1850.] Eastern Districts of the Soubah of Hydralad. 223 



He is required to pursue the thieves and bring them to the Naib for 

 committal, and in case of his being unable to recover the stolen pro- 

 perty he is obliged to reimburse the plundered party, which he does 

 by levying a puttee on the village in the neighbourhood of which the 

 crime was perpetrated. 



There is abundant evidence to show that the Police of the coun- 

 try was at one time in the hands of Munnewars, and of a chief call- 

 ed Surmunnewar, the former receiving the usufruct of one or more 

 villages in a pergunnah for police purposes, the latter one per cent, 

 on the revenue of several Sircars. In the Havalee pergunnah of 

 Maiduck there are still Munnewars, but their function is limited now 

 to making good losses, and there is a Surmunnewar in the wild dis- 

 tricts of the Warungul Sircar called the Boputtee, who claims Mun- 

 newar rights over it, and several of the neighbouring Sircars. These 

 rights are said to have been originally one per cent, on the revenue, 

 but both his occupation and his emoluments are gone. Until lately 

 and there is no saying how soon he may resume his old habits, he 

 was a thief and an outlaw, hiding himself among the Koewars, and 

 descending to the plains, only, for predatory purposes. In the hands 

 of such a Vidocq it would not be very safe to intrust the guardian- 

 ship of property. The Mahomedans would appear to have been at 

 one time inclined to imitate this old Hindu system of police, and to 

 have appointed officers called Mookassadars with the same rights and 

 duties as Munnewars ; few of these now exist, but there is a Mokas- 

 sadar in the exercise of Police duties on the Masulipatam and Hydra- 

 bad road. 



Manufactures and Commerce. 



Coarse cotton cloth for women's sarees and breast cloths, and for 

 men's clothing, is manufactured at every large village throughout the 

 country. Finer cotton cloths, with coloured or embroidered borders, 

 are prepared at the different Kusbahs, or in their immediate neigh- 

 bourhood: they are dyed red with chelwar or madder, blue with 

 coarse indigo, yellow with turmeric, green with turmeric and indigo, 

 and a dirty yellow with the bark of the mango tree, their being so 

 dyed increases their cost by 8 annas to a rupee ; coarse chintzes are 

 stamped at Mulwarrah and Kummum, and a few other large towns : 

 two colours are only used, the black with sulphate of iron, to bring out 

 the colour, and red from chelwar and madder with alum as a mordant. 



