Honor is our Family Treasure A history of the cochin state from the 6th century to 1949

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Preface

Cochin State was a princely state that existed in what is now Kerala from the early part of the 6th Century AD to 1949 CE when the state was integrated with Indian union.

This work looks to document the rise and ultimate Integration of the Cochin state

I feel it is nesscery that the History of Cochin state is truly documented as there is a tendency for the state’s history to be subdued by that of its Powerful southern Neighbor the state of Travancore

As a Cochin resident myself I feel that it is important that the history of this constituent of the present day Kerala state is documented and presented for posterity and beyond

As the Kingdom of Cochin becomes a fading memory in the hearts of its former subjects

I treed the creaky floorboards of history to bring you the unsung majesty that was the kingdom of Cochin

I would like to extant my hearts thanks to my mother my first teacher and the silent support of my father

I would also like to intendent the warmest regards to my mentor Mr. Raja Gopal Peroor and my dearest guide His siren Highness Kerala Verme sir for providing the spark and push to compile this work and a special mention to Mr Ramachandran at the Ernakulum Public libery for providing the books for reference

And I would also credit in absantia the Honrable C Achutayan Menon and Mr shreedran Menon for their works are the foundations of my work

Above all I would like to dedicate this work to our Titular deity Sree Poornathrayesa who is regarded to be ruler of all of Cochin

By whose grace this most humble of serf was born in this noblest of domains


OM NAMO NARAYANA
 

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CHAPTERS

· Chapter 1:eek:rigins and early History of Cochin State

· Chapter 2: administration of the kingdom

· Chapter 3: demographic compassion of the Kingdom

· Chapter 4: Economy and Transport in the Kingdom

· Chapter 5: Police Law and Order and Courts of Law in the Kingdom

· Chapter 6: Education in the kingdom

· Chapter 7: Politics in the Kingdom

· Chapter 8: postal and defence of the Kingdom

· Chapter 9: relationship with British India

· Chapter 10: end of an era accession to the union

· Chapter 11: the final nail the abolition of the privy purses

· Chapter 12: broken but proud an epilogue

· References

· Pictures

· Treaties
 

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Chapter 1: origins and early History of Cochin State

Kochi or Cochin State was a native Indian state that was situated between 9o 48’ latitude and 76o 5’ and 76o 58’ east longitude with a total area of 14173/4 square Kilometers with a boundary length of 500 miles it was bounded by Travancore in the south and the Malabar district British Indian Empire in the north.

Situated in the under the madras presidency

The main territory of the state was formed in the great tsunami of 1314 which led to the opening of the natural Harbour at cochin and the silting of the main Harbour at miseries in what is now koodlluoor in the present day Thrissur District in Kerala

The Honrable C Achyutha Menon in his seminal work the Cochin State Manual states that in works like the Kerala mahatmiyam the present cochin is refered to as Balapurum but refreing the works of Italian travelers Nicolo Conti and Father paolino who visited what is now cochin in the 15th and 17th century respectively he points out that the town to them was known as Kochi after the river that connected the backwaters of the vambanad lake to the sea

Cochin was ruled by the Perumpadappu swaroopam named for their ancestral home land in the present day palaghat district (where they had their seat till the 13th century) from the establishment of the principality to its accession to the Indian union in 1949

The origins of the Cochin royals are shrouded in mystery and myth

It is generally believed that they trace their lineage to the Kulashekara of Mahodayapuram through the matrilocal line

The early History of what came to be known as the Perumpadappu swaroopam and the Kingdom of Cochin remains a mystery and mirage

It is recorded in history that the kingdom had a seesaw ride in terms of territory the King of Cochin controlled the most amount of territory in 1500 that extended for 40002 kms that included parts of present day Kottayam districts the government at the times based on the Local feudal custom the country was divided in to small administrative units called nods or counties headed by naduvazhis or local chiefs the major chiefs of the land were as follows Paliyam swaroopam, who was second to the Perumpadappu swaroopam. Other powerful lords around these areas were "Cheranellore Karthavu" who was the head of the "Anchi Kaimals", "Muriyanatt (Mukundapuram-Nadavarambu) Nambiar" who was the head of Arunattil Prabhus, "Kodassery Kartha" "Mappranam Prabhu"-"Vellose Nair", "Chengazhi Nambiar (Chengazhinad Naduvazhi)", "Edappali Nampiyathiri,"

The Anji Kaimals who’s Chief was the Cheranellur Kartha as owning all of Eranakulam. In fact, Eranakulam is known as Anji Kaimal in the early maps of Kerala. See Dutch in Malabar (Dutch Records No 13), 1910 shows a map from AD1740 that shows the area of AnjiKaimal as almost twice as large as the Cochin State. The other Chiefs he mentions quoting Gollennesse (Dutch East India Company) is the 1) Moorianatt Nambiar 2) Paliath Achan (mentioned above), 3) Codacherry (Kotasseri) Kaimal, 4) Caimalieone (female Kaimal) of Corretty, 5) Changera Codda Kaimal, and 6) Panamoocattu Kaimal (Panambakadu Kaimal). The last four Kaimals are known as the Kaimals of Nandietter Naddu. The Kaimals of Nandietter Naddu had Nayar troops of 43,000 according to Heer Van Reede of the Dutch East India Company from 1694. (Page 241 and 242)

the revenue system was based on taxes that were collected from the customs and taxes levied on the foreign trade that came to cochin additional revenue was provided by the crown lands of the king the cochin state mentions that a tax of 10% was levied on all imports and 5 percent was levied on all exports even the landed gentry was levied a percentage of their income in the form of kettuteng levied on the garden lands of the madamish

There were now particular law codes but punishments and fines were prescribed

according to nattunadappu or the laws of the land that was based on the common belifes and coustoms prevalent at the time the laws were also drawn from the dharma shatra for hindus the Koran for the Muslims the tohara for the jews and Bible for the Christians

Cochin had no standing army at the time and the raja relied on his chiefs for rising an army during times of war it was consisted exclusively of the Nairs a caste of Hindus who’s many job it was to be under the service of the kings

The Portugese Period 1503–1663

The ascent of cochin started when the Portuguese arrived in cochin under Pedro Álvares Cabral on the after been booted out by the Zamorin of Calicut till then cochin was a vassal of the King of Calicut and with the Portuguese arriving in cochin the king of cochin saw an opportunity to break away from the chains of vassalage of Calicut

Cabral was recived warmly by the King of cochin HH Unni Goda varma Koil Thirumalpad and the king conveyed through Michael Jouge a native Christian who had boarded with Cabral and on his way to visit the Vatican and see the holy land that the king would allow the Portuguese to buy spices and produce from cochin

The wily Cabral coxed the king further to allow him to setup a factory at Cochin cabral promised in return that he would conquer Calicut for the King of cochin

The protugses established the Factory the first supervisor of the factory was Goncalo Gil Barbosa as was customary at the time

And to avoid any misunderstandings between them an exchange of “Hostages “were conducted between the state and the protugses fleet

Though C ahutya Menon states that Carabal profressed that it was unnesscrey to do so the exchange was still carried out

It is said that Cabral was really impressed by the king of Cochin and found him to be honest, intelligent and truthfull in his dealings with him

The Protugese also recived deputations from the Kingdoms of kolothnad and kollam offering him spices at even more attaractive rates but these offers were decliened with decorum

After singing the letters of friendship between the Kingdom of Cochin and the Kingdom of Portugal Cabral left Loaded with spices and other goods for Portugal

A futher two expeditions followed that of cabral one by Joao Da nova this happened while cabral was stil in port at cochin Nova also had to face off with the murading Calicut fleet which was duly destroyed Nova reached cochinand was apprised of the Durbar’s fedility and good treatment of portugese intrest by the king but Nova ran in to trouble in procurement of the sipces he required this sitatuation was created by the arab traders the King up on learning of the distress that Nova was in stood as his personal guarantor and Nova was able to procure the required goods and on his way dispersed his goods at Kannur and continued with his journey to Portugal the second expedition was heeded by Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira which was his 2nd one to the east indes this was a two pronged expedition with two objectives one was to take punitive action against the zamorin on the basis of the report provide by Cabral though the zamorin offered an expiation for the action of the Muslims ( also called as moors ) vascos de gama refused to negotiate till” the Moors were expelled from Calicut which the King duly refused angered by this the portugese fleet under vascos da gama bombarded Calicut and destroyed all the Moorish Arab ships at anchor

While in malabar he also succeeded in getting the king of Kannur to accept new standard rates at the portugese factory in Kannur

He arrived in Cochin on the 7th of November 1501 where upon the factor at the factory provided he with news of the Cochin king’s favorable treatment extended to the portugese based at Cochin

The admiral was recived by the king in all the pomp and ceremony accorded to a state guest on which handed over to the king a latter issued in the name of the King of Portugal and gifts for the king of cochin by his majesty the King of Portugal

But soon the cochin portugese alliance was put to the test as the zamorin of Calicut wanted vengeance for his commercial loses bought upon him the main driving force behind this seems to the be the large arab nascent class in Calicut

The zamorin was also alarmed at the growing commercial importance of Cochin

After a demarche was issued by the zamorin to Cochin to expel the factors of the Portuguese based in cochin territory which was flatly rejected by the durbar even though there were voices to the century urging the king to give up the portugese and avoid the war but the king ignored the same and placed his word above any danger this was the last straw for the zamorin who invaded cochin territory on 31st march 1503 with a force of 50,000 men though a portugese fleet had been in the area the captain refused to stay and sailed on to the red sea as a last ditch effort to avert the oncoming crisis the Portugese of cochin offered to move to Kannur but the Raja would have none of it and hunkered down for the impending war

Though the raja of cochin raised an army of 5500 men under the command of his brother the initial attempt of the zamorin was defeated at the ford of Pallurtti the very next day an ally of Calicut the Raja of Edappally attempted to cross the ford but was again defeated the cochin forces under the command of the raja’s brother checked all attempts of the forces of Calicut to force a passage through Pallurtti the zamorin looked to subterfuge to gain his objectives and had agents of Calicut pay the paymaster of the army to arrange for the defection of the army the defection of a lot of his men the prince was forced to retreat to the coconut groves at Arur where he made a heroic last stand the battle took a heavy toll of the cochin forces so much so that on 200 men survived the battle at Arur

After that battle at Arur the Calicut forces conquered most of cochin's territory and the royal family along with a band of forces loyal to the durbar retreated to the island of Vypin near to the muruga temple as the laws of war dictated a temple was a place of at most sanctity and not even the high and mighty King of Calicut would dare to violate that rule angered by the fact that he could not capture the portugese he decided to besiege the island but the cochin forces were saved by the arrival of the monsoon in his retreat the forces of Calicut burned the town of cochin to the ground Calicut forces halted all operations within cochin and retired for the oncoming festival of Oman

The zamorin had commenced his besieging operations again after Oman in the mean while the zamorin had garrisoned cochin with a large force and the remaining cochin forces had only a toe hold in cochin on the island of Vypin they were bolstered by the fleet of Admiral albaqure when he entered the back waters around Vypin on the 2nd of September 1503 the Calicut forces abandoned the garrison of cochin in fright at the sight of the Portugese armada the fleet was further reinforced by ships captained by alphonso de Albuquerque in the next few days the combined porto-cochin forces took back the territory that they had lost and restored the throne to the King

All those who rebelled against the king were put to the gallows or to the sword of special focus of revenge operations was the raja of Edappally

After the restoration of the throne the king accorded his permission to the portugese to make a fort name manual kotta or fort Emmanuel in honor of the then King of Portugal

This was the first European style fort built in India remains of which are still to be found today

After the construction of the fort the portugese left the fort under the command of Duarte Pacheco with450 troops of whom 150 were portugese and 300 natives and a naval force to guard the sea lanes of communications to cochin these would be put to the test sooner than expected as The zamorin had yet again decide to attack and subjugate cochin

Active hostilities started on March 16, 1504 with Calicut forces crossing in to cochin territory at the pass ofCambalão The ford was said to be a mere 100 m wide, waist-deep, and passable at all tides, so the vast Calicut army would not need to go through the complicated, disorderly process of loading and unloading ferry-boats Calicut forces consisted of 57,000–84,000 men and a naval task force of 260 vessels

Opposing the same was an allied Kochi-Portuguese force of just 340 or 1140 men and 5 ships

Calicut forces launched their first assault of the crack of dawn For Duarte Pacheco, the most immediate worry was the five Venetian guns on the shore. Most of the Indian guns were said to have about the 'range and strength of an arm-thrown stone', which posed little threat to the cotton-reinforced ships. But the Venetian guns could sink them at distance. Pacheco directed all his fire immediately upon those guns, scattering the battery crews, and kept intermittent fire focused on them to prevent them reforming. Fire was also directed at Calicut hatchet-crews which had ventured into the ford to attempt to chop down the ford-blocking stockade.


While this was going on, the Calicut fleet began to advance on the Portuguese position. But the very narrowness of the channel chosen by Pacheco had been fortuitous. It did not allow the large Calicut fleet to spread out on a broad front. Instead, they had to approach the anchored Portuguese with a very narrow front. This pitted the three Portuguese ships against only a dozen or so paraus at a time, something the superior Portuguese firepower might handle.


The first wave was the most difficult – some 20 boats, tightly tied to each other, advanced together, constituting some 40 bombards and 100 muskets, plus innumerable bowmen. But the tower shields and cotton sacks on the Portuguese ships worked wonders, cushioning the missiles and allowing the Portuguese crossbowmen, musketeers and gunners to pick off the gunners and musketeers on the Malabari boats, which had little or no protection. After a few volleys, four boats were half-sunk, the rest sufficiently damaged or covered in enough dead & wounded to be unable to proceed, and began to retire.


They were followed by a second wave of around a dozen boats. But this met much the same fate. Then a third, fourth and fifth, each faring no better. Indeed, it only got easier for the Portuguese, as the sunk, damaged and retiring paraus of earlier waves formed river obstacles (and a demoralizing sight) for the next. By midday, the Calicut fleet commanders realized this was not working, and ordered a retreat.


Throughout all this, the Zamorin's army assembled on the shores had been largely ineffective. The tower shields and nets had fended off most of their constant missile fire. Fire had to be occasionally directed to the shore, to ensure the Italian gun batteries remained out of commission and that the hatchet squads did not reach the ford's stockade.


It was a humiliating morning for the Zamorin. Chroniclers report that, in this first encounter, the Calicut army and fleet suffered some 1,300 dead, while the Portuguese suffered not a single loss

Following the first assault the forces of Calicut launched 6 more assaults that were all successfully repulsed by the Cochin kingdom and its allies

In this second battle of Cochin the zamorin is reported to have lost 19000 men

While the defenders lost none it is said

The second battle of Cochin was a turning point in many ways

· It guaranteed the continued Independence of cochin

· Portugese rose to preeminence on the malabar coast and Moorish trade power declined

· It was the beginning of the down fall of the zamorin

After the seventh attack was defeated Duarte Pacheco was recived at the durbar as a hero and commended by the king for his brilliant victory

The one who had the sea for a boundary (Zamorin) gathered his forces at Cranganore and directed his vessel and launched attacks from the place when a new commander of portugese forces arrived in cochin the continuing harassment of the zamorin on the frontier was conyved and a combined force under the portugese ransacked the town of carnnangoor

This battle marked the starting point of the supremacy of the portugese things progressed to the point where Cochin was made the capital of portugese India From 1503 to 1663, Cochin was virtually ruled by Portugal through the namesake Cochin raja. Cochin remained the capital of Portuguese India until 1530. And for a long a time, right after Goa, Cochin situated in the center of East Indies, was the best place Portugal had in India. From there the Portuguese exported large volumes of spices, particularly pepper.

Soon after the time of Afonso de Albuquerque, Portuguese rule in Kerala declined. The failure is attributed to several factors like intermarriages, forcible conversions, religious persecution, etc.

The Dutch Period 1663–1773

The arrival of the Dutch was signaled by their conquest of the Portugese possessions in cylone in the years between 1656-1658 but the arrival of the Dutch was really proclaimed by their attack and capture of kollam from the portugese though the Dutch could not hold on to the conquest for long this show of strength showed to the chiefs of the malabar that Dutch was the new power on the rise as the portugese were more or less hated in the land they warmly recived the Dutch .

The key that opened up Cochin was the brewing discontent within the wider Cochin royal family

With a disputed succession the Dutch intervened on behalf of the mutta Thaivizi Princes On March 21, Rijckloff Van Goens signed a treaty with the local chief of Paliyam

The Achan under terms of the said treaty placed himself under the Dutch following which the Dutch marched to the palace at Mattancherry and placed the Rani under House arrest .

The zamorin looking to bring back the kingdom of cochin under the rule of Calicut had joined the Dutch as well and a combined Calicut-Dutch Force marched on and besieged the Portugese Fort at Cranganore besieging operations were commenced on January the 3rd , 1662

The fort stuck its colors on the 15th of January 1662

The Dutch destroyed the fort leaving only the bastion of the fort they also garrisoned a force at Cranganore

The Dutch and Calicut made a new treaty under which the zamorin agreed to cede Fort Cranganore and Vypin to the Dutch after the capture of the Portuguese fort at Cochin.

Following which the allies marched on the town of Cochin

The Dutch landed a force of troops at Vypin Island and captured the church and the Bishop’s house and constructed a strong post and garrisoned a force of 800 men with express orders for the harassment of the opposite shore

The Dutch installed another prince on the throne and proceeded to besiege the Portuguese fort. Cochin and the chief of Paliyam provided supplies to the Dutch, who faced heroic Portuguese resistance during the prolonged siege. The Native rulers of Porca and Cembakasseri kept the besieged supplied with provisions. Though disrupted by monsoon rains and the deaths of the ruler of Calicut and important Dutch officers, the garrison finally capitulated on January 8, 1663. The terms of the capitulation were that all the unmarried Portuguese residents were returned to Europe, and all married Portuguese and Mestizos were transferred to Goa. The last governor of Portuguese Cochin was Inácio Sarmento. It was said that about four thousand people were banished and decades of Portuguese supremacy in Malabar came to an end. Fort Cochin now became the primary trading post of the Dutch colony.

The Dutch Named the Fort at Cochin as Fort Stromberg

After the Dutch took over Cochin from the portugese

They demolished a number of the houses and churches in the town and converted the church of Santa Cruz to a massive spice ware house

The Dutch ordered all Non Dutch Europeans to evacuate Cochin with immediate effect

But this was reversed in light of the mass exudes of Native Cochin Christians

The Dutch instated a new practice under which all Christians were placed under the protection of the commandant of the Dutch East Indian Company

The Dutch also handed over the monopoly of the lucrative opium trade to the native Christian community

But the biggest gainer of the new arrangement was the Paliath Achan he was able to become the hereditary Prime minster of the cochin state

The Paliyam palace was also refurbished by the Dutch

In thanks for this

The Dutch entered in to treaty by which the Cochin kingdom was reduced to a mere rubber stamp

There was yet another crisis of succession took root in Cochin with the vetta princes and their allies rebelled the Dutch and their allies ruthlessly put down this rebellion

After this the Dutch reigned supreme in Cochin and Cochin was the defacto capital of Dutch malabar

Dutch Malabar was ruled by a commander. This is a list of commanders

apr-nov 1663 Pieter de Bitter / Cornelis Valkenburg

1663–1665 Ludolph van Coulster

1665–1667 IJsbrand Godske(n)

1667–1669 Lucas van der Dussen

1669–1676 Hendrik van Rheede

1676–1678 Jacob Lobs

1678–1683 Marten Huysman

1683–1687 Gelmer Vosburgh

1688–1693 Isaac Dielen

1693–1694 Alexander Wigman

1694–1696 Adriaan van Ommen

1697–1701 Magnus Wichelman

1701–1704 Abraham Vink

1704–1708 Willem Moerman

1708–1709 Adam van der Duijn

1709–1716 Barend Ketel

1716–1723 Johannes Hertenberg

1723–1731 Jacob de Jong

1731 Wouter Hendriks

1731–1734 Adriaan Maten

1734–1742 Julius Valentyn Stein van Gollenesse

1742–1747 Reinierus Siersma

1747–1751 Corijn Stevens

1751 Abraham Cornelis de la Haye

1751–1756 Frederik Cunes

1756–1761 Casparus de Jong

1761–1764 Godefried Weyerman

1764–1768 Cornelis Breekpot

1768–1770 Christiaan Lodewijk Senff

1770–1781 Adriaan Moens

1781–1793 Johan van Angelbeek

1793–1795 Jan Lambertus van Spall

but this too came to an end with the same vice that plagued the portugese before them there down fall was hastened by the rise of Travancore in the south and the disastrous war in which the Dutch lost all their prestige and power amongst the chifes of malabar add to this the mysorian invasion of the malabar coast by Hyder ail the fact of the matter is that the invasion was bought about a simple request by the King of palaghat to Hyder ail for the recovery of the territories lost to the zamorin of Calicut though the king of Calicut settled the dispute amicable by paying compensation this was the seed that would grow in to a major head ache for the malabar coast and see to the end of the kingdom of Calicut

the main incident that triggered the invasion of the malabar coast was the request forwarded by the Arackal Ali Raja of Kannur in 1763 a large mysorian force under the command of Hyder ali consisting of 12,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry and a park of field guns

Cochin was asked to pay a total of Rest. 40 0,000 and ten elephants, while Travancore was asked to pay Rest. 1,500,000 and thirty elephants. The Cochin royals agreed to pay the amount and accepted the Mysore's superiority. Finally, Malabar and Cochin came under the Mysore rule, opening Malabar Coast to the kings of Mysore. However the King of Travancore, who was under the protection of the East India Company, refused to pay the tribute.


Eventually the Mysore army began to move to Travancore from the north. The Dutch military garrison at Cranganore Fort tried to stall the movement. Hyder Ali asked his commander Sirdar Khan to take an army of 10,000 along the Cochin Kingdom. In August 1776, Cochin was invaded from the north and the fort at Trichur was captured.


After the surrender of the ruler of Cochin, Hyder advanced to the Travancore Defense Lines (the Nedumkotta fortifications). By this time Airier and Chetuva Fort were ceded to Mysore. Meanwhile, the Dutch, with the help of the Travancore Nair Army, put down an attempt by the Mysore forces to capture the Cranganore Fort. The ruler of Cranganore however surrendered to Hyder Ali, though the Dutch stormed his palace and captured it in January 1778.

the final nail in the coffin of the VOHC was the invasion and subjugation of the Dutch home land by the French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte the Dutch surrendered their possessions to the british for “ safe keeping” this was affirmed with the Kew letters and the Dutch possions were restored to them by virtue of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814, all Dutch possessions were returned to the British under the Anglo Dutch treaty of 1824
Works Cited
Kingdom of Cochin. (2017, june 27). Retrieved from www.wikipedia.com: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Cochin

Menon, A. s. (1967). A survey Of kerala History . In S. Menon, A survey Of kerala History (p. 149). Kottyam: DC books.

Menon, C. A. (1911). Cochin State manual . In C. A. Menon, Cochin State manual (p. 2.3). Erankulum : Cochin State Press .

Mysorean invasion of Kerala. (2017, june 27). Retrieved from www.wikipedia.com: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysorean_invasion_of_Kerala
 

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Chapter 2: administration of the kingdom

The government of the state started with the King and the royal family Cochin was an absolute monarchy for much of its existence thought the Durbar was free to run the internal affairs of the state

As a princely state of British India All foreign affairs of the state was routed through Delhi

The Presidency government of madras was empowered to offer “advice “ to the durbar in any matter that it deemed important through the resident for Travancore and cochin as appointed by the Government Of Madras

The subjects on which the Government of Madras could “advice” the state were as follows

· In case of problematic finances

· High cost infrastructural projects such as railways

· Adjustment of Land revenue and matters relating to taxation

· Measures of legal nature such as independence of courts etc.

· External trade or the levy of trade duties

Maintance of the royal family was conduted by a civil list

This list was bought in to force in 1835 at the insistence of the then British resident Mr Casamajor

The income was calculated as such

Average Expense of previous years – Total income of the state

The income was revised on a 12 year basis and the last revision was issued in 1907

Under which the income was as follows

Total Palace allowance

31/2,00,000 British Indian Rupees

HH the Maharaja

2,04,600

Crown prince

2,04,600

Male members bellow FPR

48,400

General Maintance Fund

70,000

Senior Rani

48,000

Education and Mics expense

27000


Along with this the senior rani had her own estate which she manage as her own

All income from the estates were used at her discretion for the Maintance all female members and children under the age of 16

All the decision of the Durbar was implemented on the Ground by the Diwan The diwans of Cochin assisted the rulers of the Kingdom of Cochin in administering the state. From the 19th century onwards, the diwan or Prime Minister was an administrator selected by the Raja with the advice of the Government of India. Usually, the diwan was a high-ranking official of the Indian Civil Service, covenanted as well as uncovenanted.

The position was highly coveted as the powers of the Diwan came third only to that of the Debar and the residency

He was responsible for the efficient running of state matters he was the only officer in the state that could directly communicate with the Durbar and the residency this privilege was only reserved to the diwan ,he was also responsible to issue an annual Administration report issued for the public and the presidency government at madras

This report was like a Key Performance Indicator of the government of the state

The diwan worked from the Huzur secretariat at Park Avenue

The Kochi Royal Huzur Cutchery (The State Secretariat) consisted of the following state departments

· Revenue Department

· Public works Department

· Judicial department

· Local and Legislative Department
 

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Chapter 3: land and Forest administration in the Kingdom

In 1911 the cochin state had a forest cover of 6052kms that constituted about 34 % of the state

All the forest lands of the state barring a few thousand acres owned by privet parties belonged to the durbar

But these lands were won by Cochin after extensive arbitration starting from 1813 to 1888

The forest of the state were divided in to Ranges for easy administration at first Cochin had 7 ranges which were as follows

· Pottundi

· Machad

· Paravattani

· Kodasseri

· Malayttur

· Nelliampatis( seventh range added in 1838 )

This administrative division stayed stable with minor changes till 1908 from then on the cochin forest department dived the forest area in to 5 ranges which were as follows


· Machad -Paravattani

· Machad - Paravattani Frontier

· Nenmara –Nelliampatis

· Kodasseri

· Orukomban Working circle

As a practice, forest lands were leased out to private individuals for collection of timber, there was no limit for the exploitation and the result was depletion of the forest areas. The system was stopped by Col. Munroe in 1812. In 1813, a head of Forests by name ‘Malamel Vicharippu’ was appointed with supporting staff to collect timber from forests. During the period, the Forest Department collected only teak trees directly and private individuals were allowed to take the other trees after remitting the prescribed cost.


Lt. Lath Bridge took charge of the Forest Department 1880. He exploited the forest ruthlessly to improve the financial position of the state. However he tried to grow more trees particularly teak by sowing tones of teak seeds. In 1835, Mr. J.A. Kolthoff was appointed the first conservator of Cochin. He framed rules for the collection of forest produces. Accordingly royal trees were collected departmentally, miscellaneous trees by permit system and Minor Forest Produce by contract. Rosewood and Ebony were declared royal trees in 1837.


Over exploitation of trees resulted in the destruction of vast forest tracks during the period. Moreover large areas were cleared and converted to agricultural lands during 1855- 1875.


Raising teak plantation in Cochin on the banks of Parakkadavu Puzha started in 1873 and continued till 1891. Over 200 ha of plantations were raised during this period. Due to various reasons, these plantations failed. An attempt was made in 1893 to raise sandal plantations.


Sri. Alvar Chetty of Madras became the Advisor of the Maharaja in 1897. He imposed restrictions on the collection of timber from forest. Cochin Forest Act based on the Madras Forest Act of 1882, came into effect in 1905. Rules were framed to protect and exploit forest. For collecting firewood a system called ‘Coppice with standards’ was introduced.

Construction of a Forest tramway was started in 1901 and completed in 1908 at a total cost of Rupees 18.47 lakhs to transport timber from Orukomban areas to Chalakudy. The tramway helped to transport about 10,000 cu.m in a year and exploit about 32,000 ha of forest areas. The total extent of forest areas in Cochin during this period was about 50,000 ha.


In 1908, the department was brought under the range system. Forests were divided into Ranges and Sub Ranges. Division system came into being in 1944. Regular Teak plantations were started from 1915. Artificial regeneration of other species was also started during the period. The monopoly on royal trees was ended in 1923. In 1944 Machad Range and Trichur Range were converted as Divisions. Sri. S. Venkiteswaran was the Conservator during this period. A Forest Development Division under the charge of an ACF was formed to construct roads for colonization of Ex Service men. Extensive forest areas were given on lease for cultivation of varieties of crops.


Land revenue system

Land revenue was levied in the modern sense in cochin in the year 1762 one of the chief sources of the Durbars income prior to 1762 was the lease or sale of crown lands or lands held by the royal family along with import and export coustoms and revenus from exclusive state monopolies other sources of income included the annual Nazarene to the durbar in the form of protection and other fees he was also owner of all the ships that were stranded at his coast and all the elephants caught in the forest

Prior to 1762 when the state was administered by local chifes and the there was no standing armies as the force was raised by combining the militias of the local chifes the above sources of income though not surplus was sufficient for the Maintance of the royal family but when the Administration was stream lined by placing all the departments of state in the hands of the durbar the income generated from the above sources were found to be wanting in meeting the growing expense of the state

To meet the same a decision was taken to levy a general land tax from 1761-62 ME 937

This was extended to all land holders 949 ME and was revised again when cochin state became a tributary of the Mysore durbar scines then the rates of revenue have under gone several periodical reviews

The earliest assessment of land values were done by word of mouth called Kettezhuttu and Kandezhuttu

Under this system the land was not measured by the approximate physical area but the quantity of seeds that could be sowed in it called paras the smallest unit of land was measured in Paramukkam the measurement was as such

1 Para = 60 paramukkam

Commutation rate = 40paramukkam

121/2paras= 1 acre

The governmental rate or the Sarkar rate was determined after the yield capacity was considered it was on the basis of this calculation that the jemmie’s share was calculated while this was used for land in the use for paddy cultivation wet lands followed the following equation

Seed capacity + outturn +jemmie’s share = Sarkar rate

In terms of garden lands

The equation would be

Land lords share of produce on the tree planted = Sarkar rate

All assessable lands were divided in to nilams and pramrambs

The first survey in the modern sense was conducted in the state in 1898 in the month of august

Under the direction of Mr Thompson who was seconded to the service of the state from the Madras survey the survey of the whole state was completed in 1908 when the survey operations started in 1898 a need was felt by the Durbar to pass a special regulation to deal with the claims arising from the survey operations to this end the durbar passed the survey regulation II of 1898 ME 1074

The total outturn of the survey was an area of 898 1/22 Kilometers of theodolite and field survey area was 974 ½2kilometers the total area of agricultural lands all-inclusive was pegged at 453,275 Acers


Type of land

Total acreage in the state survey of 1898-1908

Total acreage as per Kettezhuttu and Kandezhuttu records

Difference of acreage between the two

Wet lands / paddy

2,05,795

126,421

79,374

Dry lands /gardens

2,74,480

2,24,471

50,009


The total cost of the survey was pegged at a rounded figure of 12 lakhs Rupees this included the theodolite and field survey cost the records make quite extensive denominations on the per kilometer and mile cost when the survey was completed the state revenue saw a rise of 45% or 3,17,093 rupees

For the first time the during the survey of 1898-1908 the areas of all lands were assigned imperial units of land measurements like links cents and acres instead of the traditional paras preukkams and edangalis

Further to this the settlement procedures were codified by the durbar with the issue of the Cochin Settlement Proclamation of 1080 ME 1905 which was drafted by Mr NP Rao a settlement officer in the service of the madras government

this also coincided with the setting up of a separate settlement department under the sweterd ship of Mr V.K. Raman Menon who was at first appointed Special Revenue Officer under the Survey Regulation and later on was made the settlement Parishkar to the Sarkar

The survey also impacted the way the state was physically administered

The village was always the basic structure of administration of the state but the overall administration was arranged as shown below

It consisted of

· Durbar

· Nadu

· Desham

This was rearranged after 1762 with the arrangement of the state in to Kovilakattumvatals or taluks came in to force the state was arranged as follows

Durbar

Taluks

Parvattis

This system persisted with certain changes till the general Revenue settlement of 1989-1908 immedtly after the survey the number of villages stood at 273 but latter this was found to be inefficient and many were clubbed together to from 165 villages a village officer along with an accountant and two peons to assist the officer

In 1762 the state was divided in to 12 taluks namely

Which was cut down to 6 with the aligmation of 3 taluks?

Cochin state was divided in 1762 to Northern division and southern division and was placed under the divisional diwan parishkar in 1822 but as there was duplicity in the functions of the diwan and diwan parishkar the office of the divisional diwan parishkar was abolished in 1907and a single diwan parishkar was appointed as head of the revenue administration of the state along with a single district magistrate


Bibliography
CDIT. (2017, june 30). History Cochin tab . Retrieved from kerala Forest and wild life department : http://www.forest.kerala.gov.in/index.php/about-us/forest-dept-history

Menon, C. A. (1911). Cochin State Manual. Ernakulum : cochin Goverment Press.

Menon, C. A. (1911). Cochin state manual. In C. A. Menon, Cochin state manual (pp. 385,392,393,402,403,404,405,412,415,416). ernakaulm : Cochin Goverment Press .





 

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Chapter 4: Miscallanious revenus of the state


Apart from land and tax revenues the durbar had monopolies from which the government drew exclusive

Revenues salt was made a monopoly of the state in 1810 and was reformed in 1865 when through the Interportal trade convention of 1856 the durbar agreed to synchronize the price of salt made in cochin with that in British malabar this was done in order to stop the smuggling of salt from cochin to British malabar due to the fact that cochin salt was cheaper than the salt sold in British Malabar

The salt was bought from Bombay by a government appointed contractor and stored at the central salt depo at Malappuram duty imposed and sold on to merchants or directly sold to consumers through government shops called Sarkar bank shalls


Abkari or the tax levied on liquor toddy or arcke was levied scinces ancient times a professional taxes called

Katti chatti or knife and still tax was in force it was col monro that introduced the British system of “farming”

Or giving the right to produce toddy and arrack on a contract basis


At first this system was introduced only in the cochin and Kanayannur taluks but was later extended to the whole state there seemed to two different systems that were followed in cochin in the Southern division it seems that the contractor was in control and he could open as many shops as he wanted but in the Northern and frontier areas there was strict restrictions and a total ban on the sales of toddy or arrack for that matter as these taluks were being prepared for the Introduction of british excise system to cochin


Under the Cochin Abkari Act of 1902 as amended state had the right regulate the tapping of the trees this was looked after by the excise department of the state

Opium and ganja was controlled by the state and the rights to the farms was farmed out to the contractors just like that of Abkari contractors

And the control of the same was done under sections of the Cochin Abkari Act


Tobacco was a state monopoly but was abolished but the state could control the sale of tobacco through the Cochin tobacco act

Pepper was once a state monopoly and also formed the basis of much of cochin’s early prosperity which met its down fall at the hands of Tipu when he rampaged through cochin’s northern Areas destroying the paper vines there and its disinvestment as a state monopoly was discussed in the Sarkar from 1835 onwards and was finally abolished by the durbar in 1860 but still a duty of 15 Rupees was levied per candy destined to be exported from the state this duty was first reduced to 9 and then finally abolished in 1868


As coustoms duties was placed under the diwan there was no organized departments as such the cochin state coustoms can be traced back to 1893 when the salt department of the Sarkar was placed under a superintendent but the real formation was given shape in 1900 when Mr H.W.M Brown was deputed to cochin for a period of seven years which was later extended to 14 years by the madras government he was made superintendent Of excise revenue with the other departments reporting to him

The Cochin coustoms administration was arranged as below
•superintendent of excise revenue
•assistant Superintendent
•Deputy Superintendent of customs
•preventive force
•six inspectors
•27 amenders
•185 peons
heads

1075

1085

salt

467967

359066

Abkari

115924

226131

Opium & ganja

24342

14356

Tobacco

14177

147921

customs

110500

110546

Total

732910

858020

cochin revenue.png

 

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Chapter 5: demographic makeup of the Kingdom

Cochin was a diverse and densely populated state in the madras presidency with a mean population density of 596 persons per square mile this figure stands including the forest and backwaters of the state but if the aforementioned areas are included then the Population density adds up to 1091 persons per square mile while in the coastal belt the concentration of population density was at 2000 persons per square mile

With an average house occupancy rate of 5.6 persons per house

According to the census of 1901 with a total population of 8,12,2025

Majority of the people in Cochin State was of a rural

Nature with the majority of the state’s population living in houses built on their own properties this can be gauged by the fact that the house occupancy rate was almost close at 6.27 in the village and 5.94 in the towns

The town dueling population only accounted for about10.8 percent of which the majority was concentrated in the towns of Mattancherry and Ernakulum



In the 26 years leading to 1910 it was noted that the population of the state grew by 35.9 percent higher than Malabar Travancore and the Madras Presidency


This is illustrated in the pie chart below

cochin population.png



The above mentioned pie chart is based on data for percentage of population growth in the above mentioned states including cochin on a sample data of twenty six and thirty six years respectively


In 1901 it was found that 14,783 native Cochin born persons resided outside the state and 50,054 nonnative persons were domiciled within Cochin borders


Malayalam like the rest of the Malabar Coast was the de facto state language with around 88.2 % of the population speaking the language while there was other linguistic minorities speaking Tamil, Konkani and telngu


While most of the Tamil and telngu speakers in the state were concentrated in the Chittur taluk while the Tamil and Konkani speakers were concentrated in the Cochin Kanayannur taluk

Cochin was religiously diverse state with Hindus forming the majority and size able populations of Christians, Muslims Jews Jains and amishes

There were 2145 places of worship which if broken down would be

Hindu temples and shrines 2,1,45

Muslim mosques 39

Christian churches 196

Jewish synagogues 7

Agricultural activates were carried out by 51% of the population with the rest 31% was involved in various industries this disparity in occupation was due to

Costal nature of Cochin State


This positive disparity was further helped by the Bathia’s and Kutch Memon communities that had made Cochin their adopted home in the early decades of 19th century

 

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Chapter 6: Trade, economy and Transport in the Kingdom

Trade has always been and still continues to be the backbone on which Cochin stands

The trade that Cochin had could be classified in to two broad categories

Sea trade and inland trade


Cochin was a major trading state and a majority of its trade was routed through the Port at Mattancherry British Cochin the total value of import and export is as follows


Import

Export

Surplus

239.3,00,000

298.5,00,000

59.2,00,000



(Special note: the base data is that of 1908-1909)



A further breakdown of the Import export trade is also provided below




Note: pepper and tea where enter ported through Cochin and was wholly produced in the state of Travancore hence not included in this graph




The export intensive economy was supported by a vast array of industries


Cochin was a center of cotton based weaving it was a hereditary work of the Chadians kikolans and chetans caste in 1910 it was noted that the Industry supported a total of 31000 persons and type of loom used was the traditional pit loom the first major modern weaving factory was the Pushpagiri Spinning and Weaving Mill” which was established in Thrissur as a limited liability company but the supply was limited to a few in and around Cochin province it was established with a working capital of 1.2,00,000 Rest a further grant of Rs 20,000 was provided by the durbar for the companies’ expansion


The coconut processing industry was another important industry of the state

Both its fiber and oil remained a major export item for cochin major export items coconut fiber and its allied product was bought and sold mostly in cochin it expanded rapidly in the 1908-1910 period compared the doubling the states revenue related to the sector from 80.4 lacs to 175.4 lacs



Timber was another major Industry with an average of 66,000 candies of wood was felled along with 10,000 tons of fire wood and 3,00,000 bamboos The inception of the Timber Industry of Thrissur dates back to the year 1905.


That was the year when the first saw mill was founded. The main objective was to transform the logs of hard wood and teak into slabs of various sizes. The timber is brought from the Chalakudy and Trichur forests. These two places are the most important timber marts in Thrissur and the state as well. these were taken to the Thrissur taluk as it was the center of the timber trade as the bigger wooden mills were situated in Thrissur and there was also a smaller mill operated by the Aspin wall company in the fort area of cochin


In terms of transport Cochin was much akin to Venice in that the lion’s share of the travel was conduted though canals and rivers in Cochin the longest and main cannel was the one that linked the southern frontiers of the state with the city of Thrissur

Major development work was taken up during the time of Diwan T. Sankara Warrier and T. Sankunni Menon respectively it was during that time that the tiara to kundanur canal was built bringing the twon of Tripunnithura in to the system but with the laying of the railways in cochin and the advent of motorable roads the canals lost their significance today the canals are once again looked up on as cheap and easy way of transport the fares on the cochin canal system was maintained by the Durbar with 100 boat fleet on the frontiers the boat services were managed jointly by Cochin and the Malabar district and cochin and Travancore respectively the revenue generated was to the tune of 200,000 Rupees annually


In 1910 the total network in the state was 485 miles of which 435 miles were metaled the rest were UN metaled

Was placed under a special department with a bigotry outlay of Rs80, 000 by the durbar annually


The cochin state railway was a meter gauge line that stretched from Ernakulum till shornur was taken up by the madras government in 1899the line had a total of length of 56 miles of which 18 miles passed through Travancore the main terminus was located at the Ernakulum


Built by the Maharaja Rama Varma XV of Kochi. Great personalities like Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Irwin Viceroy have visited Cochin through this old majestic railway station it was operated by the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway


. The bridge was the first to ford the river that obstructed passage between Malabar and the southern states of Cochin/Travancore. The first freight train passed over the bridge on 2nd June 1902 and a few days later on the 16th the line opened to passenger traffic


Perumanoor and Mattancherry were two halt stations on the Ernakulam-Cochin Harbour Terminus (CHT) railhead. CHT, located in Willingdon Island, was strategically important for its proximity to the Cochin Port. In fact, this station was built mainly to handle cargo from the Cochin harbour. As it is said, no port is complete without a railway line. The CHT, just a few yards away from the quays, was the starting point of many important passenger trains and was easily accessible for the residents of West Kochi.



Cochin Harbour Terminus railway station was built mainly for handling the cargo from Cochin Harbour .A port is never complete without a railway line. Earlier the trains came only up till the Ernakulam Terminus. The station had a meter gauge line to Shornur. This had to be converted to broad gauge to connect it to rest of India. The new broad gauge line would pass through Ernakulam into Willingdon Island. Many different routes were studied and new stations were planned, and built along the way. These were Ernakulam Town, Ernakulam Jn, Perumanoor (non-existent), Mattancherry Halt and finally, Cochin Harbour Terminus. More than the passenger traffic, freight traffic was anticipated .The huge Venduruthy Bridge had to be built to connect Willingdon Island with the mainland. The road bridge across Vembanad Lake was sanctioned and the engineers submitted their plan for a rail bridge alongside the road bridge and it was approved in 1936. Construction work started almost immediately and was completed in 1938.Till the development of CHT trains came only up to the Ernakulam Terminus that operated a meter gauge line to Shornur. When this was converted to broad gauge the line passed through Ernakulam to Willingdon Island. Many routes were planned, studies undertaken, new stations — Ernakulam Town, Ernakulam Junction, Perumanoor, Mattancherry Halt and CHT — built along the route. Anticipating freight traffic the Venduruthy Bridge was constructed linking Willingdon Island to the mainland.


Passenger trains became operational on this route from 1943 with the introduction of the Cochin-Shornur passenger. The introduction of the Madras-Cochin Express in 1944 elevated the status of CHT. The Tea Garden Express and Island Express, named after Willingdon Island, enhanced the significance of this route. In the course of two decades many more trains chugged through this route, passing and stopping at Perumanoor. In fact, at its peak of operation 16 trains started from CHT and plied this line.


The traditional port was near Mattancherry (which still continues as Mattancherry Wharf).


The need of a modern port was first felt by Lord Willingdon during his governorship of Madras Province of British India. The opening of the Suez Canal made several ships pass near the west coast and he felt the necessity of modern port in the southern part. He selected the newly joined Sir Robert Bristow who was a leading British harbor engineer with extensive experience with maintenance of the Suez Canal. Bristow took the charge of chief engineer of Kochi Kingdom's Port Department in 1920. Ever since then, he and his team were actively involved in making a Greenfield port. After studying the sea currents, observing tidal conditions and conducting experiments, he was convinced about the feasibility of developing Kochi. He believed that Kochi could become the safest harbour if the ships entered the inner channel.


The challenge before the engineers was a rock-like sandbar that stood across the opening of the Kochi backwaters into the sea. It was a formidable ridge of heavy and densely packed sand that prevented the entry of all ships requiring more than eight or nine feet of water. It was thought that the removal of the sandbar was a technical impossibility. The potential consequence on the environment was beyond estimation. The harm could be anything like the destruction of the Vypin foreshore or the destruction of the Vembanad Lake.


Bristow, after a detailed study, concluded that such data was history. He addressed the immediate problem of erosion of the Vypin foreshore by building of rubble granite groins nearly parallel with the shores and overlapping each other. The groins first produced an automatic reclamation which naturally protected the shore from the monsoon seas. Confident at the initial success, Bristow planned out a detailed proposal of reclaiming part of the backwaters at a cost of ₹25 million (US$390,000). An ad-hoc committee appointed by the Madras government examined and approved the plans submitted by Bristow.


The construction of the dredger 'Lord Willingdon' was completed in 1925. It arrived at Kochi in May 1926. It was estimated that the dredger had to be put to use for at least 20 hours a day for the next two years. The dredged sand was used to create a new island to house Cochin Port and other trade-related establishments. Around 3.2 km² of land was reclaimed in the dredging. The strong determination of Sir Bristow and his team was successful when the large steamship SS Padma, sailed into the newly constructed inner harbour of Kochi. Speaking to the BBC on that day, Bristow proudly proclaimed his achievements with the following words: "I live on a large Island made from the bottom of the sea. It is called Willingdon Island, after the present Viceroy of India. From the upper floor of my house, I look down on the finest harbour in the East."[3] The Willingdon Island was artificially created with the mud sledged out for the harbour construction.


In 1932, the Maritime Board of British India declared the Port of Cochin as a major port. The port was opened to all vessels up to 30 feet draught. During the World War II, the port was taken over by the Royal Navy to accommodate military cruisers and war ships. It was returned to civil authorities on 19 May 1945. After Independence, the port was taken over by the government of India. In 1964, the administration of the port got vested in a Board of Trustees under the Major Port Trusts Act. The port was listed as one of the 12 major ports of India. The strategic importance of Cochin during the World Wars was an immediate reason for the construction of the harbour.
 

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Chapter 7: Courts of Law & Police, in the Kingdom

The establishment of courts in the state in the modern sense was started by the Sarkar under the direction of Col Munro the basis for this was laid by the will of the Sarkar in May 1812 and the first civil courts were established by the will of the Sarkar in April 1813 with the establishment of two cheria or small courts at Thrissur and Tripunithura and a Huzur court was established at Ernakulum prior to this the dispensation of justice was in the hands of the karigars who had unlimited powers at their disposal there was no universal justice system but it varied from community to community


In The new court system the lower courts were presided over by two judges one Christian and one Hindu and a shastri who interpreted the dharma Shastra which was the primary source of jurisprudence along with the Nattunadappu or the coustoms of the land the Huzur court was presided by a three member bench consisting of the diwan assisted by one Hindu and Christian judges and one shastri the shastri acted as an amicus quire to the panel of judges Until 1835, Huzur Court was the final appellate Court. Huzur Court had a bench. Later the Huzur Court was reconstituted as Rajah's Court of Appeal and Subordinate Courts were reconstituted as Zilla Courts. The Zilla Courts were empowered with unlimited jurisdiction, but subject to the confirmation from the Rajah's Court of Appeal. The Rajah's Court of Appeal was reconstituted as the Chief Court of Cochin in 1900. The Chief Court of Cochin had three permanent judges


Civil procedure in cochin was first introduced by the Proclamation of 1813 which was further enlarged with a second proclamation in 1816 which remained in force till 1835when the said code was superseded in KE 1010 by regulation 1 of the same year this also was superseded by a comprehensive code introduced in 1864 which was based in turn on the Code of Civil Procedure, 1858 this aforementioned continued when it was replaced with the proclamation of the regulation 1 of 1900 which for all intents and purposes was a copy of the Indian Civil procedures of 1882


There was no limitation of cases in Cochin till the regulation I of 1818 was issued by the Sarkar which prescribed a maximum of 12 years but this was limited to moveable property and not applicable to disputes relating to land this system was superseded by the proclamation of regulation 1 of 1034 ME which was based on the Act XIV. Of 1859 regulating the limitation of Civil Suits in British India this code was further superseded by regulation II of 1904 which was in turn based on The Limitation Act: no. XV of 1887


Court fees on civil cases was charged by the Sarkar since the reforms of 1762 initially known as peramper and subsequently as dasturi panam the Sarkar regulated the collection of the court fees by the hukumnam of November 1818 by which court fees was collected on stamped canjun leaves called acchyadiolas which were made available through government approved vendors this system continued to be followed till these were repealed through the regulation I of ME 1010 this regulation also laid down new fees for the Zilla courts as well their collection Regulation I was superseded by the Cochin Courts Fees Regulation of 1880 which was again superseded by Cochin Courts Fees Regulation of1905 which was largely based on the Indian Court-fees act, VII of 1870


The duty on stamps were first levied in cochin in 1837 by the regulation I of 1012 which made it compulsory to register everything from land deed to birth and death to be documented on stamped Cadjan leaves or mudrolas the production of these stamped leaves were controlled by a special department in the Diwan’s office these stamped Cadjan leaves were available to the general public through the tahsildars office there was also a provision of a fine for execution of a deed on plain Cadjan or paper this regulation was further amended and enlarged by the regulation No 1 of 1895 which was based on Legal Practitioners Act, 1879 this remained in force till the system was reformed by the proclamation of Regulation VI of 1908 which was based on The Indian Stamp Act, 1899 in 1908 the manufacture of stamp papers locally was stopped the printing of the stationary was awarded to M/s John Dickinson Stationery Limited

The total revenue to the durbar from the collection of stamp duty was pegged at 4 lac British Indian Rupees for the year ending (1909-10)


The Registration system was implemented by the Durbar in the state in the year 1875 under the provisions of the regulation No 1 of 1874 which was based on the Indian Registration Act, 1871 as the registration of deeds with the Sarkar was seen as a guarantee of safety the popularity of the system increased to such a extant that a separate department was carved out under a superintendent of registration with a network of 17 offices the superintendent of registration was also the registrar of companies under the Cochin companies Regulation VI of 1905


The lawyers or pleaders as they were known was first introduced in cochin in a rudimentary form via the Hukum nama of 1816 which contained provisions stating that a relative or an agent could appear for the aggrieved party in the being there was no specific educational requirement till regulation I of 1860 after which there was competitive exams were conducted for the selection of lawyers only those who had passed the exams were called to the Cochin bar in 1902 the chief court of cochin passed laws by the authority vested in them by regulation II of 1909 to bring it in line with the qualifications required in the madras presidency


Cochin for it size had a huge volume of litigations which bought the government an average of 4 lacs as per 1909-1910 figures


In the start the courts were empowered to dispense justice in both civil and criminal matters punishments were delegated on the provisions of the dharma Shastra and all cases were tried on the basis of evidence capital punishment was limited to cases such as waging war against the state or the assassination of the king but ordeal was closed as an punishment the next big reform was that of the 1835 by which the Zilla court was made the criminal court of the respective district this system continued till 1868 when by the judicial system was reformed by winding up the system of circuit courts it delegated the former powers of the circuit courts to the Zilla courts this reforms also bought the court system in line with the IPC the last major reform was in 1900 that the Raja's Court of appeal was reconstituted as the Chief Court of Cochin with three permanent Judges with Mr. S. Locke, Bar at Law as the first Chief Judge. Thereafter, during the Diwanship of Sri. Shanmukham Chattier, the Chief Court became the High Court.


The Cochin state Royal police could be traced to the proclamation of 1812 by which A system of thanas was established headed by a thandar it was the duty of the thandar “ to maintain the peace of the country they were a mobile force with wide ranging powers combining the duties of police and excise and vigilance this system came to an end when this force was disbanded 1835 via the regulation IV of 1010 when tahsildars were given police duties but this system again was changed in 1884


When by regulation I of 1883 known as the new law this proclamation became the basis of the creation of the CSRP as a separate department under the command of George Gunther

The CSRP had strength of six inspectors 300 head constables and 300 constables


For admistative purposes the state was divided in to six zones

Headed an inspector police station was controlled by head constable


This reform also saw the establishment of a Police training school headed by a senior officer of the Madras Police service and a reserve Police Force was also established the SHO’s and constables were chosen by examination


In 1904 the reserve police was trained to military standard and renamed as the RCSMP commanded by a reserve Inspector trained to deal with state threatening emergencies

At the start it had 13 officers and 96 junior staff also in 1904 a Fingerprint section was started at the department


In 1908 further reforms were carried out which included the following


· 6 zones reduced to 3

· Rank of SI was introduced

· Head constables bought under SI and SI put in command of police stations

· Inspectors were required to be collage gradates

· The police department’s total strength stood at 540 official staff

· Of which 63 officers and 447 other ranks with a total budget of 80,000British Indian Rupee


This system continued without major changes till the 1920’s save for the clubbing of the office of the commander in chief of the cochin state forces and the Police in to one and the establishment of the river police in 1914 to petrol the extensive backwaters of the state


· In the 1920’s and 30’s the following reforms were carried out within the CSRP

· Divisional Inspectors reduced from 3 to 2

· Police stations were reduced from 17 to 16

· The post of Junior Prosecuting officer was disestablished

· The Head of the CSRP was raised in rank from Superintendent to commissioner

· Town and rural Police was separated

· Armed Reserve police strength was raised to 100 under the command of a british officer

· Port police established

· Inspectors were raised in Rank to DySP and Sub Inspectors were raised in rank to Inspectors

· A separate Traffic department was established within the CSRP

· Along with the appointment of a separate brake inspector

· Cochin state was divided in to two separate divisions A and B Head quartered at Ernakulum and Thrissur respectively

· Village vigilance committees were organized

the Village Vigilance committees were organized as to ensure the smooth interaction between the police and the rural population the VVC’s also acted as an safety net as they were rooted in the community they were better equipped to detect and prosecute the crimes as an when it happened


There by giving the state an enviable position in terms of the number of prosecution and crimes committed viz a VIz Travancore

In 1941 the Sarkar issued the Cochin state Police manual which laid down the following organizational structure



· Commissioner of police made the head of all police administration in the state

· The state divided in to Police Districts

· Police districts placed under ASPs or DSP

· Police station placed under the command of an Inspector with a support staff of head constables and constables

· A and B divisions were renamed as Ernakulum and Thrissur respectively

· Ernakulum and Thrissur was placed under deputy commissioners

· POP police Out posts was established commanded by a Head constables and supported by Staff of constables

· An Armed Police Reserve was placed under the control of the Commissioner CSRP

· Motor section attached to the HQ CSRP commanded by Commissioner (Traffic)

· Fire service created as a separate entity from the armed Police


Prior to Amalgamation of Cochin the CSRP stood at combined total personnel strength of 1641 personnel
 

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Chapter 8: Education in the kingdom


Kochi Maharajas always hoisted a traditional science meet, called Sastra Sadas, where scholars debate about various elements of Vedic science, in Sanskrit.... The King himself normally acts as the chief judge in these sessions.


Education in the modern sense was started in the Diwanship of Col Munro on whose instance the Sarkar passed the regulation of 181 under which 13 state schools were established by the durbar

But this system only lasted till 1832 when due to the fact that they were more of a case of old wine in a new bottle a second attempt was made by the Sarkar under the diwan ship of V stubby when the Sarkar established six new state schools

But with the establishment of English schools and vernacular schools these schools lost their relevance and slowly went out of favour the schools were finally closed down in 1890


The earliest English Medium School was established by the Revent J Dawson at Mattanchery in the 1818 but was closed down in 1821 due to low student turn out the next attempt was made at the instance of Mr Casa Major in 1835 which was a success two years later two English medium schools were established by the Sarkar at Thrissur and Thripunithura onset ably for the education of Royal wards and others in 1837 one more was opened at Ernakulum in 1845 and this along with the ones at Thripunithura continued to operate as elementary schools till when these schools were placed under an English headmaster by the name of AF Sealy and was in 1875 Named as Ernakulam College and was affiliated with the university of madras

By the mean time schools in all districts of the state and were all placed under the direction of Mr Sealy

A great reform was under taken by the durbar when rules were framed with the aim of aiding of privet management schools in 1890 the vernacular sector of the education system was reformed and placed under a separate department this two tire system continued till 1892 when the two departments were alga mated and placed under the control of the superintendent of education and in 1898 the control of High schools were handed over to the divans office


Over all as per data available mainly from the Cochin state Manual the state education system in the start of the 20th century was quite strong and elaborate with 15 Upper secondary Schools 39 lower secondary schools along with 258 special schools there was also reference of a government industrial and technical school at tirur female education as a state priority can be traced back to 1889when the Jubilee Mission School for girls was established by 1911 the state had a total of 55 girls only schools “

The next great reform of the Cochin education system can be traced to 1908 when the diwan prepared an extensive report in view of the existing education system to this end Mr JV Pope who had formerly served with the Burma education board as its director was appointed as a special education officer to the durbar till 1911

The Cochin Education code was introduced in 1911 by the Sarkar to consolidate the above indicated reforms


And the education outlay was increased in from 1.2 lacs to 3 lacs


A separate department was created for direction and inspection was created under the SEO for the overmatch of the schools


The cochin education code was amended in 1921 -22 to bring up the strength of the average class to 40 pupils and the system of scholarship and stipends were introduced in 1921 and the fees for girls for entrance to boys schools were delated the liberal grants issued under the code of 1921 led to an explosion of schools


The efficiency of this system could be seen in the pass rates for the years 1921-22

This was higher than the average pass rate compared to the madras presidency


Cochin also had a suburb system of student finance and special provisions were made for it in the Cochin Education code
 

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