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Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c23.s7: 4.6 Administration

Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c23.s7

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4.6 Administration

4.6.1 King

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The king is addressed as *kō* in the inscriptions at Pugalur (**Nos. *61* & *62*, ca. 2nd century A.D.**) and Edakal-A (**No. *82*, ca. 3rd century A.D.**).

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The term *aracaṉ* (< Skt. *rājan*) first occurs in the Tamil-Brāhmī coin-legends on the reverse of the silver portrait coins of the Sātavāhanas.² A fragmentary potsherd from Uraiyur has the legend *araica-* which could be a variant of *araca-* 'king' or *araiya-* 'chieftain'.³

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² For discussion on these coin-legends, see section 5.15.

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³ K.V. Raman (ed.) 1988: p. 74, No. 12, Fig. 24.12, Pl. 19.10.

4.6.2 Heir apparent

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The Pugalur inscriptions cited above refer to the investiture of the heir apparent, *(i)ḷaṅkō*.

4.6.3 Princes

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Princes of the royal family have the suffixes *-kō* (as in *kaṭuṅkō* and *(i)ḷaṅkaṭuṅkō*) or *-kōṉ* (as in *kaṭuṅkōṉ* and *peruṅkaṭuṅkōṉ* ) in the Pugalur inscriptions cited above.

4.6.4 Chieftains

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Chieftains are referred to as *kō* at Edakal-A (**No. *81*, ca. 3rd century A.D.**) and as *kōṉ* at Mamandur (**No. *73*, ca. 3rd century A.D.**).

4.6.5 Servant (of the king)

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Kaṭalaṉ Vaḷuti is the donor of a *paḷḷi* at Mangulam (**No. *1*, ca. 2nd century B.C.**). He is described as the *paṇa-aṉ* (*paṇavaṉ*) of *neṭuñcaliyaṉ* (Neṭuñceliayaṉ). The expression *paṇavaṉ* is derived from *paṇ* 'service' and means literally a 'servant' (*TL*). The expression may, however, be interpreted in the present context as a 'royal servant' or high functionary under Neṭuñceḷiyaṉ, the reigning Pāṇṭiya king. He was most probably a Pāṇṭiya prince or vassal, judging from his name Vaḷuti.

4.6.6 Superintendent, chief

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The expression *-(a)tikaṉ* (< Pkt. *adhika*) occurs twice in these inscriptions, once at Mangulam (**No. *3*, ca. 2nd century B.C.**) in *kāḷitika-* (read *kāḷ-atika-*) 'superintendent of pearls' and again at Alagarmalai (**No. *40*, ca. 1st century B.C.**) in *kaṇatikaṉ* (*kaṇa-atikaṉ*) 'chief of scribes'. Before looking into the specific duties of these officials, the expression *atikaṉ* may be considered.

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In the Sinhala-Brāhmī inscriptions, a number of officials are mentioned with the designation *adika* who were placed in charge of various departments of the state.¹ The Pallava kingdom in the Tamil country had also officials known as *adhika* in charge of different departments of the state or of the provinces.² The Pallava administration has been compared in this respect with the Mauryan, "rather than (that) prevalent in the Tamil country".³ It now appears that the Pāṇṭiya kingdom also possessed an administrative organisation resembling at least in some respects those of the Mauryan in the north and Sri Lanka in the south during this period.

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¹ The term *adika* (< Skt. *adhyaksha*) occurs also as *adaka* or *adeka*. Cf. *ati-adika* 'superintendent of elephants', *paṇ-adaka* 'superintendent of trade', etc. S. Paranavitana 1970: p. xciv.

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² Cf. Pallava *Inscrs.* No. 3: *arakhādhika* 'superintendent of guards', *dēsādhika* 'prefect of a county' (4th century A.D.).

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³ C. Minakshi 1977 (revised edn.): p. 140.

4.6.7 Superintendent of pearls

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In an inscription at Mangulam (No. *3*, ca. 2nd century B.C.), the *kāviti* of the merchant guild of veḷ-aṟai (Veḷḷaṟai) is described as *kāḷitika-* (read *kāḷatika-*). The expression is interpreted as 'superintendent of pearls' from *kāḷ* 'pearl' and *(a)tikaṉ* 'superintendent'. He was presumably a minister or high official (as indicated by his title *kāviti*) entrusted with the responsibility of superintending pearl fisheries.

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Pearls from the Pāṇṭiya kingdom were famous from ancient times and are mentioned in the *Rāmāyaṇa*,⁴ *Arthaśāstra*⁵ and also in the *Periplus*.⁶ The Mangulam inscription provides evidence of state control over pearl-fishery and trade even from this early date. An inscription from Kilavalavu (No. *10*, ca. 2nd century B.C.) refers to Toṇṭi, the Pāṇṭiya port on the east coast, which was involved in pearl fishery and trade from early times.

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⁴ *Rāmāyaṇa*, Kish. Kāṇḍa, 41: 19 (MLJ edition, Madras 1958).

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⁵ *Arthaśāstra*, ii: 11. See summary in K.A. Nilakanta Sastri 1955 (4th edn. 1975): p. 84.

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⁶ The *Periplus*: paragraph 56 (in K.A. Nilakanta Sastri 1939, revised edn. 2001: pp. 57-58).

4.6.8 Chief of scribes

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An inscription at Alagarmalai (No. *40*, ca. 1st century B.C.) refers to 'Ataṉ Ataṉ, son of Ataṉ, the accountant (*kaṇaka-*), the chief of scribes (*kaṇatikaṉ*)'. He figures as one of the many donors from Matirai (Madurai) who collectively made endowments to the cave shelter at Alagarmalai. He was by vocation an accountant and, judging from his title, served as the chief of scribes probably in the royal court at Madurai.

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The term *kaṇaka* (<Pkt. *gaṇaka*) means an 'accountant'. The term *gaṇaka* occurs in this sense in the Sinhala-Brāhmī inscriptions.⁷ In later Tamil inscriptions, *kaṇakkaṉ* meant the 'accountant who maintained the accounts of the village or temple'.

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⁷ S. Paranavitana 1970: p. xcv.

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The expression *kaṇatikaṉ* is construed as *kaṇa* 'scribe' + *atikaṉ* 'chief' and interpreted as the 'chief of scribes'. In Sinhala-Brāhmī inscriptions, the term *kaṇa* (<Skt. *karaṇa*) 'scribe' occurs in the same sense as *gaṇaka* 'accountant', and the duties of both functionaries appear to be more or less similar.¹ This was also the case in the Tamil country where the terms *karaṇam*/*karṇam* and *kaṇakkaṉ* were synonymous and meant 'village or temple accountant'.

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¹ S. Paranavitana 1970: p. xcv.

4.6.9 Title of ministers, palace officials or merchants

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The title *kāviti* is borne by a member of the merchant guild (*nikama*) of *veḷ-aṟai* (Veḷḷaṟai), who, as mentioned above, served as *kāl(a)tika*- 'superintendent of pearls' (Mangulam, No. **3**, ca. 2nd century B.C.). The title *kāviti kōṉ* 'chief *kāviti*' is borne by a donor in an inscription at Tirumalai (No. **52**, ca. 1st century A.D.).

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The title *kāviti* was bestowed by kings on the Vēḷāḷar, Vaiśyas (men and women), ministers or palace officials, as recorded in early Tamil works.²

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² *Tol. Poruḷ.* 30, comm. Nacc.

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The expression *kāviti* seems to be derived ultimately from Skt. *gṛhapati* 'householder' through Pkt. *gahapati*. Cf. Sinh. Pkt. *gapati*/*gapiti* ³ and the variants *kaviti*/*kāvati* in later Tamil inscriptions.⁴

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³ S. Paranavitana 1970: pp. lxxxviii-lxxxix.

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⁴ See Commentary (3.5) for the suggested derivation.

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It is significant that Tamil merchants with the title *gahapati* are mentioned in Early Sinhala-Brāhmī inscriptions.⁵ The title *kapāti* (cf. Sinh. Pkt. *kapati*) occurs as part of the name of a Tamil merchant in the Tamil-Brāhmī legend on a recently discovered lead coin from Tissamaharama in Sri Lanka.⁶

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⁵ S. Paranavitana 1970: Nos. 94, 356 and 357.

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⁶ See No. 4, Table 1.6.

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The original import of the term *gahapati* can be gathered from Prakrit inscriptions where it is specifically associated with merchant classes and prosperous landowning gentry who were supporters of Buddhist and Jaina religions. It is likely that *kāviti* had a somewhat similar significance in early times in the Tamil country also, later becoming a title bestowed by the king on merchants and officials as recorded in early literary works. Still later, the term *kāviti* came to mean an 'accountant' in medieval Tamil inscriptions.

4.6.10 An honour or title bestowed by the king

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A short inscription at Tirupparankunram (No. **54**, ca. 1st century B.C.) reads *mārayatu kaya[m*] 'the pool (is the gift) of the *mārāyam*'. The expression *mārayatu* (read *mārāyattu*) is the oblique form of *mārāyam* which occurs in early Tamil works with the meaning 'an honour or a title (Ta. *paṭṭam*) bestowed by the king'. In later Tamil inscriptions, the title occurs with the personal names of several types of functionaries and others, and does not appear to indicate, by itself, any specific function or duty. The term is probably derived from Pkt. *mahārāya* (<Skt. *mahārāja*).

4.6.11 Titles of other important personages

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The title *kō* is given to the head of the institution known as *kaṭikai*, an assembly of learned persons, in an inscription at Mannarkoil (No. **88**, ca. 2nd century A.D.). The title *kōṉ* is accorded, probably as an honorific, to a *kāviti* at Tirumalai (No. **52**, ca. 1st century A.D.) and to a chief of a village in the Pillaiyarpatti inscription (No. **117**, ca. 6th century A.D.). A member of a particular class of Vaiśya community is given the honorific *(i)ḷaṅkō* in an inscription at Mannarkoil (No. **89** ca. 2nd century A.D.). A chief of the village or its leading landowner or an eminent person of the place is referred to as *kiḻār* in the inscription at Ammankoyilpatti (No. **84**, ca. 4th century A.D.).

4.6.12 The village assembly

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As short inscription at Mudalaikulam (No. **35**, ca. 2nd century B.C.) reads:

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vēmpir-ūr pēr-ay-am cētavar
'Vēmpiṟṟūr constructed (*cētavar*) the large tank (*pēr-ayam*)'.

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What is remarkable about the inscription is that the predicate *cētavar* (LT ceytavar) 'they who made' is in the plural indicating that the subject of the sentence (*ūr*) refers not to the village as such, but to assembly of the village, also known as *ūr* in later Tamil inscriptions. The text has thus to be understood as follows:

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'the assembly (*ūr*) of Vēmpil (Vēmpiṟṟūr) constructed the large tank'.

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If this interpretation is accepted, we have in this inscription the earliest lithic record of a village assembly in the Tamil country. *vēmpiṟṟūr* (*vēmpil-tt-ūr*) may be identified with Vēmbaṟṟūr of later Tamil inscriptions and modern Vempattur in Ramanathapuram District (see Table 4.³).

4.6.13 Assembly of learned persons

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An inscription at Mannarkoil (No. **88**, ca. 2nd century A.D.), mentions *kaṭikai* 'an assembly of learned persons or institution of higher learning; the place of such an assembly or institution'. The expression is derived from Skt. *ghaṭikā* 'assembly'.

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The most famous *ghaṭikā* in the Tamil country was the one at Kanchipuram, which flourished during the Pallava rule.¹ It seems to have come into existence even prior to the conquest of Kanchipuram by the Pallavas in the middle of the 3rd century A.D.² Similar *ghaṭikās*, though probably on a smaller scale, functioned in many other places in the Tamil country as indicated by literary and epigraphic evidence; for example, at Vēmpaṟṟūr (modern Veppattur in Thanjavur District)³ and Kavanur (in Chengalpattu District).⁴

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¹ C. Minakshi 1977 (revised edn.): pp. 223-232.

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² *Pallava Inscrs.* pp. xxx-xxxi.

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³ *ARE* 293/1908, Cōḻa, 11th cent. A.D.

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⁴ *ARE* 51/1933, Pāṇṭiya, ca. 13th cent. A.D.

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The Mannarkoil inscription dated on palaeographic evidence to the 2nd century A.D. is the earliest reference known so far to a *kaṭikai* functioning in the Tamil country and that too in the far south.⁵ The mention of *kaṭikai* in the inscription in a Jaina hermitage, and the donor of the *paḷḷi* being referred to as the son of the chief of the *kaṭikai*, would appear to indicate that the *kaṭikai* was associated with the local Jaina community and its composition and functions were probably different from those of the *ghaṭikās* of the Pallava period.

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⁵ See Commentary (88.3) for identification of the place name.

4.6.14 Warfare

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There is only one reference to warfare. The inscription at Mamandur (No. 73, ca. 3rd century A.D.) describes Kaṇimāṉ as 'the chieftain who took Tēṉūr (in battle)'. It can be surmised that the battle referred to in this inscription must have taken place before the Pallava occupation of Kanchipuram.

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