South Indian Village System

mitrasias.com/south-indian-village-system

November 3,
2018

The South Indian society during and after the Chola period ushered in a new social
formation under the Vijayanagar-Nayaka rule.

An intensive and comparative study made between Brahmadeya villages and the non-
Brahmadeya villages revealed two different patterns; individual holding in the former
and communal holding in the latter. This was in the earlier period.

But in the later Chola period, individual land holdings were prevalent in non-Brahmadeya
villages also. Since the latter type of villages formed the overwhelming majority, the
relations in those villages, could be regarded as the basic determinant of social relations
of the day.

The village community was not a self-sufficient unitary place as is usually supposed; but
rather it depended on a larger area.

A statistical analysis of personal names, together with the titles and status terms, seems
to indicate the existence of the administrative system or bureaucracy maintained by the
central government. An “analysis of the revenue terms in two Mandalas shows
uniformity of terms and also creation of Valanadus and also systematic land survey,
indicative of a central controlling machinery and political integration that the Cholas
consciously tried to build up.”

The number of villages granted by rulers to Brahmins and temples was decisively in
minority.

Types of Villages

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Inscriptions on stones or copper-plates, which occur in substantial numbers, are the
basic source-material for the ancient and medieval history.

There are three long and continuous inscriptions in the Brihadisvara temple
in Thanjavur, which stated the revenue in paddy, which has to be measured by the
measure (marakkāl), and the gold and money, which had to be paid from the land paying
taxes. The land free from taxes included the village-site, the sacred temples, the ponds
and the burning ground.

The inscriptions also mention about the existence of threshing grounds and granaries as
tax-free land. From the amount of tax on paddy and the extent of taxable land one can
calculate the rate of taxation, which was more or less 100 kalam of paddy per vēli of land
– though a similar inscription in Gangaikondacholapuram gives a somewhat different
ratio, ranging from 16 to 92 kalam per vēli.

There was a usual hierarchy of officials in charge of provincial administration. The

governor of a province was advised and assisted by officers in charge of districts who
worked in close collaboration with local autonomous institutions, largely in an advisory
capacity. They were built on local relationship of caste, profession and religious
adherence. Frequent meetings or assemblies were essential to their functioning.

Assemblies were of many varieties and at many levels including that of merchant guilds,
craftsmen and artisans (such as weavers, oil mongers, etc), students, ascetics and
priests. There were assemblies of villagers and also of representatives of districts.

General meetings of the members of an assembly were held annually and more frequent
meetings of smaller assemblies were responsible for implementing policy. The smaller
groups were chosen by lot from amongst the eligible persons and worked in a manner
similar to the modern committees, each group having a separate function.

In the village the basic assembly was the sabha, which was concerned with all matters
relating to the village including endowments, irrigation, cultivated land, punishments of
crime, the keeping of a census and other necessary records. Village courts also dealt with
similar criminal cases.

At a higher level, in towns and districts, courts were presided over by governmental
officers with the king as the supreme arbiter of justice.

The sabha was a formal institution and worked closely with the urar, an informal
gathering of the entire village.

Above this was a district council which with the district administration called the nadu.
Villages which were populated entirely or highly by Brahmans have a good collection of
records about the functioning of such assemblies.

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Further north in the Deccan there was less autonomy in administrative institutions. In
the Chalukya domains, government officers were more involved in routine
administration, even at the village level.

Village assemblies did function but under the paternalistic eye of the officials. The role of
the headmen as the leader of the village was also of a more formal nature. From the
eighth century onwards some of the Deccan rulers adopted the decimal system of
administrative division, where group of ten villages or multiples of ten formed a district.

Land ownership rested with the king, who could make revenue grants to his officers and
land grants to Brahmans or else continue to have the land cultivated by small-scale
cultivators and landlords.

The Status of a village

The status of the village varied according to the tenures prevailing and could be one of
the three: the most frequent was the village with an inter caste population paying taxes
to the king in the form of land revenue; less frequent were the Brahmadeya villages were
the entire village were donated to a single Brahman or a group of Brahmans.

Associated with the Brahmadeya grants were the Agrahara grants, an entire village
settlements of Brahmans, the land being given as a grant. These were also exempted
from the tax but the Brahmans had to provide free education to the local people.

Finally, there was the Devadana (donated to the God) villages, which functioned more or
less in the same manner as the first category of villages except that the revenue from
these villages were donated to the temple authorities.

Functioning and Constitution of Assemblies:

The General Assemblies included most of the local residents and were of three
categories: the ur consisted of the tax paying residents of an ordinary village; the sabha
was restricted to the Brahmans of the village or else was found exclusively in villages
gifted to Brahmans; and finally, the nagaram was found more commonly in trade
centers.

In some villages the ur and the sabha were found together. Very large villages had two
urs if this was more convenient for their functioning.

The working of these assemblies differed according to local conditions. The ur was open
to all male adults of the village but in affect the older members took a more prominent
part, some of them forming a small executive body for routine matters.

The sabha had the same system and in addition had the power to constitute smaller
committees of any size from among its members.

The Chola administration was functioning on the principles of democracy and the
Panchayat system flourished during their reign. The Chola self government was built up
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on ‘general assemblies’ or ‘sabhas’ or ‘mahasabhas’ of the villages. All aspects of village
community life were administered by these general assemblies.

The mahasabhas encouraged and accepted endowments from public towards temple
functions and services and disposed services as per laid down procedure. In several
occasions they exercised their authority in selling the land portions under their
jurisdiction to individuals of various villages and towns.

They also ascertained the purchase and accepted endowments offered by public. The
mahasabha also accepted paddy grains or ghee as well as gold Kalanchu, accrued as
interest of the principal, in certain stipulated measurements. The sabha also accepted
gifts from royal king and his family members and the same was registered and
documented with care.

Uttaramerur Inscriptions

The village general assembly or mahasabha of Uttaramerur Chaturvedhi Mangalam, also

known as Vaikunta Perumal Temple, is the huge granite structure with sanctum
sanctorum. The Dravidian kind of vimanam adorns on top of the sanctum. The village
assembly appears to be the dynamic hub from 9th century A.D. to 11th century. The
present sanctum has no deity.

The inscription details the resolutions of the general assembly of Uttaramerur

Chaturvedhi Mangalam relating to the Royal orders of Parantaka Chola I on the
constitution of the sabha or mahasabha and the ‘Pot ticket election procedures’ to be
followed for the village general assembly or sabha of Uttaramerur Chaturvedhi
Mangalam.

The village general assembly met and resolved about the qualification for the members
of the Sabha, election procedures for the 30 wards of Uttaramerur Chaturvedhi
Mangalam.

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