Mulakaram or breast tax.
A tax to be paid by Dalit women in Travancore in 1800s‚ depending on the size of their breasts.

Nangeli was a dalit woman who lived in the early 19th century
at Cherthala in the erstwhile princely state of Travancore in India.

She questioned the breast tax system existed during that time‚ by which women of lower caste required to pay tax to cover their bosom in public. She refused to uncover her bosom and pay tax. When the pravathiyar (village officer) of Travancore asked her to pay tax‚ she chopped off her breasts and presented them in a plantain leaf to him.She died the same day due to loss of blood. Her husband jumped into her pyre and committed suicide. Following the death of Nangeli‚ the breast tax system was annulled in Travancore. The place she lived came to be known later as Mulachiparambu (meaning land of
the breasted woman).

Mithun Dani
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