Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 2.djvu/526

JEW have to pay him the tolls and taxes of the country, no matter in what part of the country they are living; these privileges I give to Joseph Raban and his descendants, be they males or females, as long as any one of them is alive, and the sun and moon shine on the earth; for this reason I have the same engraved on a copper-plate as an everlasting remembrance. Witnesses are the Kings of Travancore, Berkenkore, Sammorin, Arangolla, Palcatchery, Collastry, and Corambenaddo; written by the secretary Kellapen. "'The aforesaid copper-plate is written in the old broken Northern Tamil language, but with different kinds of characters, viz., Sanskrit and Tamil, and is now read and translated by a heathen scribe named Callutil Atsja, who was born at Calicut, and who, during the war, fled from that place, and stays at present on the hills. "'When these translations are compared with one another, it will be observed at once that, in the first, the privileges are granted to the Jew Joseph Rabban, and to the 72 Jewish families, whereas, in the second, no trace is found of the word Jew; and Joseph Rabban is, in the third, not called a Jew, but the minister of the king, although he may be taken for a Jew from the context in the course of the translation, for he is there appointed as Head of all the other Jews to the number of 72 houses. It is equally certain that the name of Rabaan is not exclusively proper to the Jews only. Further-more, the first and last translations grant the above-mentioned privileges not only to Joseph Rabaan, but also to the 72 Jewish families, whereas, according to the second translation, the same are given to Joseph Rabaan, his family and offspring only. The second translation, besides, does not at all mention the freedom granted, and the consent to spread the Jewish religion among