show that stamps and princes often replaced each other in rapid succession. Princes are notorious for removing their rivals including fathers and brothers -- were the Cochin Maharajas perhaps an unusually murderous lot? On the contrary, many were great scholars and patrons of the arts. The causes lie, in two special features of the social and caste structure of Kerala (Southwest India). First, the matrilineal system called in Malayalam: Marumakkatayam, literally "descent through sister's children." According to this hereditary system, children belong to the same caste as their mother, not their father. The household, however, is managed by the eldest male member which explains the rapid succession especially in large joined families. This was especially convenient if the first system was combined with the second, i.e., hypergamy or a male marrying a woman of lower caste. Brahmins practised the second, but not the first; but both were adopted by other high castes in the state, including the Nayars and the Kshatriyas or royal families. Since many members of these families were already Sanskrit scholars and being Maharaja was only a small part of their life, it is not surprising that they became generous patrons of literature, arts and sciences when they assumed the title.

See:     Iyer, L.K.Anantha Krishna (1912), The Cochin Tribes and Castes, Vol.II, Madras: Higginbotham and London: Luzac.
             Kunjunni Raja, K. (1980), The Contribution of Kerala to Sanskrit Literature, Madras: The University.

The contribution of Cochin to philately is a magnificant portrait gallery of Indian Maharajas, printed in wonderful colors, some lithographed, others beautifully engraved. Each stamp carries in its corners the four royal emblems of the first issue.