April — sept. 1858.] Numismatic Gleanings. 85 



ceremonies and time-honored observances, indicative of ancient 

 origin. For instance, the dowry in Tamil marriages is regulated 

 according to fixed scale, with reference to the standing of the seve- 

 ral castes, those of highest rank being rated lowest, and the 

 amount of such dower is invariably reckoned by pons. Thus the 

 sum appointed for a maiden of Vellazhar race, the first in rank of 

 the Tamulian castes, was formerly 11 and is now 21 pons, which 

 in every day usage are represented by 73 J rupees. 



In addition to the dowry the bridegroom's parents are required 

 to give another pon tied up in a piece of cloth, under the name of 

 mulei-pdl-mudichi or mulei-pal-kiili* " the price of the mother's 

 milk," typifying that the expenses of the bride's rearing are there- 

 by discharged, and that she has become thenceforth the purchased 

 property of her husband. 



In place of this pon it is now the practice to present 3 J rupees 

 wrapped in cloth, to the girl's mother. 



The proverbial expression .J^SsoTcff^^ j&uz^uSn'ubQLJfr&r 

 " though the elephant is black, it is worth 1000 pons" conveys 

 the same sense. f 



Nor is the evidence confined to colloquial instances. The same 

 use of the word is found in the oldest standard compositions. In 

 the Harischandra puranam when the minister sells his prince to a 

 Puliya or out-cast, the price set upon him is 10,000 pons.. 



These examples show that although superseded in modern Ta- 

 mil by the word vardgan, the term pon was anciently used in the 

 same sense. And this is still more apparent in the southern pro- 

 vinces. In Tanjore the revenue accounts up to a comparatively 

 recent period were kept in pons, panams and kdsus, and these 

 terms are still employed in estimating the value of land. But the 

 modern value of the pon of account, is only 1 rupee 9 annas. It 

 could never therefore have represented the modern pagoda, the 



* (yscfauufr&(T_p > L2.&@ OF (LpidoOUUfTeOSSh-^l } lit. " breast- 

 milk-packet" or " breast-milk-hire." 



t The Nattu Kottei Chettis a race of mercantile Vellazhas from Tinnevelly, 

 who trade extensively along'the whole length of the Coromandel Coast, and the 

 Labbxs frequently employ the term pon w hen speaking of pagodas. 



