Brief notes on the Varieties of Kanam

There are numerous varieties of Kanam tenure, some of which may have gone into desuetude. The proceedings of the court of Sudder Adalat at Madras (Chennai) dated 5th August 1856 notices about 24 tenures including Janmam Kanam. Justice Kunhuraman Nayar says, in Travancore there were more than 100 tenures in use to designate tenures subordinate to Janmam. We shall discuss some of the important varieties.

KettiadakkamKanam:

It is species of Kanam mortgage in which the interest upon the sum advanced absorbs the whole rent of the land. It does not amount to an otti in which the interest on the sum borrowed wipes out the whole of Janmi’s share of the produce and all mortgagees do not hold the right of pre-emption.

Kanam Puramkadam or Pusa Vaippa:

It is the further loan which the Kanakkar makes to the Kanam mortgagor on the security of the land already demised to him on Kanam. The Janmi can raise still another loan from a third party, if he grants a second Kanam on the same property to him and the latter will be entitled to possession on paying off the Kanam amount due to the first Kanakkar.

Kuzhikanam:

It is described in the Sudder Court proceedings as the mortgage of waste land with a view to its being planted. In the event of the tenant failing to reclaim the land, plant trees, or otherwise fulfill the conditions of the deed, or deny the landlord’s title he may be dispossessed by the landlord before the expiration of the period specified. Barring this, there is no difference between this tenure and Kanam.

Kanam Kuzhikanam:

It is a mortgage of waste land for improvement, the landlord receiving some pecuniary consideration. As the tenant possesses a pecuniary interest in the land, he cannot be dispossessed for neglect to improve it.

Kutti Kanam:

It is a mortgage of forest and, the mortgagee felling timber and paying a fee on each stump or tree to the landlord.

Melkanam: If the tenant is not prepared to make an advance, the landlord will have recourse to a stranger in whose favour he will execute a Melkanam. So, it is a Kanam given by the Janmi to a third party, with power to redeem an outstanding Kanam. It is created by a document known as “Melcharth” and is treated as a mortgage. It operates for 12 years from the date of the execution of the melcharth and not for 12 years from the date of redemption of the earlier Kanam.

Otti is described as a usufructuary mortgage; the full value of the land being advanced. The entire produce of the land goes to the mortgagee for interest, the landlord merely retaining the proprietary title and the right to redeem. In the Sudder Court Proceedings of 5th August 1856, it is stated that where no period is stipulated, the landlord may pay off the mortgage at any time but it has since been decided that it cannot be redeemed before 12 years.

In Kumini Amma versus Parkam Kulseri, it is observed that an Otti differs from a Kanam only in two respects. “First in the right of pre-emption, which the Ottidar possesses in case the Janmi wished to sell the premises and secondly, in the amount secured which is generally so large as practically to absorb the whole rent.”

By denial of Janmi’s title the right to retain possession for 12 years is forfeited. A Kanam free from payment of rent is not an Otti. It goes under different names in different parts of Kerala. It is called Veppu in Palghat and Palisamadakkam in Walluvanad. Other names are Vari madakkam. Nir Ozhikka Otti, Nir Palisa.

Peruartham:

It approximates to Otti and it is a transaction under which the land is mortgaged for its full value and can only be redeemed on payment of the full market value at the time of the redemption, the tenant having the benefit of any rise in value. It is also known as Alukiya Attiper.

Kaividuga Otti:

The chief incident of this is that it is redeemable on payment of the amount originally advanced.

Ottikum Puram:

It is a charge for further advance made by the Ottidar which the mortgager undertakes to pay along with the amount. It bears the same relation to Otti as Puramkanam to Kanam.

Attiper: It is the transfer of the entire proprietary right of Janmi.