall, the
District Magistrate wrote in 1922.
A.K. Raja Ayyar’s work as Kallar Special Officer was little
short of all wonderful and I could not speak too highly of it. This
scheme for the reclamation of Kallars has passed beyond that
outlined by Mr.Loveluck in 1920. The expansion of the work and
was very largely bound up with his own personality.
He had
acquired extraordinary hold over the Kallars and it was essential
39
P.Muthu Thevar, Muvendarkula Thevar Samuga Varalaru, p.291.
40
Ibid.
211
that for a considerable time he should remain in personal charge of
the work.41
During the early years of the implementation of Kallar Reclamation
Scheme there were hectic activities and the entire district administration was
geared up to ensure the proper implementation of the scheme. Thanks to the
sincere efforts taken by special officers like A.K. Raja Ayyar and his successor
K.D. Janardhana Rao, the Kallar Reclamation Scheme yielded considerable
positive results. The extraction of Kaval fee and Thuppu cooli system started to
lose ground gradually. Louis Dumont has assessed the scheme in the following
terms:
It is true on the whole that the Kallar use the advantages
which the government has put at their disposal. It is also true that
their mode of life became more normal. Nevertheless the second
objective of the reform policy, that of opening new horizons for
Kallar initiative and activity has not been realized….42
However in a long run many problems creeped in. The functioning of the
special officer of Kallar Reclamation Scheme in addition to the local
Superintendent of Police caused some frictions in the administrative circle. While
the special officer insisted more on reform programmes the police officials
emphasized on repression.
The co-operation from other administrative
41
The History of The Madras Police, pp.533-534.
42
Louis Dumont, A South Indian Subcaste, 1986, p.30.
212
departments was also not to the excepted levels. This bureaucratic rift was well
utilized by the Kallars and the crime rates once again soared. In the agricultural
settlements many Kallars violated the regulation, by either mortaging or selling
out their land allotted to them.
In course of time the District Police
Superintendents were made responsible for the implementation of the scheme.
Gradually the scheme lost its earlier spirit, which was reflected in the increasing
crime rates.43
In the meantime, in the political front pressure for the repeal of Criminal
Tribes Act mounted up.
Finally the legislative Assembly of the Madras
Presidency repealed the Criminal Tribes Act on 17 April 1947,44 but only replaced
by All India Habitual Offenders Act by the central government in 1948.
Criminal Tribes Act in Tirunelveli and Ramnad
In Tirunelveli and Ramnad the implementation of the CTA was not as
systematic
and
thorough
when
compared
to
Madurai.
Though
the
Kondayamkottai, Appanadu and Sembinadu branches of the Maravar community
in both the districts were brought under CTA only individuals of the clan were
notified as criminals and not the entire community. Moreover in these regions
the administration, for the purpose of initial notification and confirmation of the
criminality of an individual depended more on the information of the village
43
The History of The Madras Police, p.536.
44
Anand Sankar Pandian, “Landscapes and Redemptions: Cultivating Heart and Soil in South
India”, unpublished Ph.D., thesis, p.299.
213
headman and principal inhabitants of the villages. So when the CTA came into
practice the village headmen and the local landlords found themselves with
enhanced power. This was mainly due to the recommendation of the Indian
Police Commission.45
This feature was more prominent in Tirunelveli and
Ramnad than in other districts. The village headmen of the Madras Presidency
were considered to be in a more efficient state by the Police Commission
because they combined in their duties many functions such as village magistrate,
police officer and revenue head.
The enlarged powers enjoyed during the implementation of CTA proved to
be a powerful weapon in the hands of the village headmen. In the long run it was
utilized by them as an instrument to seek vengeance, to extract money and free
labour by threatening people.
Ultimately poor members of the Maravar
community who were unable to fulfill the demands of the village headmen
became the victims while the rich and influential but real criminals escaped. The
non-co-operation already existed between the rural police and the regular police
reinforced the power already enjoyed by the village headmen.
In Madurai district the implementation of CTA over the Piramalai Kallars
coupled with Kallar Reclamation Programme, which provided a wide range of
economic opportunities for the Kallars, yielded good results. In Tirunelveli and
Ramnad when CTA was applied over the Kondayankottai, Appanadu and
45
Christopher Baker, ‘Madras Headmen’ in K.N.Chaudhry and Clive Dewey (eds), Economy
and Society: Essays in Indian Economic and Social History, Oxford University Press, Delhi,
1979, p.35.
214
Sembinadu Maravars, it was not accompanied by any programme resembling the
Kallar Reclamation. The government was not in favour of such a programme
because of its previous experience at Madurai which involved considerable
official workload and huge financial commitment.46
Thus a legal measure, not accompanied by a rehabilitation programme for
those who would be affected, whose implementation was vested in the hands of
a police administration known for its inefficiency, corruption and partisan attitude,
was deeply marred by problems. Consequently the implementation of CTA in
Tirunelveli and Ramnad districts failed to fulfill the anticipation of the colonial
state. While the Nadar-Maravar conflict was still lurking in the background, the
crimes related to Kaval reached new heights. When the colonial state was busy
with the implementation of the CTA a riot broke out on 17 September 1918 at
Kamudhi in Ramanad district. The reason was the long standing antagonism
between the Nadars and the Maravas.
On the morning of 17 September
Maravars of the neighbouring villages in large numbers entered the town of
Kamudhi with the intention of attacking the Nadars. When the police warned
them they too were attacked and two policemen were killed. Following this the
mob passed through the bazaar street setting fire to the shops and houses.
Twenty one houses and sixteen shops were destroyed and damage to the extent
of Rs.15,000 caused. With the arrival of additional police force the mob was fired
upon resulting in the death of a few Maravars. However, after a few weeks, the
46
G.O.No.293, Home, 20 October 1942.
215
Maravars carried on a campaign of terrorism and extortion in other villages.
Peace was restored only after the army was deployed.47
In the Tirunelveli district nine Maravar Kavalkarars were arrested for
levying Kaval fee in 1917. In 1918, eleven Kavalkarars were bound over for the
same reason.48 This was only the tip of the iceberg as most of the criminal
exploits of the Marava Kavalkarars went unreported.
In 1933, Sivanthipatti, a small village situated on the eastern side of
Tirunelveli, became the epicentre of Kaval disputes.
Among the different
communities of Tirunelveli district the people belonging to the scheduled castes,
particularly the Pallars and the Parayars were the worst affected by the Kaval
extortion of the Maravars.49 On one occasion, some of the Marava Kavalkarars
were caught red-handed in a theft by the Pallars and produced before the village
Munsiff. During the initial enquiry the Maravar denied the charges. But during
the enquiry of the higher British officials the crime was proved and the culprits
had to confess it. When the Collector of Tirunelveli was informed of this crime he
ordered the arrest of those Maravas under CTA. This episode created a lasting
enmity between the Maravars and Pallars.50
47
Administrative Report of the Police of the Madras Presidency, 1918, pp.13-14.
48
Administrative Report of the Police of the Madras Presidency, 1919, p.25.
49
G.O.No.124, Public (Police), 8 March 1933.
50
K.Ragupathy, “Dalith Thaneluchium Odukkumurai Olippum” (in Tamil) in Puthu Visai, Hosur,
October-December, 2007, p.4.
216
The serious situation prevailing in Tirunelveli district has been well
described by the Bishop of Tirunelveli in his communication addressed to the
Collector of Tirunelveli entitled “Memorandum on the Marava Problem in the
Tirunelveli District of South India”.
A very large percentage of Marava crimes arise out of disputes
about the kaval payment… It cannot be denied that the situation in
Tirunelveli district is very serious. Within three or four miles of any
large Marava village, no one can feel that life and property are in
any way secure. The heavy hands of the Maravars falls of-course
mainly on the poor and helpless, but many others suffer and the
area covered by their depredations is widespread. The problem is
so serious that only a very resolute attempt by the government
cope with it is likely to have much effect. Perhaps it is the difficulty
of the task that has led the Government for more than a century to
postpone the time for attempting it.51
When the colonial government was pondering over the ways and means
for the effective implementation of CTA particularly in Tirunelveli district the
problem of illegal Kaval exaction by the Marava Kavalkarars occurred in the
villages of Griammalpuram, Hari Kesavanallur and Manapuranallur which were
under the jurisdiction of Sermadevi police station.
51
About sixteen Maravar
“Memorandum on the Marava Problem in the Tirunelveli District of South India” submitted by
the Bishop of Tirunelveli, to the Secretary, Government of Madras, 30 April 1932, Notes
leading to the G.O.No.626, Home, 24 April 1945.
217
families of Karikesavanallur had Kaval control over these villages. In return for
their services the Maravar Kavalkarars were allotted four acres of land which was
listed officially as ‘Gramma Samuthayam’ or the village common land. However
the Maravars assumed complete control over it and styled the land as Kaval
manyam. In 1920 there was a legal dispute regarding the ownership of this plot.
In course of time this land was brought under his complete control by an
individual named Sundara Thevan.
Consequently a factional fight ensued
among the Maravars.52
From 1939 onwards frequent clashes took place between these factions.
Apart from this the Kavalkarars of both factions compelled the inhabitants of
these three villages to pay the Kaval fee to them. When the ryots refused to pay
the Kaval fee to one faction they were attacked and looted by the members of the
other gang.
Besides illegal extraction were also made by both the factions.
Consequently violent incidents took place on 27th December 1939, 3rd January
1940 and 8th January 1940 in which the properties of the ryots particularly of the
Pallars were looted.53
The affected ryots made complaints with the police official against
nineteen Maravars who in turn elaborately narrated the developments from the
beginning to the Joint Magistrate M. Ananthanarayanan. On 15th January 1940
Ananthanarayanan accompanied by the police officials personally visited the
52
Letter from District Superintendent of Police, Tirunelveli to the Inspector General, Madras, 2
July 1940 in G.O.No.1252 Home (Confidential) 11 April 1941, TNSA.
53
Ibid.
218
villages and conducted an enquiry. Seventy Adi Dravidas appeared before the
Magistrate eloquently represented the sufferings they had undergone owing to
their refusal to contribute Kaval exactions demanded by the nineteen Maravars
mentioned in the complaint.
Though informed well in advance, out of the
nineteen Maravars only five belonging to one faction appeared for the enquiry.
Towards the end, Joint Magistrate instead of initiating legal proceeding against
the culprits, asked the Maravars to mend the differences existing among
themselves within a period of ten days. He believed that if a compromise was
worked out between the two factions of the Maravars all problems would be
solved. This chance was well utilized by the Maravars who appeared before the
Magistrate with a compromise deed regarding collection of Kaval fee setting forth
the terms of their agreement.54
This was accepted by the magistrate who
informed the inspector on 1st February 1940 that he had dropped further action in
this matter. This decision of the joint magistrate was highly criticized by the
higher police officials as unwarranted, failure to recognize his duties and tacit
recognition of the principle of Kaval.55
Thus the Marava Kavalkarars were
permitted to escape by M. Ananthanarayanan, the Joint Magistrate.
The above seen decision taken in favour of the unruly Marava
Kavalkarars, that too in a situation where the Criminal Tribes Act was in
operation, indicate the crucial lapses on the part of the colonial administration. It
54
Vide Appendix, VIII.
55
J.Beckett, Dy.Inspector General of Police to Inspector General, 13 July 1940, G.O.No.1252,
Home (Confidential), 11 March 1941.
219
exhibits the ambivalent nature and failure of the colonial state to utilize the
opportunity of ‘people’s resistance’ to suppress the Maravar Kavalkarars. It also
exposed the void that existed between the higher and lower ranks of officials in
the administrative structure. Yet another important underlying factor brought to
the light was the prevalence of caste nexus and compromising tendency of some
of the higher caste like the Brahmins and the Vellalas with the Maravars. For
instance the roll of the Kottai Vellalas in the anti-kaval movement in
Srivaikuntam. This may be due to the numerical inferiority and less militancy of
these communities.
However, in consequence of the stern measures undertaken against the
Maravars in general during anti-Nadar riots and against the Marava Kavalkarars
in particular during the anti-kaval movements in Tirunelveli, the Kaval system in
general lost its former vigour and influence. But in some pockets of southern
Tirunelveli, it continued to survive even after 1947.