Is Nangeli's Story Fictitious?

There is no mention about tax in the Hindu scriptures. But when I searched on the internet that if there is a mention about tax in other religions, I found a verse of Bible as shown below,
"Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honour to whom honour is owed. (Romans 13:7)"
There are also other verses about tax in the Bible. Similarly, there is a mention about Jizya in Hadith. In the Hadith, Jizya is mentioned as a tax that should be collected from free non-Muslims, that is the people who don't worship Allah alone. Traditionally, there were four major forms of taxation levied in Muslim societies: Kharaj or land taxation, Jizya or head tax, Fai or levy on war booty and Zakat, a form of wealth tax. 

In the 19th century, India was under the British rule. Nangeli is believed to be one of the low caste women of this period who lived in Travancore. But Nangeli is a Nambudiri or Malayali Brahmin name, the meaning of which is not clear. In the Cochin Law Reports, one of the names I read was Smt.Nangeli Antharjanam. Antharjanam is the title used by Nambudiri or Malayali Brahmin women. Among the upper castes Brahmin was the highest. In those days, lower castes and upper castes had a different set of names. The names of upper castes were not found in lower castes and vice-versa.  According to Nangeli's story, the people of lower Hindu castes were not allowed to wear upper garments and they were forced to pay taxes for some of their body parts by the Hindu rulers. Breast tax was paid by women between the ages of 16 and 35 and head tax was paid by able-bodied men. The collectors of such taxes used to visit the houses of the people who were obliged to pay it. Once, when the tax collector went to Nangeli's house to collect the breast tax, Nangeli couldn't bear the insult of paying the tax of her body part anymore and instead of paying the tax she cut off her breasts and gave it to the tax collector and requested him to give her permission to cover the upper part of her body and died on the spot. 

Women in Buddhist Kerala

The Nangeli's story says that in ancient Kerala only women of lower castes were not allowed to cover the upper part of their body. This is a fallacy. The Rigveda is the oldest religious text in the world. Rigvedic people had three kinds of garments Uttariya (upper garment), Antariya (lower garment) and Nivi (under-garment). They wore cotton, woollen and silken clothes. Clothes of men and women did not differ much. Clothes were dyed madder or indigo or juice of Lodhra flowers. Clothes of the rich were embroidered with gold thread. Both men and women wore necklaces, earrings, bracelets and anklets. 
Though Kerala consisted of only Hindu kingdoms at the time of the Mahabharata, somehow it later became a Buddhist region. According to the rules of the sect or branch of Buddhism which was followed in Kerala, both men and women, of all castes, were not allowed to wear upper garments. Because those who wore upper garments were considered bad charactered. This same rule was followed in Sri Lanka too. To expel the Buddhist monks from Kerala, a ritual called Bharanippāttu was created. It was observed in the month of Meena on the day ruled by the star Bharani, according to Malayalam calendar. Those who observed the ritual on that day, used to travel to the Temple on foot and on the way they used to sing the songs which were full of abusive words. As the Buddhist monks couldn't bear this ritual, they left Kerala forever and slowly Kerala became a Hindu region again. 
Even though Buddhism ended in Kerala, most of the women in all castes accepted the old way of dressing in that period. It is said that loose-women of those days used to wear upper garments and that's why women of good families never preferred to wear the upper garments. People in those days also had a lot of superstitious beliefs. This tradition was followed for centuries. 

Education at the time of British rule

On March 1835, English was declared as the official language of India. Modern education was introduced in Malabar and Travancore by 1850s. A school in Malabar followed purely British syllabus. In upper castes, only boys were allowed to attend school. Those men who obtained the modern education got government jobs with good salaries. As a part of their job, they also got the opportunity to visit other parts of South Asia. Knowing about other places and learning the lifestyles of the inhabitants there might have made the upper caste Keralite Hindus to give up their superstitious beliefs. Perhaps this would be the reason for the change that happened in the way of dressing of women in that period. There were two types of blouses in that era. Jambar, a long blouse and Rowka, a short blouse. 
But, the people of lower castes used to work in the factories run by the British rulers. Because of which middle class families began to form in their caste. In 'Islamic Reform and Colonial Discourse on Modernity in India' written by Jose Abraham, it is stated that, "The British government never attempted to make education affordable to everyone. Since a large majority of people could not afford school fees, owing to the absence of free schooling, only a limited number of people individuals could pursue modern education in Malabar." But it is said that the people of the lower castes who had converted into Christianity were given a modern education in the schools run by Christian missionaries. The Gospel message that Protestant missionaries had preached to the lower castes and the education that they had imparted to them, attracted many to receive Christianity. 13,763 persons of the Malabar district, described as Mussulamans, and locally known as Nazranis, were classed amongst Roman Catholics. This set of Christians was found in Southern extremities of Malabar. The great bulk of them resided in the States Cochin and Travancore. 
It took a long time for the financial status of the lower castes to become equal to that of the upper caste. In the previous blog, there is a detail of 'Native life of Travancore,' written by Samuel Mateer in 1883, that the Roman Catholic fisherwomen, instead of jackets, used to tie a long a cloth across the chest. So, the way of dressing was according to family income in every community and there were not separate rules on the way of dressing for each Hindu caste in Kerala. 
In '“A” Journey from Madras Through the Countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar' written by Francis Hamilton, it is stated that, "In Hyder's time there was a great exportation of cloth to Calicut: but the troubles in Malabar have put an end to this branch of commerce. The accompanying price current of the different kinds of cloth made in Bangalore is only applicable to those made for common sale. Persons who wish for particularly fine goods may, by commissioning them, have them made at four times the highest price or at any intermediate value." 

Taxes of British Kenya 

According to Nangeli's story the head tax and breast tax were used to be collected by the Hindu rulers. 'Comparative Religion' written by Jacob Kattackal is available in snippet preview in Google books. In that book, I found a sentence as follows, "Then a special proclamation from the British Resident exempted the Christians from giving the 'head tax and breast tax'." This proves that the taxes of the body parts were not managed by the Hindu rulers and it was not them who imposed it on the poor people of Malabar and Travancore. 
When Kenya was under the British rule, there were two types of taxes. The poll tax, which amounted to 12 shillings per year and breast tax (Igooti Ria Nyondo) another twelve shillings per year. Every man had to pay breast tax for each grown up girl in his family and poll tax on each of his wives. 
In 1900s, the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher attempted to introduce Head tax in Great Britain. A Head tax is fixed payment (say $ 2000 per year) that consumers have to pay as long as they have a head. It is not easy for someone to change the fact that he or she has a head, and so the tax cannot be avoided by changes in behaviour and thus it was truly a lump sum tax without substitution effects. 

Nangeli's story seems to be fictitious. Nangeli is mentioned as a low caste woman, but her name is a Brahmin name, in those days the way of dressing of all Hindu castes was almost same and the taxes of British Kenya. These facts make it difficult to believe that Nangeli's story is true. 



Reference: The Journey of Survivors: 70,000-Year History of Indian Sub-Continent by Subhrashis Adhikari, Social and physical anthropologies of Nayadis of Malabar, Microeconomics: An Intuitive Approach by Thomas Nechyba, Impossible Picturesqueness: Edward Lear's Indian Watercolours, 1873-1875 by Vidya Dehejia, Edward Lear, Allen Staley, The Spirituality of Basic Ecclesial Communities in the Socio-religious Context of Trivandrum/Kerala, India by Selvister Ponnumuthan, The Missionary Herald: Containing Intelligence, at Large, of the Proceedings and Operations of the Baptist Missionary Society by G. Wightman, 1873, History of Resistance in Kenya by Maina WA Kinyatti, A Companion to Muslim Ethics by Amyn Sajoo, Wings Of Rhapsody by Seema K Jayaraman, Swami Vivekananda: A Contemporary Reader edited by Makarand R. Paranjape, Land and people of Indian states and union territories : (in 36 volumes). 14. Kerala edited by S. C. Bhatt and Gopal K. Bhargava, UGC NET/JRF/SET/ History (Paper II and III) by Vinay Gupta.