2.4.1 Origin and Characteristics of Attached Labour System The slavery Abolition Proclamation of 1855 legally prohibited the sale of slaves and ended the system of slavery in Travancore. As the state had not taken any effective measures for the emancipation of the hitherto serfs they were forced to remain dependent on their former farmer masters for sustenance. The prospects of getting a permanent adode and continuous employment encouraged them to become attached labourers. They seldom changed their masters and continued to stay in the huts provided to them by their masters as hutment dwellers or kudikidappukar 24 . The system of attached labour was essentially a caste-based division of labour in which the hard and dirty tasks were assigned to the low caste people (untouchables. They were not allowed to own or lease in lands and the laws of ayitham (pollution) inhibited them from entering into any other trade, which needed interaction with high caste people. They were deployed to work in paddy fields at faraway places from the residential holdings of their masters. As the Ezhavas were out of the purview of ayitham and untouchability, they were employed as casual labourer to work in garden lands around the houses of high caste Hindus. Both socially and economically the Ezhavas were ranked above the attached labourers 25 Every attached labour household used to get gifts during festivals like Onam, Vishu and Karkkidaka Vavu. Similarly, whenever there was a birth, death or marriage in 24 Jose AV Trade Unionism in Kerala,
