This large collection belongs to Nataraj Servai, who belongs to a lineage of headmen of the Servai (Agamudayar) caste in Adalai. The documents were handed down to him by his father who held them from his own father and grandfather father . These documents cover different areas such as that of dispute settlement handled by the family men in their capacity both as traditional village headmen (Ur Nattanmai) and as officially appointed presidents of the Village Panchayat Court (VPC) of Adalai. These documents shed light on the interaction and negotiation between village level judiciary practices and state intervention. A number of documents deal specifically with disputes between local drama companies and the parents of their young recruits. Another set of documents deal with financial and agrarian transactions.
277 handwritten and printed paper documents, 1 notebook.
