The breast tax or mulakam is the only tax considered dirty and despicable to be treated by low-caste women in India. Exactly in the region of Travancore, state of Kerala on the south coast of India. The breast tax is the result of British pressure for ever higher wages. According to folklore, a woman known as Nangeli was visited by the Pravathiyar (village official) of Travancore to collect mulakkaram. Nangeli refused to pay the tax because, like many others, she found it discriminatory against lower-caste women. It was at this time, in an extraordinary act of rebellion, that Nangeli allegedly cut off her breasts with a sickle knife and handed them over to Pravathiyar, wrapped in a palm leaf. The short film Mulakaram tells the story of a woman named Nangeli, who died in the 19th century. She lived with her husband Chirukandan in the village of Cherthala, known as the former princely state of Travancore. The “breast tax” was seen as a kind of cult of Brahmins or the ruling classes. This act had different aspects – the taxes depended on the size of the breasts, as shown in the film itself. Royal officers visited monthly to collect taxes from those who reached puberty and made sure that every woman embraced this abominable custom.
Each of them counted after puberty will have their breasts checked. Then the amount of the tax is calculated based on the size of her breasts itself. This is a serious disruption of their individual rights and integrity as women, despite the fact that they constitute the lowest caste in India. According to local belief[web 3][web 4][web 5], the “breast tax” was imposed on lower-class women when they covered their breasts in public to prevent them from doing so. [web 3] [4] [5] [web 4] [note 2] Nangeli also paid this tax. She often thought of the question of her own body as her greatest burden – the question arose: is it essential to get someone`s permission to cover her body parts in public? Then she decided enough was enough. She had heard enough of humiliations and insults to her dignity and self-respect in society. One day, the village tax collector visited him regularly and began collecting unpaid taxes. They also asked Nangeli to pay her taxes, but she made him wait for a while. She put down a plantain, lit a lamp, then cut off her breasts and served them on the sheet instead of money to end the king`s brutality and the system of imposing breasts once and for all. In 1803, Nangeli challenged the state rules for Mulakaram. She showed in public how she started wearing a top to protect her breasts.
His attitude caused a sensation among members of the upper class. Nangeli was then ordered to take off her own dress in public. Portrait of Nangeli // In protest against the mulakkaram (breast tax) imposed on lower castes and minorities, she cut her breasts. •⠀ •⠀ • #portraits #the100dayproject #instagood #instadaily #originalartist #calledtobecreative #visualsoflife #artofvisuals #illustagram #womenwithpencils #drawingfromlife #illo ⠀ #illustration #sketchbook #womenwhodraw #southasianart #southasianartist⠀ #nangeli #illustagram #illustration #illustree #characterdesign #penandink⠀ #womenartists #digitalillustration #createeveryday #designinspiration #graphicart #visualnarrative They are forbidden to cover both breasts if they do not Do not practice mulakaram or breast tax. Women of the Shudra caste are forced to bare their breasts without clothes. If an infringement is detected, the amount of the tax is calculated according to the size of their breasts. Our story begins in the early 19th century in the princely state of Travancore, India. It was here, in this tropical region, that the King of Travancore levied a tax on lower-caste women when they covered their breasts in public. The tax was known as “mulakkaram” or breast tax. Nangeli and her husband Chirukandan lived in Cherthala, a small coastal village.
They worked as farm labourers and collected sap from coconut trees. Travancore Rajas ruthlessly extorted about 110 types of harvesting from Dalits – on the fishing net, ornaments worn, a moustache worn, and so on. A general tax was levied on men, called talakkaram, literally “poll tax”; Mulakkaram literally means “breast tax”. The story of a lower-caste woman who cut her breasts in protest against a discriminatory “breast tax” in British-ruled India is revived by an artist who wants to acknowledge her victim. BBC Hindi`s Divya Arya reports from the southern Indian state of Kerala. The breast tax (Mulakkaram or Mula-Karam in Malayalam) was a capitation tax imposed on Nadars, Ezhavars and lower caste communities by the Tranvancore Kingdom (in what is now the Indian state of Kerala). [1] [web 1] [web 2] [note 1] They had to pay taxes when they became workers, around the age of fourteen. [8] [Note 5] Men of the lower castes had to pay a similar tax, called tala-karam, “mustache tax”, regardless of their wealth or income.
[7] “The purpose of the breast tax was to maintain caste structure,” said Dr Sheeba KM, associate professor of gender ecology and Dalit studies at Shri Shankaracharya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya in Kerala. After her death, the breast tax system was reportedly cancelled in Travancore shortly thereafter and the place where she lived became known as Mulachiparambu (meaning land of the breast woman) and is located in Cherthala, Kerala. [4] [10] [11] [12] According to subordinate beliefs[web 3][web 4][web 5], the breast tax was imposed on lower-class women if they covered their breasts. [web 3] [4] [5] [6] [note 2] This belief was challenged,[web 6][web 1][web 2][web 5] because lower-class women “were not allowed to wear outerwear in public until 1859.”[7] [Note 3] [Note 4] Is this the only way for a woman to get rid of discrimination and violence? Is it really imperative to end one`s life for a complete boycott of these rules and regulations that are totally disgusted and are by-products of caste and patriarchy? Nalangeli`s death had outraged the Ezhava community and there had been discussions about the protests against the breast tax that had taken place before her death. But fear of the effects of dominant castes and the inability to form a system of unity between them had thwarted them. After his death, there was a huge uprising of popular movements. The “breast tax” had been levied by the king of the former state of Travancore, one of the 550 princely states that existed in British-ruled India. Nangeli also looked calm and entered his own house to prepare what was requested. Its short-term appearance from the inside is included with a neatly folded tax offer in a plantain leaf. Unexpectedly, after presenting the tax package, he became unconscious and covered in blood. Nangeli died after immense blood loss. The news of Nalangeli`s death shook her husband.
He couldn`t bear the loss of his beloved wife and jumped on his pyre and committed suicide. The place where Nangeli made her sacrifice and last fight is called “Mulachiparambu” (meaning the land of women`s breasts). The King of Travancore abolished the abominable tax system immediately after his death. Nalangeli`s death sparked a protest among women who paid breast tax, and they ended it in 1924. In addition to seeking additional revenue through taxes on goods, Mulakaram was destined to offend the lower caste with a new division in the fabric of local Indian society. How are women of other castes allowed to cover their breasts without being burdened with mulakaram? Maaru Marakkal Samaram or Channar Lahala (Revolt) of Dalit women grew up in the state a decade later – a collective revolt of Dalit women fighting for the right to wear upper body clothing. Women in Nadar and Ezhava campaigned for them to be allowed to cover their breasts. The British passed an ordinance allowing Christian women to wear outerwear in Travancore, but withdrew it after the Raja Council objected that it would erase caste differences.