When the Nadar women in 19th-century Travancore revolted to reclaim public space

Indian Express

6 days ago

Public space in India has always been an ambiguous concept. While it generally implies an area accessible to all members of a community, the reality is far from it. Lower castes and women, in particular, have historically held the least claim to such space. Any attempt to alter this course has been met with resistance and often, revolt. One such instance was the uprising by the Nadar women in the 19th-century princely state of Travancore
Doubly burdened by their caste and gender identity, the Nadar women of Travancore fought for their right to public presence—dignified public presence—in a historic struggle for the freedom to cover their breasts in public.
The Nadars were a large subcaste in Travancore whose traditional occupation, according to author John Restakis in his book Civilizing The State: Reclaiming Politics for the Common Good (2002), was climbing trees to harvest coconuts and palm leaves. They would scale anywhere between 30 and 40 metres, often meeting with deadly accidents. Nadar women, however, were targeted for not just their lower-caste identity but also their gender. Like women of other low castes, like the Parayans who are at the bottom of the caste hierarchy in Kerala, they were prohibited from covering their breasts.
'Exposed breasts were a humiliating mark of subservience,' says Restakis. The disgrace did not end with that; Nadar women were also subject to 'Mula karam' or a breast tax. Restakis explains that an official would go from door to door collecting taxes from lower caste women, over the age of puberty, who wished to cover their breasts. The taxes levied, he notes, were determined based on the size of the woman's breast.
Unable to put up with such atrocities, several women from the Nadar community converted to Christianity as it allowed them to adorn an upper garment. Having converted, they started covering their bodies with a blouse. This, however, led to severe backlash from upper caste Hindu men.
The situation deteriorated, and in 1822, a group of Nadar women were stopped on their way to church and had their blouses ripped. 'Irrespective of the fact that they had converted to another religion, the presence of a Dalit body in a public place…was at once a threat to the Brahminical control over these spaces,' asserts S Harikrishnan in Social Spaces and the Public Sphere: A Spatial History of Modernity in Kerala (2023).
This culminated in a series of revolts in several regions of Travancore in 1858, known as the Channar Revolt, the Channar Lahala, or 'Maru Marakkal Samaram'. Not only did the men tear clothes from the women's bodies, there were also instances when they 'attached machetes to long poles and sliced the clothing from the women's bodies while standing at a safe distance,' Restakis notes.
Missionary schools were burnt down and their books destroyed. In another incident that took place at the Neyyattinkara market in Travancore in 1859, referred to by Harikrishnan, a Channar woman's breast-cloth was ripped, and she was abused by an upper caste-Hindu. There were also instances where officials stripped and hanged Nadar women from trees.
The women responded in similar rage. They attacked upper-caste neighbourhoods and looted their stores. In this, they were also joined by Hindu lower caste women. The movement gained momentum and spread from Kerala to Tamil Nadu. 'The dam of caste privilege was cracking, and the floodwaters of reform were seeping through,' Restakis remarks.
On July 26, 1859, the then Travancore king, Uthram Thirunal Marthanda Varma, issued a decree granting Nadar women the right to cover their breasts. While the decree granted 'complete freedom to wear any cloth of their choice according to their dignity,' cites Harikrishnan, 'they are not to imitate the clothes worn by higher caste women'. In other words, Nadar women were allowed to wear breast cloth but in ways that appeared different from the upper-caste women.
As Harikrishnan concludes, it was a demand for equality in letter, not spirit.
Further reading:
Civilizing The State: Reclaiming Politics for the Common Good by John Restakis
Social Spaces and the Public Sphere: A Spatial History of Modernity in Kerala by S Harikrishnan
Nikita writes for the Research Section of IndianExpress.com, focusing on the intersections between colonial history and contemporary issues, especially in gender, culture, and sport.
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