1837.] 



An Account of the Tribe of Mhadeo Kolies. 



93 



different mixtures, which vary much in quality; these are frequently 

 classed under the term thikka, as well as the Mallzumeen (that is, the 

 more elevated, less fertile, stony, red soil, clear of jungle) but the most 

 productive and highly valuable lands are the thikkas, which have 

 been divided into bhautt churries, or rice fields, and that have been 

 chiefly formed by artificial means, on the shoulders of some of the 

 more shelving and gently sloping hills, and in small ravines or gullies, 

 by building a succession of bunds on imbankments across them, at 

 suitable distances, and filling up and levelling the intermediate spaces. 

 Erecting these imbankments, for sustaining the earth of each plot, 

 must have been a work of immense labour and fatigue, for they are 

 principally composed of very large stones. Contsant attention is re- 

 quired to be paid to them during the monsoon, to prevent the torrents 

 that rush down the sides of the hills from destroying the fields and re- 

 moving the materials of the imbankments. The dark reddish soil of 

 these bhautt churries is very rich, and productive, being fertilized an- 

 nually with a fresh supply of a mixture consisting of the debris of rock 

 and decomposed vegetable matter, washed down by the monsoon rains. 



The finer and better varieties of rice, which are so much esteemed 

 and prized by Brahmans and wealthy natives, are grown in the greatest 

 perfection in these fields. The owners of these thikkas that are divided 

 into bhautt churries, are allowed to cultivate a certain portion of the 

 adjoining Mallzumeen, as they pay no rent for the usufruct of it, the 

 cess on the bhautt churry priginally including such an arrangement. 

 The rent of ea^h thikka varies from 2 to 10 rupees, all depending on 

 the estimated size, &c. of the different plots. 



Should a poor Koly, for want of means, forego cultivating his bhautt 

 churry, he will very likely cultivate a portion of the Mallzumeen at- 

 tached to it, for which he will pay two or three rupees. All the bhautt 

 churry thikkas, as well as those of the Malkumeen, &c. have names of 

 long standing. The rent of each plot has never been altered within the 

 memory of man. The only time when they try to effect a change, is 

 when a man has laboured hard to clear a patch of the Mallzumeen, in 

 which he sows the coarser descriptions of rice (takia, dhoull, &c.) 

 which he can irrigate from its vicinity to a stream, should there be any 

 scarcity of monsoon rain. The rent of such a plot is raised on this ac- 

 count, but the Koly will struggle to retain it at the rate he had previ- 

 ously paid, not considering it worth more to him. In the event of this 

 being denied to him, he will threaten to quit the village,* and often 



* Some years ago I took the liberty to recommend that the assessments on the lands in 

 the hilly country should be lessened, were it only for a period of a few years, as the ar- 

 rangement might tend much to induce the Kolies to remain in their own villages, and 

 wean them from their wandering propensities, at the same time to guard against the 

 Koonby farmers of the plain settling in the Koly villages. A system of much forbearance 

 is required to be pursued in collecting the revenue, where such poverty exists, and where 

 such injurious consequences are likely to result. 



