The Rashtrakutas and their Times c16.s3.10

c16.s3.10

which occurs in the Silāhāra records above referred to, probably refers to the three upper castes, rather than to three different constituencies. Apparently five wards of the town of Mulgund and their representatives, the Mahājanas, are mentioned in the Mulgund inscription of Pāñchāladeva, dated 975 A.D. (37) This may suggest the inference that cities were divided into several wards for the purpose of representation on the city council; the inscription in question is, however, fragmentary and this conclusion is not, therefore, quite certain. The divisions into wards for the purpose of representation was known in Tamil land, as is clear from the famous Uttaramallura inscriptions, (38) and there is nothing impossible in a similar arrangement being in vogue in our province as well. There must obviously have been some kind of election or selection for constituting the town committees, since these members were non-officials and were usually not more than half a dozen or so. But the precise method adopted in the Deccan of our period cannot be determined at present for want of evidence.