1922] MADRAS PEARL FISHERIES 27 



Like him of Madura, the Ramnad lord* granted some of his 

 privilege divers to the great Hindu temples of his district, giving 

 seven stones to Rameswaram pagoda in 1609 and three more 

 in 1714. 



Besides the 60 free stones, the Setupati had the right by custom 

 under the Portuguese to one day's fishing from all his subjects, as 

 had the Nayak from his. 



Taken generally the fisheries under the Portuguese appear 

 to have been of great collective profit during the first half of 

 the period of their rule, a period coincident with the height of 

 Portuguese energy and power, when they had no European rival 

 and when they were free to concentrate their forces entirely against 

 the native races. After breaking the power of the Arabs, the 

 Portuguese enjoyed all the advantages conferred on the nation 

 possessing the mastery of the sea, a consideration of supreme 

 importance in connexion with such an essentially maritime 

 industry as the pearl fishery. 



Encroachments and claims on the part of the Nayak of Madura 

 were then as common and as troublesome as those experienced in 

 the eighteenth century by the Dutch in their relations with the 

 Nawab of the Carnatic. The methods adopted by the Portuguese 

 to cope with these infringements of treaty rights and to afford 



* The Chief of Ramnad has many titles indicating an ancient and illustrious past. 

 To-day his lands form a zamindari ; prior to the permanent settlement made in 1S03, 

 Ramnad was a semi-feudal state (palaiya/u) dependent upon Madura, but occasionally, 

 when the central power was weak, throwing off the yoke and assuming virtual and even 

 actual independence as evidenced by the existence of coins struck by certain of its rulers. 

 The present Zamindar of Ramnad is styled Raja, a distinction conferred by Govern- 

 ment in recognition of his public spirit ; in former days Setupati (or Sethupathi) and 

 Tevar were titles more particularly distinctive and peculiar to these chieftains. 



The Raja of Ramnad is the hereditary head of the warrior Maravar caste, of which 

 the honorific and generic caste name is Tevar (or Thevar) ; from this was derived the title 

 Tevar, by which the Dutch referred to the Sovereign of Ramnad in all their documents, 

 usually under the form Thguver or Teuver. 



The Rajas of Ramnad have always been identified with the great Hindu shrine of 

 Rameswaram ; they are its hereditary guardians. Their ancient title of Setupati is 

 connected directly with this honourable distinction, for in its meaning of 'Lord of the 

 Causeway " it connotes the guardianship of the sea between Ceylon and India, and of 

 Adam's Bridge, the line of islets and sandbanks connecting the islands of Rameswaram 

 and Mannar. The Setupatis, in virtue of this guardianship, held possession also of 

 the narrow channel, known as Pamban Pass, between Rameswaram Island and the 

 mainland and levied dues on vessels passing through. 



In the settlement of 1803, while the sovereign rights over any future pearl fishery off 

 the Ramnad coast were retained by the paramount power, those over the chank fishery — 

 an industry of considerable annual value— were included among the] privileges accorded 

 to the zamindar. 



