Landscapes and the Law: Environmental Politics, Regional Histories, and Contests over Nature

320 Pages·2019·6.982 MB·English

by  Gunnel Cederlöf

Landscapes and the Law

Landscapes and the Law
Environmental Politics, Regional Histories,
and Contests over Nature
Gunnel Cederlöf
1
1

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ISBN-13 (print edition): 978-0-19-949974-8
ISBN-10 (print edition): 0-19-949974-8

ISBN-13 (eBook): 978-0-19-909927-6
ISBN-10 (eBook): 0-19-909927-8

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by Tranistics Data Technologies, New Delhi 110 044
Printed in India by Gopsons Papers Ltd., Noida 201 301
For
Leif, Erik , and Gustav

Illustrations and Maps
Illustrations
1 St Stephen’s Church Ootacamund, 1834 3
2 N anicane showing silver coins depicting Queen Victoria
and Indira Gandhi 56
3 Ootacamund on the Neilgherries, 1856 71
4 Mr Kaasi in Marlimund 107
5 A shrine dedicated to Bhavani Amman 150
6 Th e Toda temple of Kandelmund 187
7 Th e sacred peak Godmenthitt, also visible in Illustration 5 231
Maps *
1 Central South India 5
2 Th e Nilgiri Hills, eastern Wynad and north-western
Coimbatore District 7
3 Th e Nilgiri Hills seen from south-west 8
* Maps by Markku Pyykönen

Glossary

adivasi original inhabitant/s
amildar revenue collector
casbha, causba revenue village
circar, sarkar government
cutcherry administration offi ce
diku non-tribal, outsider
duff adar, kolkar Indian Army cavalry offi cer, equal to
sergeant
fanam coin, mostly silver
hookumnamah instruction
inam, inamdar grant of land with discount of
revenue; inamdar, the grantee of the
inam
jagir, jagirdar grant of land to an army offi cer;
jagirdar, the grantee of the jagir
jajmani a system of mutual reciprocity and
hierarchical dependence between
castes ( jati ) in a particular location
janmam, jenmi birth, hereditary ownership
xii glossary
jenmi, jenmikaran person holding hereditary rights over
land in Malabar
jenm-koodian person holding a lease on jenmi land
kanam lease, mortgage, or usufructuary
mortgage
kanakaran holder of a lease or mortgage
kaniachi land control, right to land
kararnamah agreement
kumri (warg and sarkar kumri) shifting cultivation, under
landlord or government control
menon village accountant
mirasi, mirasidar c ustomary right, particularly to land;
customary, privileged landholder,
kaniachidar
monigar lowest-level government offi cial,
representing a revenue village
mund, mudr Toda settlement
munsif subordinate magistrate
nad, nadu territory, administrative geographical
unit
patta title deed to land on condition of rent
payment
pattadar landholder, holder of a p atta
peishkar, peshkar administrative head of a revenue offi ce
ryot cultivator
saraf (‘shroff ’) money-changer
sheristadar head clerk, accountant
shola high-altitude stunted evergreen forest,
from Tamil: s olai , thicket, grove, forest
tahsildar low-ranking administrative executive
offi cer in the revenue department of a
district
taluk administrative subdivision of a district
tharavadu household, landed matrilineal
household in Malabar
zamindar landlord, holder of an estate