Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c7.21

c7.21

The personal services (except those of the tenants in royal villages and those of persons belonging to the fourteen departments of public works), theoretically due to the King, became as a rule the perquisite of the local chief (Disāva or Raṭēmahātmaya); the chief being held responsible for any works required of him, the King had no need to insist upon the rendering of particular services direct to himself. In the same way lands which were abandoned by the tenants—as sometimes happened in the last King’s reign on account of the severity of the duty§—reverted to the chief, who could appropriate *Social economy* the crop or regrant the land to other tenants on payment of a suitable fee. The personal services were often commuted for a money payment which was considered the chief's legal perquisite.