■論 文■

Nayaka Rule in the Tamil Country

during the Vijayanagar Period*
●

Noboru Karashima

Introduction
The first thing we notice when reading Vijayanagar Tamil inscriptions
of the 16th century is the frequent appearance of the nayakas in relation
to the tax remission and grants of villages to temples. Although the
nayakas do appear in 15th century inscriptions, local administration in
the Tamil country during and before the 15th century seems to have been
carried out by high ranking officers such as mahamandaresvaras,pradhanis
or their subordinates, adhikaris, as they appear more frequently in the ear-
lier inscriptions)) If we count the number of tax remissions or imposi-
tions made by the administrative authorities for all the period of the Vi-
jayanagar rule, this point will become clearer.2) During the 14th and
15th centuries, tax remissions or impositions were made mostly by the
king, pradhanis, and other high ranking officers, while the same work was
predominantly undertaken by nayakas during the 16th century and after.
The second thing is the distressed conditions of the people troubled
by the misbehaviour of adhikaris in their local administration during the
14th and 15th centuries. While collecting taxes working under the
mahamandaresvaras, dandanayakas or pradhanis, the adhikaris seem to have
oppressed the people by over-assessment and harsh collection of taxes or
by taking over the land on many pretexts or even coercively. Such tyran-
nical rule by the invading Vijayanagar armies during the 14th century
resulted in an open revolt by the direct producers in the agrarian society
* This is a slightly revised version of the paper presented at the seminar on the
state in pre-colonial South India held at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New
Delhi, 28th-30th March 1989.

60
against the Vijayanagar government in the second quarter of the 15th cen-
tury.3) Quite contrary to this, nayakas during the 16th century, who were
granted some specific territory (nayakkattanam) by the king for their own
management, controlled the people better once they established their own
power base in the locality.4)
The third thing is the development of handicraft industries such as
weaving and oil-pressing, and the consequent increase of power by the
artisans and merchants during the Vijayanagar period, particularly in
the 16th century. Nayakas encouraged them by granting them tax remis-
sions and protections.
The last thing is the sharp decrease in the appearance of nattavars in
16th century inscriptions. The same tendency is also found in the ap-
pearance of the taxes related to them such as nattu-viniyogam and nattu-
kanikkai. This indicates a decline in the power which nattavars had
retained until the 15th century as the corporate body of leading land-
holders.5)
From the above points, we are able to suggest that some change took
place in the Vijayanagar rule of the Tamil country towards the end of the
15th century in preparation for the emergence of a new socio-economic
setup under nayaka rule. The purpose of this paper is to throw light on
the historical significance of this nayaka rule by clarifying the change
outlined above and also by comparing nayaka rule with that of the Cola
kings.

1. Maladministration by adhikaris during the 14th and 15th cen-

turies

The inscriptions of Tiruchirappalli and Thanjavur Districts show that

three Vijayanagar governors ruled Colamandalam during the first half of
the 15th century. They were Periya Sirupparasar, Chaudappa and Siru-
parasara Vitthana in chronological order.6) Siruparasara Vitthana had
the title of mantri (minister). As to the period of their rule, the inscrip-
tions indicate that Periya Sirupparasar held office in 1426, Siruparasara
Vitthana in 1447 and Chaudappa in between. Judging from the above
dates, these governors seem to have been transferred frequently, as their
respective governorship in Colamandalam was rather short.7) As to
their deeds recorded in inscriptions, Periya Sirupparasar seems to have
taken measures to save the people of Tiruvarur-uchavadi from the op-
61
pression of adhikaris. Chaudappa was ordered by the king to grant a
village and some lands in another village to a sthanika of the Srirangam
temple, exempting them from all taxes. Siruparasara Vitthana remitted
the taxes of four villages in Tiruvarur- and Tiruchirappalli-uchavadis to
make food offerings to the deity of the Srirangam temple in the name
of several important personages including one of his predecessors and
himself.
Considering the deeds of these three governors and also the fact that
they were transferred rather frequently, we can conclude that they served
the state as important administrators.8)
The Tevur inscription,9) which refers to Periya Sirupparasar, affords
us the best example of the distressed conditions of the people oppressed
by the adhikaris who came to Tamil country and served as tax-collectors
under the governors or ministers. According to this incomplete inscrip-
tion, adhikaris imposed a poll tax on the people of Tiruvarur-uchavadi and
farmed out the region to some local magnates for the collection of this tax.
This farming out increased the quantum of the tax by competitive bidding
and the amount increased from 200 to 2000 panams within the space of
a year.
The anxiety wrought on the local populace by the farming or leasing
out of villages or estates is also clear from many other inscriptions of the
same period. There are six inscriptions dating to 1427 or 1428 from
Chingleput, North Arcot, South Arcot and Tiruchirappalli Districts,
which record the distressed conditions of the cultivators (kudigal) of some
temple lands and the measures taken by the king to save them. It is
stated in the inscriptions that cultivators and others of the temple land
were distressed greatly by the imposition of many taxes by adhikaris and
also by their taking over the temple land as kuttagai (lease). In response
to the appeal made by some temple representatives, the king assured them
that no more trouble should be caused by adhikaris and other government
officers.10)
Although the king tried to improve this situation of maladministration
by the officers of his government, an open revolt by the distressed people
against the government broke out in 1429, shortly after the six inscriptions
and Tevur inscription mentioned above. The revolts in South Arcot,
Tiruchirappalli and Thanjavur Districts are recorded in nine inscriptions
in the places where they occurred.11) It was direct producers such as
62
cultivators and artisans who rose in revolt. They came from the lower
section of the agrarian society and had organized themselves into two
supra-caste groups called Valangai and Idangai. They resolved not to
submit themselves to the oppression of the irajagarattar and kaniyalar,
but to defend the rights they had been enjoying. Irajagarattar referred
to ministers (pradhani) and other invading Vijayanagar officers, and kani-
yalar, Brahmana and Vellala landholders.
The tyrannical rule of Vijayanagar officers is clear from these inscrip-
tions, but more significance should be given to the mention of the Brah-
mana and Vellala kaniyalars in these inscriptions. They also are stated
to have colluded with the Vijayanagar officers in oppressing the people.
This clearly indicates the antagonism existing between the cultivators and
landholders. However, as the landholders were also oppressed by the
Vijayanagar officers, Valangai and Idangai groups succeeded in persuading
the landholders to take their side against the government in the later stage
of the revolts. But for the tyranny of the Vijayanagar invaders, the antag-
onism between the landholders and cultivators would not have become
as acute as seen in this incident, but the existence of the class antagonism
itself cannot be denied.
The precarious position of the landholders placed in between the govern-
ment and cultivators is also seen in the role and activities of the nattavars,
into which the landholders had organized themselves. The Tevur inscrip-
tion mentioned above records the order of Periya Sirupparasar given to the
nattavars of Tiruvarur-uchavadi that measures should be taken to save the
Valangai and Idangai people from the trouble given by adhikaris. Nat-
tavars of the 15th century often appear as protectors of the interests of the
local populace including cultivators and artisans. There are several
inscriptions in the upper valley of the Veller river, which record the as-
surance of the nayakas to the nattavars of Magadai-mandalam that the
burden of the heavy taxation on the people should be removed.'2) These
inscriptions indicate that the nattavars took a firm stance in defending
local interests against governmental oppression. During the 15th century
nayakas seem to have concerned themselves more with restoration of the
order which had been disturbed by the maladministration of adikharis.
In the middle valley of the Vellar river, nattavars in their local admin-
istration collaborated with the Tandirimars, a militant community led by
the Tamil chiefs called Kachchirayar, during the 15th century.13) The
63
Tandirimar also seem to have oppressed the cultivators and artisans in
collusion with the Vijayanagar officers.

2. Nayakas' management of their own territory during the 16th

century
In contrast to the three governors of Colamandalam in the 15th century,
who ruled only for short periods, we have for the 16th century evidence
of a family whose members ruled the same area for three generations so
far as we know. They were the members of a Brahmana family coming
from Karnataka and appearing in Srirangam inscriptions and others.14)
One inscription gives us their genealogy consisting of 18 members who
belong to five generations. Eight of them belonging to three generations
appear in inscriptions as the chief figure in the matter recorded there,
mostly the donation of land or remission of taxes. Many of them have
the title maharaja and three of them that of mahamandalesvara. How-
ever, two of them are stated to have had their own territory, nayakkat-
tanam, bestowed by the king, and granted some villages in it to the Sri-
rangam temple.
Besides these, we can ascertain the local establishment of their power
also from their activities such as purchasing lands from others in the local-
ity for granting them to temples, owning mandapams in some villages, etc.
One of them had an agent who worked for him in the middle Vellar valley,
and three of the members were given merit by their subordinates and the
nattavar of some region on the occasion of the latter's making a charity
to a temple. It is evident, therefore, that their rule which had a base
established in a locality differed greatly from that of their predecessors in
the 15th century who merely acted as important administrators of the
state.
Emergence of many nayakas during the 16th century can be easily veri-
fied by an examination of inscriptions. If we count the number of nayakas
appearing in inscriptions by checking them with the Annual Report on
Epigraphy, we find almost two hundred names for the North and South
Arcot Districts alone,15) even though some scholars believe that there
were much less number of nayakas in the whole Tamil country during the
Vijayanagar period.1-6)
Besides the Brahmana family noted above, 16th century inscriptions
reveal many examples of nayaka families who maintained power in a cer-
64
taro locality for a number of generations. Typical examples are the two
families who came to be known later as Gingee Nayakas and Madurai
Nayakas respectively. In the 16th century Srirangam inscriptions alone,
three members belonging to different generations of Madurai Nayakas
appear in relation to village grants or tax remission.17) In the inscriptions
from South Arcot District, we find many nayakas who belonged to the
family of Gingee Nayakas, though it is difficult to find a proper position
in the genealogy for all of them.18)
Along with the emergence of the nayakas or the increase of their num-
ber during the 16th century, significance should be given to the prevalence
of nayakkattanam, clear cut territory granted by the king to nayakas for
their own management. There are many inscriptions which refer to a
nayakkattanam as the nayaka's own territory (sirmai) granted by king so
and so. Though their emergence can be traced back to the 15th century,
they only became prominent during the 16th century.19) It is not at all
easy to assess how prevalent the nayakkattanam was, but we are able to
suggest that the northern and central parts of Tamil country may have
been mostly allocated to nayakas as nayakkattanams during the 16th cen-
tury.20)
Besides the practise of granting nayakkattanams to nayakas by the king,
sub-infeudation also seems to have been practised during the 16th cen-
tury. According to some inscriptions superior nayakas bestowed a part
of their nayakkattanams on inferior nayakas as nayakkattanams of the
latter.21) This practise also suggests the local establishment of nayakas'
power in the 16th century.
According to Fernao Nuniz and Domingos Paes who visited Vijayanagar
during the first half of the 16th century, nayakas kept some military con-
tingents for the service to the king in return for the bestowal of a nayak-
kattanam. However, the inscriptions offer no information on this point.
Nuniz and Paes give us some other important information on the relation
between the nayakas and the king. They relate that every year nayakas
paid the king certain amount of revenue accruing from their territory.22)
On this point also the inscriptions give no direct evidence. However, there
is a case in the inscriptions of the latter half of the 15th century, in which
a reference was made to the detailed revenue record of the villages kept
in the uchavadi office.23) Again, there are cases in the 16th century in-
scriptions, in which nayakas sought the permission of the king to convert
65
some taxable land (pandaravadai) into non-taxable land such as tax-free
(maniyam) temple land.24) These cases might be taken as supporting the
statement of Nuniz and Paes that nayakas were responsible for the remit-
tance of some of the revenue of his territory to the king, or at least we can
say from these cases that the central government had a detailed knowledge
on the revenue which nayakas obtained from their nayakkattanams. This
point needs further study.
Excepting the two problems mentioned above, information concerning
the nayakas' relationship with the king are not scanty in inscriptions.
Many nayakas acted as agents of the king. For example, the inscriptions
indicate that Isura Nayaka and Tirumalai Nayaka of Padaividu and Surap-
pa Nayaka and Kondama Nayaka of Gingee were agents of the king.25)
More evidence of their subordinate relationship to the king can be
found in the expression " for the merit (punniyamaka) of king so and
so " or " for the health (tiru rnenikku nanraka) of king so and so " often
appearing in inscriptions recording their making some charity to the tem-
ples. They seem to have sought the favour of the king by showing their
fidelity to him in this way.26)
Bestowal of a nayakkattanam by the king and two other points of their
submission to the king examined above, show clearly that the nayakas de-
rived the legitimacy of their rule from the king. It was so even in the
case of Kondama Nayaka of Gingee who ruled a vast territory of Vira-
narayana-sirmai towards the end of the 16th century, since he is described
as an agent of Srirangadeva-maharayar in an inscription.27)
Regarding the management of nayakkattanam by nayakas, we can ascer-
tain the following from the inscriptions. First, nayakas seem to have
been eager to associate themselves with temples. Many of the temples
of the time were big economic institutions controlling many villages and
employing a large number of servants. Their association with a temple
in the capacity of the protector of temple villages, the guardian of temple
treasury, the member of temple managing committee, etc. must have
procured the nayakas many economic gains besides the great prestige
they enjoyed from such a position in Hindu society. Tirumalai Nayaka
in association with the temple authority decided to lease out some of the
temple lands to himself.28) Nayakas seem to have obtained many priv-
ileges in local society through their association with temples.
Second, nayakas displayed an eagerness to develop handicraft industries
66
in their own territory. Growth of handicraft industries such as weaving,
oil-pressing, etc. becomes conspicuous from the 14th century onwards
judging from the occurrence of many revenue terms relating to these
activities29)and also of community names such as Kaikkolas and Vaniyas
in inscriptions. During the 15th century, however, artisans and merchants
suffered serious oppression from Vijayanagar officers, but the nayakas in
the 16th century encouraged them by granting tax remissions to artisans
who came to their territory. They also encouraged merchants.30) For
example, many nayakas reduced the burden of artisans and merchants by
remitting pattadai-nulayam, tax payable by the artisans and merchants
living in pattadai (workshops). Inscriptions often mention nayakas
establishing pettai (markets). Kaikkolas are known to have settled in
the temple precincts or temple villages, indicating the close relationship
between the weaving industry and temples. This also explains the
desire of nayakas to associate themselves with temples.
The inscriptions clearly reveal the growth of power by two artisan.
communities, Kaikkolas and Kanmalas. They record that these commu-
nities acquired privileges such as the right to use palanquins and blow
conches on set occasions, or receive some tax exemption during the 15th
and 16th centuries.31)
Although information concerning cultivators is scarce, we hear nothing
about conflict between the cultivators and landholders or the government,
or desertion by cultivators and artisans during the 16th century.
As to the nattavars, there seems to have occurred some change in their
position during the 16th century. First of all, they ceased to appear in
inscriptions as frequently as they did in the previous centuries. References
to taxes relating to them such as nattu-viniyogam and nattu-kanikkai also
decrease during the 16th century,32)which may be taken as an indication of
their loss of autonomous power under nayaka rule.
Second, the composition of the nattavars seems to have changed. Al-
though we do not have much information on their composition during
the 14th and 15th centuries, influential members of the leading agricul-
tural community, Vellalas, must have still composed the core as the 1429
inscriptions concerning the open revolt specially refer to the Vellalas as
kaniyalar, together with another landed community, Brahmanas. The
composition of the nattavars known from the 16th century inscriptions,
however, reveals a much different situation. Here, we find among the
67
members of the nattavars the people of such communities as Vanniyar,
Reddiyar, Mudaliyar and Idaiyar besides Vellalas (Pillai). Many of them
have impressive titles like Kachchirayar, Kongarayar, Vanadarayar, Ton-
daiman, Nayinar, etc. Telugu and Kannada names are also conspicuous.33)
Settigal (merchants) also became big landholders by leasing villages.34)
This caste-wise and regional multiplicity of landholders must have weak-
ened the unity of the nattavars, resulting in their losing power as an au-
tonomous body. Their role in local administration seems to have been
taken over by Telugu and Kannadiga agents of nayakas. Though the
name nattavar remained after their decline and is still found even today
in some regions, their original character as a corporate body of land-
holders composed of a single community seems to have changed during
the 16th century.35)

3. Comparison with Cola Rule

Through the foregoing discussion, some aspects of Vijayanagar rule in
Tamil country, particularly rule through the nayakas during the 16th
century, must have become clear. Now, we shall compare the nayaka
rule of the 16th century with the Cola rule of the 9th to 13th centuries,
in order to understand better the historical significance of nayaka rule
during the Vijayanagar period.
The nature of the Cola state has recently been a topic of lively discus-
sion.36) Though Burton Stein criticised the idea that the Colas had a
bureaucratic administration system,37)there is evidence to show the ex-
istence of a bureaucracy-like machinery in the Cola administration or at
least the effort of the kings of the middle Cola period to centralise the
government under a system. The piecemeal evidence available includes
the establishment of a revenue department called puravu-vari-tinai-kalam,
implementation of land surveys, re-organization of administrative divi-
sions shown for example by assembling nadus into a valanadu, bestowal of
certain titles (Brahmarayan, Pallavarayan and Vilupparayan) on admin-
istrative officers.38) Creation of brahmadeyas by granting villages to
Brahmanas in almost every nadu in the central part of the kingdom also
suggests the same line of their policy.39) Thus, the Cola kings tried to
control the peasants directly through their own administrative machinery
by breaking through the autonomy of the nadu which had been the in-
dependent unit of production during the preceding Pallava and Pandyan
68
period.
Compared with this attempt by Cola kings to directly control peasants,
the Vijayanagar rule through nayakas revealed quite a different administra-
tive setup. As we have seen, during the 16th century most of the Tamil
country was controlled by nayakas, to whom it was parcelled out, though,
Vijayanagar kings seem to have maintained rather tight control over na-
yakas at least until 1565.
On the point of the landholding system, which defined production
relations during the ancient and medieval periods, we also find differences
between the Cola and Vijayanagar periods. Towards the end of the
Cola rule in the 13th century, we notice the emergence of big landholders,
which indicates the progress of differentiation in Cola agrarian society,
but from the 9th to 12th centuries or at least till the 11th century, the
peasants do not seem to have been stratified into landholders and cultiva-
tors so clearly as they were in the later centuries.40) Of course, Cola
society was a class society and we can distinguish the rulers and the ruled,
and private landholding is also ascertainable to some extent. However,
because of the strong communal ties among the people of the nadu, which
were reinforced by the communal holding of land,41)and also because of
the homogeneity of the agrarian society in a nadu or even in a larger area,
the antagonism between the landholders and cultivators did not become
strong, even though they were differentiated as such.
The effort to break through the nadu autonomy, the practise of granting
villages to Brahmanas and high rank officers, and also the distribution of
wealth accumulated through many victorious campaigns to the landholders
of the central part of the kingdom during the heyday of the Cola rule, all
combined to effect the disintegration of agrarian society, producing big
landholders on the one hand and landless cultivators on the other. This
process of stratification of the society must have been accelerated by the
development of foreign trade during the 13th and 14th centuries.42)
Hence, the prevalence of landholders (kaniyalar) and the existence of
antagonism between the landholders and cultivators in the 15th century.
During the 16th century, however, these 15th century landholders who
were still organised as nattavars were replaced by or put under the control
of the Telugu or Kannadiga followers of the Vijayanagar nayakas.
Agrarian society was further stratified and became more complex. The
cultivators of the 16th century, therefore, would have suffered more under
69
the nayaka rule, though we do not hear in inscriptions of their " running
away," let alone their " open revolt."

Conclusion
The difference in political structure and landholding system between
the Cola and Vijayanagar periods has been examined above. There is a
clear difference between the heyday of Cola rule in the 11th and 12th
centuries and that of the Vijayanagar rule during the 16th century. The
period from the 13th to 15th century can be regarded as a transitional
period, through which agrarian society gradually changed under the suc-
cessive rule of the Pandyas, and by local powers like the Sambuvarayas
and Vijayanagar governors. The nayaka rule introduced into the Tamil
country towards the end of the 15th century, combined with the changes
in agrarian society wrought during the transitional period, seems to have
generated certain feudal elements in the existing social formation.43) As
a result, the nayaka rule which became predominant during the 16th
century bears a resemblance to the feudal rule in medieval western Europe
and Japan. Then, can we interpret this new regime of nayaka rule as
feudalism? To answer this question, however, it is necessary to conduct
many more studies on the various aspects of nayaka rule comparing them
with those of Cola rule on the one hand, and those of Mughal rule on the
other. Only after making such studies and re-examining therewith the
concept of feudalism, we shall be able to answer the above question and
understand better the historical development of South Indian society.

Notes
1) This differencehas been noted in Karashima1986A.
2) An analysisof this point has been made in Karashimaet al. 1988.
3) Karashimaand Subbarayalu1983studiesthis revolt.
4) Karashima 1985studies nayaka rule in the Tamil country during the 16th
century.
5) This point has been discussedin Karashima1986Band Karashimaet al. 1988.
6) They are known from the inscriptions,SII, xvii, 562 and SH, xxiv, 309 &
335,respectively.
7) It is known from a Thanjavurinscription(AR 1922-448)that SaluvaTiru-
malaidevawas the governor(mahamandalesvara) of Colamandalamin 1452.
8) Detaileddiscussioncanbe found in Karashima1986A.
9) SII, xvii,562.
70
10) More information is obtainable from Karashima and Subbarayalu 1983.
11) Same as note 9.
12) For detailed examination, see Karashima 1986B.
13) Same as note 11.
14) Their rule has been examined in detail in Karashima 1986A.
15) I have checked the names of nayakas with the topographical list of Vijayanagar
inscriptions by B. R. Gopal, the contents of which are almost same as the
brief descriptions given in the Annual Report on Epigraphy. I am grateful
to Dr. Gopal for allowing me to read the typescripts of this list.
16) A. Krishnaswami gives the names of 58 nayakas in the Tamil country for the
period from A. D. 1371 to 1530 (Krishnaszvami 1964, pp. 181-6), and this very
insufficient survey is referred to by B. Stein (Stein 1980, p. 398) and also by
R. A. Palat (" Structures of Class Control in Late Medieval South Asia: Con-
struction of an Interstate System, circa 1300-1600," paper presented at the
39th Annual Meeting of the Association for Asian Studies, Boston, April 1987,
p. 29, note 108) as " exhaustive." Stein simply depended on Krishnaswami
and Palat in his turn on Stein, both without counting the number of nayakas
themselves.
17) They are Tirumalai Nayaka belonging to the second generation counting
from the founder of the family (SH, xxiv, 434 & 435), Krishnappa Nayaka
(515) and another Krishnappa Nayaka (514), both belonging to the fourth
generation.
18) See Karashima 1985.
19) Karashima et al. 1988, p. 22.
20) N. Venkataramanayya classified the villages of the Vijayanagar empire into
the three groups, i.e., 1) the bhandaravada villages as crown land, 2) the amara
villages assigned to nayakas and 3) the manya villages in eleemosynary tenure,
and suggested that amara villages occupied roughly three fourth of the Vi-
jayanagar territory. However, as the bhandaravada villages were not crown
land separated from the territory assigned to nayakas but the taxable land
which could be found even in nayakkattanam (amaram), his suggestion of
" three fourth " has no basis in fact . See Karashima et al. 1988 p. 37, note

104. Since we find almost 200 nayakas in inscriptions for North and South
Arcot Districts alone, we can infer that the northern and central parts of the
Tamil country, which were placed under tight Vijayanagar rule, were mostly
allocated to nayakas.
21) The problem of sub-infeudation is discussed in Karashima 1985, p. 18.
22) Nuniz gives the names of several nayakas, the amount of their revenue and
the amount they paid the king. According to his statement, the amount the
nayakas paid varies from 3.3 per cent to 50 per cent of their revenue, but

71
 mostly around 30 per cent. See Karashima et al. 1988, p. 23.
23) AR 1925-270.
24) AR 1922-13 & AR. 1921-469.
25) Karashima 1985, p. 15.
26) This point has been discussed in Karashima 1985, p. 17.
27) SITI-994.
28) AR 1912-352.
29) Tari-kadamai and sekku-kadamai are the best examples. Karashima et al .
1988, pp. 74 & 75.
30) Nayakas' encouragement of artisans and merchants has been studied in Ka-
rashima 1985.
31) Evidence is available for Kaikkolas in AR 1927-473, 1928/29-291, 1918-162 ,
1925-422, & 1917-368, and for Kanmalas in AR 1937/38-493, 1921-378,
1928/29-293, 1939/40-273 & 1922-65.
32) Karashima et al. 1988, p. 73.
33) Five inscriptions from the 16th century recording the acquisition of privileges
by Kanmalas reveal the composition of nattavars of an area by enumerating
their personal names. These inscriptions are listed in note 31.
34) AR 1921-321, 325 & 333 record the lease of the villages of Tirukkoyilur
temple to Gopala Chettis.
35) This point has been discussed in detail in Karashima 1986B .
36) Some of the recent works which discuss the topic are Champakalakshmi 1979,
Gough 1980, Hall 1980, Heitzman 1987, Karashima 1984, Shanmugam 1987,
Stein 1980 and Subbarayalu 1982.
37) Stein 1980, p. 256.
38) These points have been discussed by Gough, Heitzman, Karashima, Shan-
mugam and Subbarayalu in the works mentioned above.
39) Karashima 1984, Chapter 2, Section 1.
40) Karashima 1984, Chapter 1.
41) Karashima 1984, pp. 13-15.
42) Karashima 1987.
43) In this study I would like to define feudalism as having the following four
basic features: 1) the basic direct producers are not slaves but peasants who
own the means of production themselves, 2) local magnates who possess su-
perior rights to the land that the peasants cultivate, subdue the peasants under
their control and extract surplus produce by means of extra-economic coer-
cion, 3) political power assumes a hierarchical structure which is sustained by
land grants among the ruling class and also by a certain ideology , and 4) com-
modity production is not generalised but limited only to the surplus portion
which is appropriated by the exploiting class. The second and third features

72
 may be recognised well in nayaka rule.
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(University of Tokyo)

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