THE NATURE OF SASWATAM TENURE AND THE COLONIAL LAND LAW

Abstract

Saswatam is the word used to denote perpetual leases in Malabar. Perpetual leases are grants of land made over by the overlord, temple and the Brahmins to their subordinates as the remuneration for the service they rendered. These grants were known by different names. The grantees had enjoyed hereditary permanent right over these grants. According to the pre- colonial land law the right over land indicated solely their right and interest over the share of produce from the land. This customary law of rights and interests on land were reinterpreted on the basis of western idea of private property on land. The colonial land law declared Janmi as the sole proprietor of the soil, as the result the hereditary holders were disposed of their right. The independent right of the tenants were disturbed with the intervention of law courts. The Janmis resorted various measures to oust the tenants from their land with the legal support. Second half of the 19^th century witnessed active involvement of colonial judiciary in settling the dispute raised over the proprietary right on the land granted on perpetual lease.

Keywords

saswatam tenure, colonial land law, malabar

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To cite this article

Gopika, G. (2019). The Nature of Saswatam Tenure and  the Colonial Land Law. John Foundation Journal of EduSpark, 1(3), 34-52.