The Rashtrakutas and their Times c17.s1.10

c17.s1.10

Normally each village had one village headman; there are, however, several records of the Raṭṭas of Saundatti and of the later Chālukyas, which refer to several headmen of one and the same locality. From the five Raṭṭa records of Saundatti published by Fleet⁷ we learn that Sugandhavati, Elerave, and Hasudi had twelve headmen each, while Hirayakummi had six. From a record belonging to the reign of Vikramāditya VI we find that Teridal had twelve headmen.⁸ This large number of headmen, that we see in these localities, is rather unusual. It may be perhaps due to the fact that some of these places were big towns; it is also not unlikely that there may have been prevailing in these localities the custom of allowing the senior representatives of the main branches of the original headman's family to officiate simultaneously. Two headmen, representing the two main branches of the original stock, still function in several villages of the Deccan; this principle may have been possibly given an extended application in our period in some parts of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa Empire.