34 
derived from it during the past 25 years appears in the 
appendix. 
Originally it was a portion of the Ramnad fishery, its 
present separation. dating back to the first quarter of the 
eighteenth century (about 1730 A.D., wvzde Nelson’s 
Madura Manual, Part III, page 249) when the original 
Ramnad territory was parcelled out between two rival 
claimants to the Ramnad gadi, one of whom received the 
north-western section which became known as Sivaganga, 
the other retaining the district whereof Ramnad is the 
geographical centre. Sivaganga was and is an inland 
district, without coastline, but that it might have access 
to the sea, the port of Tondiand a short adjoining strip 
of coast were made over by Ramnad and this proved to be 
a matter of some inconvenience to the Madras Govern- 
ment in the last Poligar war as the Sivaganga rebels sent 
out from Tondi several small privateers—armed coasters 
—to prey upon the local shipping.* 
(3) THE CARNATIC COAST FISHERIES. 
(a) Tanjore District. 
The fishery off the eastern coast of Tanjore is another 
very ancient royalty of the sovereign power holding 
Tanjore. Prior to the annexation of Tanjore in 1800 
this fishery had formed one of the heads of revenue 
enjoyed by the Rajas of Tanjore, being farmed out in 
the same way as the Tinnevelly and Ramnad fisheries. 
When the district was ceded to the British, the right to 
the fishery continued to be sold to the highest bidder ; for 
many years the lease was given in single terms ; from fasli 
1233 (A.D. 1823-1824) the custom grew up of leasing 
it for terms of several years, varying from two to five. 
During 26 years following the British acquisition of the 
district, the fishery continued in a flourishing condition, 
seldom realizing less than Rs. 3,000 per annum and fre- 
quently exceeding Rs. 5,000. Inone year, fasli 1216 (A.D. 
1806-1807) this revenue rose to Rs. 10,198. The average 
for these 26 prosperous years was Rs. 4,901-10-6 (see 
appendix No. 6 for details). From fasli 1252 the returns 
gradually declined till, in 1883, the Collector had difficulty 
* Since the above was written the Madras Government have acquired the lease of 
the Ramnad fishery and it will in future be worked departmentally, 
