358 



Report on the Macliinz'ie Manuscripts. 



[April 



Section 8. Copy of an old record of the Puthucheri agrahdram, pre- 

 served in the Ijand-writing of the Mamad'yar of Vadttcheri, m the 

 Palcad district. — The Manra llyar was a petty chief who held a small 

 countiy, of a few leagues in circum''erence, which was forcibly wrested 

 from hiui, by the Travancore king; and afterwards made ovei* 

 to the Calicut ruler. The chief portion of the paper relates 

 to the laws, and regulations, of the said small barony ; as to marriage 

 customs, and observances; domestic rules, and restrictions; rights, 

 and pi ivileges of Brahmans ; and the illegality of any sale of land, which 

 mast go by hereditary descent. It is of local importance only; but the 

 existence of distinct laws, in various small districts, confirms other in- 

 dications, as to the want of extensive imperial power in the Malayalam 

 countr) . 



Sect'on 9. Account of the fane at Tiruvdlatiur. — There are some 

 loose and unconnected lines aslo Chiltar village, and Tiruvalattur fane, 

 bat mere fragments, and by consequence of no use whatsoever. 



General Remark. — This book was observed to be in a damaged state : 

 it has (with the exception of sect. 9) been restored; section 1 to Sin the 

 Tamil language : section 4 is in Telugu (see that portion of this report) 

 section 5 and 6 as found in the Tamil cliaracter ; but section 7 and 8 are 

 copied in the Malayalam character, as best suited to the Malayalam lan- 

 guage. The Tamil character disguised the language of the latter sec- 

 tions, at first ; especially as the opening sections were wholly in Tamil. 

 The importance of the contenls does not seem to be great ; but, on the 

 whole, it may be of some use to have rescued, what is of any conse- 

 quence, from destruction. 



Manuscript Book, No. 12— Countermark GOo. 



Section I. Account of a shrine of Cri,sJma at the village of Amhala- 

 jmrai in Malayalam. — A child troubled a Sa?ini/asi, by doing mischief 

 to sacrificial implements which made the said ascetic angry ; 

 whereon the child disappeared, and '\vas discovered to have been 

 an apparition of the god. Much inane matter connected there- 

 with ; leading however under the influence of superstiiious cre^ 

 duHty, and of the Namhuris, to the constrnclion of a fane, with 

 its shrines, out-buildings and appurtenances of festivals, allowanc- 

 es for them, and grants in land : the wbolp dedicated to the ser- 

 vice of Cris-rna, At a late period the minister of the Travancor^^ rcija 



