> This was because of the monetary denomination of the Indian rupee at the time, where 16 Annas made a Rupee, 12 Kanis made an Anna and 4 Dammidies made a Kani.
I had a vague idea about Annas and never knew about the other two, but I realize have encountered shadows of all of these growing up.
My vague understanding of annas came from 25 paisa and 50 paisa coins being a thing, and being called நாலணா (4 annas) and எட்டணா (8 annas).
Kani I assume is காணி, and finally I understand what Bharathiyar was asking for when he asked "காணி நிலம் வேண்டும்" ("my wish is for meagre land worth a mere Kani").
Dammidi must be தம்படி, and survives mostly as an insult: "தம்படி பெறாது" = "this thing is not even worth a Dammidi".
I had a vague idea about Annas and never knew about the other two, but I realize have encountered shadows of all of these growing up.
My vague understanding of annas came from 25 paisa and 50 paisa coins being a thing, and being called நாலணா (4 annas) and எட்டணா (8 annas).
Kani I assume is காணி, and finally I understand what Bharathiyar was asking for when he asked "காணி நிலம் வேண்டும்" ("my wish is for meagre land worth a mere Kani").
Dammidi must be தம்படி, and survives mostly as an insult: "தம்படி பெறாது" = "this thing is not even worth a Dammidi".