MALAY LAND TENURE. 109 



cultivator in a particular district. Thus in Perak one district 

 used to supply the Raja with timber for building purposes, 

 while rattans and other materials came from others; the peo- 

 ple of one locality used to furnish the musicians for the Raja's 

 band, while another had to provide nurses and attendants for 

 his children.* Speaking of Ked ah, Colonel Low says: "The 

 " ryot was obliged also to pay for keeping up bands of music 

 " and state elephants. His children were liable to be forcibly 

 "taken from him — the girls for the seraglio, and the youths for 

 " public works or for war, where they got no pay and but pre- 

 " carious supplies of food. "f 



Tennent describes " feudal service '■' as prevailing in its 

 amplest details in the Eastern Province of Ceylon. " Accord- 

 " ing to the custom of the country, the chief of the district 

 " directs its cultivation by the villagers ; they acknowledge his 

 " authority, and, so long as they live on the land, devote their 

 " whole time and labour to his service, receiving in return a 

 " division of the grain, a share of the milk from his cattle, and 

 " the certainty of support in periods of famine and distress. 

 " Their houses, gardens and wells, though built, planted and 

 " dug by themselves, are the property of the Chief, who alone 

 " can dispose of them." * * * 



" These serfs, whilst they live on the land, are bound to 

 " perform every service for the lord of the soil, without pay ; 

 " they fence his gardens, cover his houses, carry his baggage, 

 " perform the work of coolies in balams (canoes), fish for him, 

 " act as his messengers ; and when absent from his village, 

 " they must provide food for himself and servants. They 



* " It would be in vain to pretend to render an account of all the irregular 

 " contributions and requisitions to which a people are liable who labour under 

 " the evils of a rude and arbitrary Government. At festivals, at marriages 

 "and births, whether in the family of the Sovereign or of the Chief who 

 " presides over them, the cultivators are called upon for contributions. In 

 " the transportation of public property, or the conveyance of the minions of 

 "the court or its officers, in the repair or construction of roads, bridges, 

 " and other public works, the services of the people are exacted unmerci- 

 " fully, and without thanks or reward." Ckawfttbd — Hist. Inch Arch., 

 Ill, 69. 



f Dissertation, p. 7. 



