2.4.4 Land reforms and agrarian relations Prior to the formation of Kerala State by unifying the erstwhile princely states of Travancore and Cochin with the British ruled Malabar district of Madras Province in 1956, Kuttanad was part of the state of Travancore. Compared to Malabar and Cochin, land tenure legislations in Travancore had been more radical. When Marthanda Varma acceded to the throne of Travancore in 1729, the king’s authority was so nominal that the Ettuveettil Pillamar and the Madampimar were more or less independent rulers of their own estates. Marthanda Varma successfully defeated those chieftens and in the process of the conquests the state asserted its sovereignty by annexing the territories belonging to the chieftens and converted almost all of such lands into state owned lands. By the close of the 18 th century the annexations were completed and nearly half of the total cultivated land in Travancore came under the state ownership. During the early decades of the nineteenth century most of the arable lands in Kuttanad were held by Brahmin families (Brahmaswoms), temple authorities (Devaswoms) and a few Nair chief tens (Madampimar). They leased out a major portion of the land in their possessions to ryots belonging to upper caste Hindu and Syrian Christian Communities. A royal edict promulgated instated that the tenant should pay the jenmi (land owner) his usual dues and as long as the dues are paid, the tenant remains in possession and enjoyment 31 CPI (Mb Central Committee Resolution (1968): Tasks on the Trade Union Front, p. 32 Oommen T K (1975): Agrarian Legislations and Movements as Sources of change The case of Kerala,
