South India and her Muhammadan Invaders c14.s1.100

c14.s1.100

May prosperity attend. In the time of the ‘Great king of kings,’ ‘Great king of the family of kings’ ‘king of the whole group of kings’; in the year 771 of the ‘lord of kings’, on the 7th day of Iraviladhan (Rabi-ul-Sani), which is the 11th day of Kārttigai : in the territory subject to the authority of the said ‘lord of kings’ the temple management, who are the servants of Kaṇḍaperumāḷ¹ and the Inamdars (holders of free gifts), made the deed of assurance and got it transcribed on stone on the following terms :—If we fail in any one detail, in this deed of assurance executed by us, in the presence of the inhabitants of this (part of the) country such as the Vanniyar, Kaḷḷar, Karumār (artisans apparently), citizens, Bhaṭṭas (Brahmans), learned men, musicians, our enemies who are the residents of Arantāngi and all other men, we agree that you see to it that we are put out of relationship for life with those that act up to it. Among (such details are) failure to bring to the ‘lord of kings’ those required for his continuous personal service,² those that may be required for the carrying out of the administration of his territory, and those that are required for service (in the capacity of peons), or providing these in insufficient number; besides this,¹ whenever ‘the lord of kings’ should send his orders, by his servants appointed for the purpose, our failure to muster together all those among us capable of bearing arms, without letting a single one stay behind, and take his orders as to the service required of us. Further by this deed by which we have brought into one party even those that are not of us, we agree that in case the inhabitants of Kāttūr Koṭṭai and others,² should commit robbery in the territory of ‘our lord of kings’, if the king’s troops could not come to destroy them for any reason, the moment we receive royal orders sent by the appointed orderly officer, it would be failure in us if we did not destroy those robbers. If we fail in any of these particulars of our duty to ‘the lord of kings’, we agree that our mustaches be shaved and that we be regarded as the wives of our enemies. More than this we agree that our women folk be taken to our enemies by men of learning, musicians, minstrels, poets and be made over to their own boys, after putting on them the mark of gift.³ We further agree that we suffer in the hell of those who, having assembled by beat of the bronze cymbal, seven Brahmaṇas on the ghat of a running river, and having gone round them by the right, kill them on the banks of the Ganges. Further again we agree that we be depicted as women, and that low caste people, like pinar? (perhaps pāṇar), pulayas, paḷḷas paraiyas and other such, may tie up such pictures of ours to the feet of their children so that they may roam about with these in this, our own country, and the country round this. Having thus agreed, the officials and Iladars⁴ and others of this territory under the authority (of the ‘lord of kings’), put up festoons of marriage and set up this stone in this the mother city of our nādu (country or our peoples).