Srinivasa Aiyangar, J.

1. This is an appeal by defendants 23 to 31 and the question for decision is whether their mortgage lien has priority over that of the plaintiff.

2. On the 8th July 1882 the then Rajah of Karvetnagar and his son Rajah Bomma Raja Bahadur mortgaged to one Subbamma four villages belonging to them to secure the repayment of Rs. 25,000 borrowed by them from her, and interest thereon at 9 per cent per annum. They agreed to pay interest every year and interest on overdue interest at the same rate and to pay the principal on demand.

3. On the 15th December 1888 Rajah Bomma Raja Bahadur who had become the Rajah on his fatherss death mortgaged to Subbamma the same four villages and two others in addition, to secure the sum of Rs. 37,791 then due on the previous mortgage and agreed to pay interest at the reduced rate of 6 per cent per annum for the future and to pay the principal on the 30th December 1893. The plaintiff is the assignee of the mortgage.

4. In the meantime on the 24th September 1887, the same mortgagor had mortgaged three of the four villages comprised in the first mortgage to the ancestor of defendants 23 to 31 to secure a sum of Rs. 18,336-6-6 and i