1. The suit out of which this Letters Patent appeal arises was instituted by one of the junior members of a Malabar tarwad against their karnavan for maintenance. The 1st defendant, the karnavan died in the course of the suit and Defendants 2 to 5, the respondents before us, have been added as his legal representatives. The suit was to recover a money allowance from the 1st defendant personally and as karnavan of the tarwad. In defence it was pleaded that Ex. 1 was a bar to the plaintiffs claim. Ex. I is a karar dated 1886 between the then karnavan of the tarwad, Kunhi Thoppar, and the members mentioned in it according to which properties were allotted to various tavazhies for maintenance. The present plaintiffs are the descendants of one Ummathal, No. 4 in Ex. I. It is admitted that they were not born at the time of the karar and the records do not show that their mother was a party to it. The tarwad at that time consisted of 69 members of whom 38 were adults and the rest minors. No one represented the minors in the karar. At present the tarwad consists of about 364 members living in 10 or 12 different houses. The District Munsif and the Subordinate Judge, holding that the