106 however, sometimes gives them gifts of money, so that they can live better than the other nairs. The king’s heirs are his brothers or nephews, the sons of his sisters, because they are considered to be his true children, as they know who their mother is, and this is because, women in this kingdom offer their bodies very freely, and thus, the true stock of the king’s lineage in this country lies with women, and the first son that the oldest sister bears inherits the kingdom. And thus, brothers are all heirs of each other, and when there aren’t any, the nephews, sons of the oldest sister, inherit, and if such sisters should be childless, the kingdom has no heir and the king dies heirless, they (the sisters) hold a council and elect a relative of theirs as king, and should they not have any, they elect some other suitable man to be king, and this is why the kings of Malabar are always old. Their nieces or sisters, to whom the heir of the kingdom will be born, are greatly respected; carefully looked after and served upon, and they have their income to sustain themselves. And when one of them reaches the age of between twelve and fourteen, so that they know a man, they send for a young noble from outside the kingdom, who has been appointed for this, sending him money and gifts so that he will come and take the girl’s virginity. When he arrives, they make a great feast and hold ceremonies in his honour, as if he had come to be wed; and then he ties a small gold jewel around her neck, which she shall wear for the rest of her life, as a sign of the ceremony having been held for her, so that in the future she may do as she please, which she does not do prior to that moment. The young man takes full enjoyment of her over the course of several days and then returns to his native home; henceforth she can take any Brahmin she pleases, and as many as she pleases, and will bear their children. When one of these Malabar kings passes away, they burn his body in an open space with plenty of wood, sandalwood and aloes. When he
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