(1) This Act may be called the Mappilla Succession Act, 1918.

(2) Local extent. It extends to the whole of the 4[State of Tamil Nadu].

(3) Persons to whom this Act is applicable. It applies to Mappillas domiciled in the 4[State of Tamil Nadu] who are governed by the Marumakkattayam or the Aliyasantana Law of Inheritance, and also, in respect of immovable property situated within the 5[State of Tamil Nadu], to Mappillas domiciled outside the 6[said State] who are so governed.

A person is considered to the intestate in respect of all property of which he has not made a testamentary disposition capable of taking effect.

Explanation. Property in this section does not include tarwad property unless the person dying intestate was exclusively entitled to it.

Such property shall, notwithstanding any custom to the contrary, devolve upon his heirs in the order and according to the rules of Muhammadan Law.

1. Received the assent of the Governor on the 3rd May, 1918 and that of the Governor-General on the 25th May, 1918; the assent of the Governor-General was first published in the Fort St. George Gazette of the 11th June, 1918

2. These words were substituted for the word Madras by the Tamil Nadu Adaptation of Laws Order, 1869, as amended by the Tamil Nadu Adaptation of Laws (Second Amendment) Order, 1969, which came into force on the 14th January, 1969.

3. For Statement of Objects and Reasons, see Fort St. George Gazette, dated the 21st March, 1916, pp. 497-498, which was withdrawn; see p. 379 of ibid, dated the 27th February, 1817, and ibid, dated the 10th April, 1917, p. 526 for the Bill as amended. For Proceedings in Council, see ibid, dated the 26th March, 1918, pp. 119-120, and ibid, dated the 11th June, 1918, pp. 433-434. This Act was extended to the merged State of Pudukkottai by section 3 of, and the First Schedule to the Tamil Nadu Merged States (Laws) Act, 1949 (Tamil Nadu Act XXXV of 1949). This Act was extended to the Kanyakumari district and the Shencottah taluk of the Tirunelveli district by section 3 of, and the First Schedule to, the Tamil Nadu (Transferred Territory) Extension of Laws Act, 1960 (Tamil Nadu Act 23 of 1960), which came into force on the 1st April, 1961 repealing tbs corresponding law in force in that territory.

4. This expression was substituted for the expression Presidency of Madras by the Tamil Nadu Adaptation of Laws Order, 1970, which was deemed to have come into force on the 14th January, 1969.

5. This expression was substituted for the expression Madras Presidency by ibid.

6. These words were substituted for the words said Presidency by paragraph 4 of, and the Schedule to, ibid.