DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12673#0227
208 GOA AND THE BLUE MOUNTAINS.
The manner in which, the Calicut house is and
has been, from the days of hoar antiquity, broken
and divided, appears curious in the extreme. It
may be supposed that the Brahmans, jealous of
the overgrown power of one individual, in the
person of the Samiry, endeavoured to temper its
force by assigning to the other members of the
family certain official dignities, together with con-
comitant privileges. It is also possible that this
partition might have taken place at the solici-
tation of the princes, who naturally would wish
to secure for themselves a settled and independent
subsistence. They were appointed to act as a
council to the reigning sovereign ; they could
check his authority as well as aid him in his
wisdom ; and, finally, they were his principal of-
cers, each having separate and particular duties
to perform. By this arrangement, in case of the
ruler's demise, his heir would succeed to the throne
without any of the harassing disturbances and
sanguinary contentions so common amongst Asiatic
nations.
Where rank and property descend from father
to son, there is little difficulty in settling the suc-
cession. But when families remain united for years
under the Murroo-muka-tayum, or inheritance by
The manner in which, the Calicut house is and
has been, from the days of hoar antiquity, broken
and divided, appears curious in the extreme. It
may be supposed that the Brahmans, jealous of
the overgrown power of one individual, in the
person of the Samiry, endeavoured to temper its
force by assigning to the other members of the
family certain official dignities, together with con-
comitant privileges. It is also possible that this
partition might have taken place at the solici-
tation of the princes, who naturally would wish
to secure for themselves a settled and independent
subsistence. They were appointed to act as a
council to the reigning sovereign ; they could
check his authority as well as aid him in his
wisdom ; and, finally, they were his principal of-
cers, each having separate and particular duties
to perform. By this arrangement, in case of the
ruler's demise, his heir would succeed to the throne
without any of the harassing disturbances and
sanguinary contentions so common amongst Asiatic
nations.
Where rank and property descend from father
to son, there is little difficulty in settling the suc-
cession. But when families remain united for years
under the Murroo-muka-tayum, or inheritance by