19th-century stamp paper with EIC seal found in Palani shop
DINDIGUL: A 19th-century stamp paper belonging to the East India Company was found by a shopkeeper as she was packing her wares ahead of an eviction drive in Palani town.
According to sources, V Meena (55), owned a fancy shop at Palani Adivaram for the past several years. Last month, revenue officials issued eviction notices to shops near Palani Hill, following which Meena approached the Madras High Court and obtained a stay order. When she realised that the shop could be evicted after some weeks, she decided to move to another location.
Meena collected all the wares, and during segregation, found a trunk box belonging to her father. As it had not been opened for years, she decided to break it open and found some old documents and an ‘unusual’ paper with two seals of the East India Company (EIC).
Speaking to TNIE, Archaeologist Narayana Moorthy said, "The stamp paper dates back to the 19th century. It was written by Chinnoppalamma, the wife of Velayudam Chinna Naicken, the last Zamindar of Palani-Balasamudram. Reportedly, Naicken was taken to a prison in Chennai where he died under mysterious circumstances.
Naicken’s wife was given 30 gold coins per month for her expenses. To maintain the large farmlands of the Zamindar, she nominated 23 managers. The documents contain the names of the managers, along with their caste and communities. There are 31 lines in the documents, and it contains the signature of the Zamindar's wife.
Besides, there are two seals of the EIC. One seal contains the price of the stamp paper — two annas (the word 'two annas' is written in four languages — Tamil, English, Urdu and Telugu). The other seal contains the seal of the treasury that sold the paper. Since all transactions were carried out by the treasury of the EIC. The entire letter is written in Tamil and the date of the stamp paper is mentioned as February 21, 1818.”