BOOK REVIEW 77 over a distance, and the structural distance between castes was translatable into spatial distance, cclt was possible to measure the social status of a caste by finding out how closely it was entitled to approach the Nambudiris.}?2 It is,, however, paradoxical that caste rigidity and the consideration of pollution and purity did not come in the wav of sexual relationships between Nambudiris with Nayar women.8 The land system in Kerala until recently reflected the dominance of the upper castes. By mid-nineteenth 'century the Government of Travancore had about 80 per cent of the cultivated land and the whole of waste land as a result of its policy of annexing the lands of local chieftains. The remaining land was in the possession of a few landlords, mainly Brahmans, Brahman temples and madampis (descendants of local chieftains) who either had absolute right on it {janmom} or paid a light tax to the government (rajabhogam)/ Thus the majority of the landholders had the land on government tenure. Nambudiris and Nayars exercised great control over land,, Nambudiris being the biggest landlords and Nayars the largest body of landholders. Marriage and Family This land system was reinforced by property rights which were couched in the family system and land possession based on caste. On the family side, Nambudiris practised patiiliny and primogeniture, with only the eldest male member marrying formally in his own caste while others had informal sexual relationships with Nayar women. Primogeniture ensured Nambudiris5 property rights within the familv. It is, however, paradoxical that children of the union of Nambudiris with Nayar women could not have any claim on their paternal properties. They remained the liability of the matrilineal joint families and dismally even perhaps, polluted their fathers. Nayars (and Ezhavas) followed the matrilineal system of inheritance and matrilocal system of residence based on the joint family (taravad). An interesting feature of the marriage system among the Nayars was fraternal polyandry which existed until recently. Under this, the wife of one brother was treated as wife of all brothers and even of maternal cousins. Marriage system in Nayar taravads was too simple, but crude and lax. Marriage was contracted and could be begun or broken with least formality, and was known as sambandham. A Nayar woman could have a number of husbands at the same time, but none could have any right over her, or her children. Jeffrey holds the view that Nayars remained a dominant caste until the turn of the nineteenth century in as much as in most villages of Travancore they were the chief landholders; they held slaves; in the administration of Travancore they held more than 60 per cent of the posts; their hypergamous matrilineal system of marriage meant that the wives of the Maharajas of Travancore and