1. These appeals raise a common question. That question relates to the extent of the property that attracts estate duty on the death of a Sthanamdar.

2. The contention of the Department is that estate duty is payable on the entire property of the Sthanam concerned. That contention has been accepted in the judgment under appeal in Writ Appeal No. 276 of 1965. It has been rejected in the judgments under appeal in Writ Appeal Nos. 119, 174, 179 and 338 of 1965.

3. The history and legal incidents of the Sthanams have been the subject of a summary by the Supreme Court in Kochunni v. States of Madras and Kerala AIR. 1960 SC. 1080. That summary reads as follows:

"The origin of the sthanam is lost in antiquity. It primarily means a dignity and denotes the status of the senior Raja in a Malabar Kovilgom or palace. It is surmised that sthanams were also created by the Rajas by giving certain properties to military chieftains and public officers and also by tarwads creating them and allocating certain properties for their maintenance. Most of the incidents of a Sthanam are well settled. Usually the senior-most male member of the family and occasionally a female member attains a Sthan