Breast Tax: One Of The Most Cruel Things Ever In The History Of India

What’s the most ridiculous thing you have heard of that happened in India’s history? If you can’t think of one right now, let me suggest by saying: breast tax.

Yes, you heard it right, the tax was real and it was one of the ugliest things that came along with the caste system in the early 19th century in India. It was used in the erstwhile State of Travancore, which was one of the 550 princely states existing when the British were ruling the country. Women of lower castes weren’t allowed to cover their breasts and if they did, they were taxed.

Royal officials would go to each home to collect this tax from any lower caste woman that had passed puberty. The tax collector determined the amount based on the size of the breasts by touching them with bare hands.

This tax was created with the sole purpose of humiliating lower caste residents. Upper-class women didn’t fall under these restrictions of this tax and were allowed to cover their breasts. At the time, the social status of a person was determined by their caste, which required a clear identification in correspondence with how they dressed.

According to associate professor Dr. Sheeba KM, the breast tax was meant for nothing but maintain the caste structure. Clothing was then seen as a sign of prosperity and wealth, lower-caste and poor people weren’t entitle to it.

A book named “Native Life in Travancore” listed nearly 110 extra taxes that the princely state imposed on lower-caste people only to keep them at the lowest rung of the ladder while letting upper casts thrive. The author says the breast tax was among the worst.

The lower castes stood up for themselves

It wasn’t until 1859 that the discontent against this injustice was overload when two lower-caste people got stripped in public because they wore upper body clothes. They were hung on a tree as a lesson for everyone.

At the time, a woman named Nangeli decided that “Enough is enough,” and attempted to stop the injustice for good. She belonged to the Ezhava caste, living in Kerala where people suffered from the heinous tax.

When the tax collector got to her house, she didn’t hand in the money but cut off her breasts instead. She placed it on a plantain leaf and present it to him. She suffered from excessive bleeding and died that day.

But her death ignited the rage in people, eventually resulting in huge protests against the king. In 1924, fearing for his life and the Madras presidency pressure, the kind allowed all women to wear upper body clothes.

The sacrifice of Nangeli helped put a long-lasting heinous tradition to an end. The place where she cut off her breasts is called Mulachiparambu.

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