Socio-cultural Processes and Livelihood Patterns at Tirurangadi - CDS

the Samuthiri and the East India Company that the British will be the main procurers of
commodities from the area, and the Samuthiri will give up the collection of various
duties. (Logan 1879; 190-2) The abolition of chungams in various places facilitated the
movement of goods, and at the same time, British decided on the nature of the goods to
be bought. For example, the British demand for coir products resulted in the increase of
coconut cultivation and manufacture of coir along kadalundi river basin, but the British
did not show the same interest in the case of pepper and ginger, which were the prime
export commodities in the earlier period, and we find a decline of cultivation of pepper
and ginger. Calicut was famous for its export of calico and we have seen the
establishment of the saliya therus in Neduva, but the British were no longer interested in
clothes being brought to Calicut as they could be procured directly from Tamil nadu, and
the saliya therus began to decline. The Chettiars who traded in cloth became petty traders
who met the needs of local consumption. Intermediate crops like gingelly and chama
declined, possibly because the entire available paramba lands were being utilized for
Coconut and areca, and new crops like tapioca were introduced. An interesting feature
was the expansion of plantain cultivation, which probably indicated a change in the food
consumption habits, and had ecological implications as well. Rubber, which was
introduced into during early twentieth century never found favor with the farmers of the
region, probably because of the nature of the terrain. Another new species introduced was
cashew, which was planted on the rocky areas, but never on a large scale.
All this shows that with the exception of coconut, areca and betel vines to a certain
extent, no other ‘cash crop’ was introduced into the region on any substantial scale. No
plantation crop was ever introduced. Thus apart from paddy, any possibility of an
economic regeneration depended on the coconut gardens of the area. There were of
course, a large chunk of forest wood and medicinal plants, but they were waste, except as
timber, from the point of view of the British commercial calculations, and they began to