MYSORE, CANARY, AND MALABAR, 
81 
always assisted by a council of the most respectable members of CHAPTER 
his tribe. The punishments that he can inflict are fines and stripes, 
and above all excommunication, or loss of cast ; which to a Hindu May 20, &c. 
is the most terrible of all punishments. These hereditary chiefs 
also, assisted by their council, frequently decide civil causes, or 
disputes among their tribe ; and when the business is too intricate 
or difficult, it is generally referred to the hereditary chief of the 
ruling tribe of the side or division to which the paities belong. In 
this case, he assembles the most respectable men of the division, and 
settles the dispute; and the advice of these persons is commonly 
sufficient to make both parties acquiesce in the decision; for every 
one would shun a man who could be so unreasonable as to refuse 
compliance. These courts have no legal jurisdiction ; but their 
influence is great, and fnany of the ablest Amildars support their 
decisions by the authority of government. 
The dominions of the Raja of Mysore are now divided into three Dominions of 
great districts, or Siihay.cn as, called the Patana, Nagara, and Cha- j^y Sor {^ 
trakal Subayenas or Rayadas ; from the three places where the chief 
offices or Cutcheries are situated. The Patana district is by far the 
largest, and is under the immediate inspection of the Dewan , Purnea , 
and of his deputy, Bucherozo. The Cutchery is in Seringapatam ; and 
dependent on it are ninety-one Talucs, or subdivisions, of. which 
six formerly belonged to Nagara . This present district is a much 
greater extent of territory than ever before was subject to the 
Mysore family ; for although they had conquered Coimbetore , and 
though some districts formerly belonging to them, and bordering 
on the Bara Mahal, have been ceded to the Company, yet, beside 
these six Talucs taken from Nagara , they never possessed Sira, Ban - 
galuru , nor Colar, which were conquered from Mussulman families 
by Hyder. In addition to this, they have acquired the Chatrakal 
Subayena, containing thirteen Talucs ; and the Nagara , containing 
nineteen. Each of these districts is under the inspection of a Subadar . 
Yol. L M 1 
