The myth about 'Breast Tax'

In recent times, it's a matter of individual liberty to decide about personal clothing and dressing, and any attempt at charting dos and don'ts is criticised and attacked fiercely. The idea of "contempt for individual freedom for dressing up" is a product of the Western world, that is, the society of so-called progressive mindsets and at first glance, our educated minds, roar in lambasting any pursuit, curtailing our sense of dressing. Bharat, being a nation with plurality, in culture as well as differences in climatic conditions, the attire worn by people in various regions, varied. 

The southern state of Kerala, situated on the coastline of Hind Mahasagar, has a tropical climatic condition. On the same coastline, was the state of Travancore, ruled by Hindu king Raja Marthanda Verma and other Hindu dynasties. It was the only Hindu kingdom, other than Nepal, that remained independent from Muslim rule. 

A story from Kerala folklore had captivated people's attention recently and there has been much buzz about it, as well as a few films shot on the subject.  The folktale narrates the prevailing custom in the earlier centuries, about the Breast Tax, imposed upon the women of lower castes, if they covered their breasts!!! 

The tax was known as Mulakkaram. 

The story of a woman, from the Ezhava community of Kerala, named Nangeli, cutting off her breast and offering it to the revenue collector, when accused of covering them, has gained popularity recently. The Nangeli story further depicts, her dying of heavy bleeding and her husband Kandappan committing suicide in aftershock. 

Imagining such a vicious custom, of disallowing the lower caste women to cover their breasts by the upper caste, and levying 'breast tax' if they dared to disobey, is a horrifying proposition in itself. As per the saga, those Ezhava women, who could not bare the humiliating exploitation any longer, chopped off their breasts and attained martyrdom. 

Of numerous instances of brutality on the lower castes, documented in history, this one may be one of the most disgraceful occurrences. Shaming of lower castes and infuriating women's modesty is surely the worst kind of oppression, one can imagine. 

As we grasp the story, the picture floats into our minds, of a nobleman attired in exemplary affluent clothes and the women sitting beside, on an ornate throne, draped in the best silks from top to toe. 

Now, we need to pause our imagination and ask a necessary question: 

Just because the story speaks of horrid atrocities on lower-class women, does it become valid and the Gospel truth? Let's fact-check the dressing style and norms before the 19th century in the tropical climate of Kerala. 

It is a widely observed pattern, that the traditional clothing in their daily lives, largely depended on the climate of the land. It was just a piece of cotton cloth draped around the centre (midriff) and it was the customary practice for men and women, per se, owing to the humidity. Another cloth hung over the shoulder (uttarayin) was sometimes donned by the women of upper castes, occasionally but was not used to cover the breast. 

A portrayal by the Dutch traveller Johan Nieuhof, paying a visit to the Queen of Quilon and showed her with her breast uncovered. Pietro Della Valle and John Hanry Grose, the travelogue of the 17th and 18th centuries, reported that the attire of both, man and woman in Kerala, did not wear upper clothing. 

Another traveller Abbe Dubois noted in his manual "Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies" in 1815,  that out of all the women, courtesans covered their bosom to attract clients!!! Covering the breast was considered a seductive act. 

The Keralian society has been largely Matrilinial. Their sartorial choice for clothing has been a rude shock, for followers of the Abrahamic religion, the Muslims and Christians as they were the only ones who preferred wearing blouses. 

The Anthropologist Fred Fawcett has noted that no native of Malabar, fancied wearing blouses or covering their breast but later, as people gained outside exposure, their habits changed. Initially, the English nurses were rebuffed by the native Tiyya women,  when asked to cover their bosom with a piece of cloth, as they were not prostitutes!!! 

Similarly, in the autobiography of C. Keshvan, the tale of a young girl rebelling against her mother, to wear a blouse has been mentioned. (very similar to contemporary girls revolting to dorn revealing appraisal). 

With all these observations antagonising the existence, of the said humiliating custom of "Breast Tax" prevailing in Kerala; it was essential to locate where these narratives originated from. 

N R Krishna, talked about the 'brave woman' in his tome, 'Ezhava : Than and Today' in 1957 but he mentioned no names of either Nangeli or her husband. Later, C. Vasava Pannikar wrote more elaborately using the two-line anecdote of  N R Krishna but with certainty about the issue, in his biography, 'S. Padmanabhan Pannikar' in 1976. 

Then, in the year 2000 CE, S N Sadasivan described the issue at length in "Social History of India' and specified the period around 1840 CE. 

Eventually, the journalist C. Radhakrishnan named the characters Nangeli and Kadappan and added the story of suicide by the husband to add spice to it. The story was first published in Pioneer on March 8, 2007. Its Malayalam translation was published on the same day in Mathrubhumi and Malayala Manorama. Later in 2012, it was published in the SBD Kaviyoor bulletin and then in the canvas of Murali T. 

Around the same time, it appeared in Vagabond, BBC and Times of India. 

Now let's, dwell on what is meant by Mullakaram and Thallakaram. 

"Mula" denotes breast in Malayalam. Thallakaram is the poll tax, Head tax or Capitation Tax. Poll attributes to per head, hence it implies as Tax bestowed upon an individual, man or woman, as it is popularly being done globally. Generally, the women were charged lesser taxes than the men. To delineate the differentiated tax structure on basis of gender, the Thallakaram (tax in Malayalam) was addressed as Mullakaram (tax on woman, and she is illustrated as the one with Mula (breast). 

As the Cock and the Bull story depicts, the fake narrative, if repeated, again and again, would turn into popular truth. Baffling, the unfortunate false anecdotal has been swallowed worldwide as the tenet and widened the caste differences. 

Recently, a painting by Murali T.on the subject, followed by a film by Yogesh Pagare and a couple of other films on the topic, called Stan Tax, which has highlighted the Dalit-Adivasi and Pichda section of the society being targeted and undoubtedly the villain among them has been the Hindu priest. The easiest target, naturally. 

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article that it has been a Western authoritative notion to enforce every ideologue of ethics, as per their beliefs. In earlier eras, the 'uncovered bosom' was an exasperated blow to Victorian morality, hence the very natural norm, was utilised as a tool to widen the gap between Upper castes and Lower castes and eventually, poison the minds of Dalits and pursue them into religious conversion. 

Similar to this, it is also believed that Tipu Sultan, the king of Mysore, attacked the king of Travancore, to stand in solidarity with the lower castes, who were subjected to the brutal atrocity of "Breast Tax". 

This is again, a fake narrative, as the attack of Tipu Sultan was to devastate one of the only Hindu kingdoms, which had remained independent and refrained from being under Islamic rule. Moreover, the colossal wealth of Padmanabh Temple was a poke in the eyes of other kingdoms and a matter of envy. Again, demeaning the Hindus and creating a rift between the castes, would enhance the conversion. 

For centuries, Bharat has been a victim of not just political imprisonment but also social devastation, caused by the toxicity of castism.

I do not propose that Caste differences were non-existent but regrettably, the tales related to it, have been fabricated with the least historical evidence and resulted in, woefully damaging the social fabric. 

(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.) 

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