Note 11 — S

An important witness said that he knew the plaintiff, and that he was a Sūdra. He stated that he had lived for two years in the Zamorin’s kōvilagom, and knew the customs of his family. According to him there was no difference between his own caste customs and those of the Zamorin. He said that Sāmantan means a petty chieftain, and drew attention to the ‘Sukra Niti,’ edited by Dr. Oppert, where a Sāmantan is said to be “he who gets annually a revenue of from one to three lakhs karshom from his subjects without oppressing them.” There are, according to him, some Nāyars who call themselves Sāmantas, and he added that when, in 1887, the Collector of Malabar called for lists of all stanom-holders11 in the district, he examined these lists, and found that some of the Nāyar chiefs called themselves Sāmantan.