200 years later, Nangeli’s sacrifice is losing significance and is now

Nangeli was a woman from Travancore who made her mark in the history books as the woman who had cut her breasts off in order to protest against an inhuman tax that was imposed at the time.

There are a number of history books that speak about the caste oppression and the women and men who fought together for spreading justice in the state of Kerala. Yet the story that stands out is that of a woman’s protest that has almost disappeared from the cumulative memory of the State.

Around 200 years ago, in Cherthala ( a small town in Alappuzha ) lived a woman who went by the name Nangeli. She got her name written in the history books because of her sacrifice where she had cut her breasts off just so that she could protest against the inhuman breast tax ( known as mulakkaram locally ) that had been imposed in the former kingdom of Travancore.

Caste oppression

During this time, the enslavement of the lower castes was made certain by the Kings by levying heavy taxes on them. They made use of some of the worst taxes that anybody could have ever imposed in order to fill their bags with generational wealth. Other than the tax that was imposed on commodities like crops and land, farmers and villagers had to even pay taxes for simple things like, the freedom for women to cover their breasts, the freedom for men to grow a moustache, and even heavy taxes were levied on people who wish to wear any kind of jewellery.

These heavy taxes were put in place simply to make sure that the peasants of the lower castes would be in debt eternally, while people who belonged to the upper castes thrived. Nangeli belonged to a really poor Ezhava family from Cherthala who were indebted to the rulers because they were not able to pay the heavy and rather unethical taxes.

According to the legend, one day the parvathiyar (tax collector) visited her house and ordered that she pay her due tax. This made Nangeli do the unthinkable and cut off her breasts and handed them over on a plantain leaf to the parvathiyar. This extreme step shocked the tax collector who fled in fear, while Nangeli slowly bled to her death right at her doorstep.

When her husband Chirukandan got back home, he was shocked to find his wife mutilated and lying dead at their door step. The legend says that out of extreme grief he too jumped into her funeral pyre.

This event had taken place in the year 1803 and resulted in a lot of anger among the locals and people around, eventually in 1812, the practice of collecting breast tax was finally put to an end. Nangeli’s story has also been hinted at in the popular book ‘Oru Desathinte Katha, Kayarinteyum’, by Mr. Sugathan.

After Nangeli’s sacrifice finally ended this extreme form of caste oppression, the land where she belonged came to be called mulachiparambu – the land where the woman of breasts lived. Nangeli’s story also stands out for the fact that it is the first documented case of a man committing sati.

Several generations of political leaders like K.R. Gowri Amma and C. Kesavan who had grown up learning about Nangeli’s protest against the ruthless leaders of the time, and the significance it has in the history of Kerala, have honoured her by mentioning her in their autobiographies.

Unique resistance

Nangeli’s story summarises the struggles and resistance that the people of the lower castes had to face against a ruling Brahmanical patriarchy at the time. To avoid getting lost in time, this famous legend of Nangeli mutilating her own breasts to fight against oppression has been passed down through generations.

Nowadays, however, her tale only remains in the memories of a few researchers and old-timers. There are neither any books talking about her courage nor memorials to immortalise her name.

This could be because of embarrassment, as the name mulachiparambu has also been covered up. In present times, the plot of Cherthala has been divided among several owners, near the SNDP office at Manorama Junction in Cherthala.

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