56 



The Neilgherry Mountams. 



[No. S4, 



Tax paid by the To- Steepest and most difficult ground. The To- 

 dars to government, ^^^.g ^^^^^^j Government of 9 annas 



and 5 pice per head on all the female buffaloes herded by them, the 

 bulls being exempt from tax ; and, in addition to this, they pay a small 

 assessment on grazing land, called " pillooverry" or grass tax, at 

 the rate of one quarter of the sum fixed as the lowest class assess- 

 ment for cultivated land per vuUum ; the quantity of land which they 

 are called upon to pay being estimated according to the number of 

 bufTaloes herded at each mund, at the rate of about 10 vullums per 

 100 head of cattle. The amount of revenue collected from the 

 Todars in 1847 was 



on account of tax on Buffaloes Rs. 960 



and do. do. . Pillooverry „ 400 



Total Rupees.. 1360 

 The Kothers: 307 The Kothers rank next to the Todas, accord- 



Souls. . ^ ^ T,- . . ' 



ing to common tradition, in seniority, as occu- 

 pants of the Neilgherries. 



They are of low caste, equivalent to that of the Pariah in the plains, 

 and consequently are always found dwelling by themselves in isolat- 

 ed villages, of which there are only six on the plateau of the Hills, and 

 generally called after the race " Kother-gherry." Around each village 

 they have lands, considered and admitted by their Burgher or Todar 

 neighbours to be exclusively their own, no difsputes about boundaries, 

 or the right to certain tracts, occurring amongst them at any time, so 

 far as I can learn. The Kothers are an exceedingly industrious and 

 useful race. They give all their time to husbandry when the land 

 calls for their care, but when the seed is in the ground and their time 

 disposeable, they employ it in all sorts of mechanical avocations, re- 

 pairing the ploughs of their own and the neighbouring villages, as 

 well as bill hooks, mamoties, and all other farming implements, and 

 executing a great variety of smith's and carpenter's work. 



It is by these people that the buffalo, and other hides of Hill cat- 

 tle, which are so much prized by the workers in leather in the plains 

 and which should form a very important item in the export list of 

 the district, are dressed and prepared for the purposes of commerce, 

 the Kothers being very expert curriers. 



In common with the Burghers they pay " goodoo" in grain to the 

 Todars of their naad, in acknowledgment gf their feudal propiietary 



