The Rashtrakutas and their Times c21.170

c21.170

Government documents of transfers of lands or villages were not always attested, but their originals were carefully preserved in the state archives for future reference. The Bhadan plates of Aparājita, dated 997 A.D., expressly states that their originals were kept in the state archives at Thana. (137) At the time of the renewal of old grants, these originals must have been consulted in order to see whether the claims advanced were justifiable or not. Nevertheless, governments used to insist upon the possession and production of the copper plates on the part of the grantee or his successors in title. We come across cases of lands being fully assessed on the plea that their owners could not support the claim for exemption by the production of the tāmrapaṭṭa, creating the privileges claimed. (138) On the other hand, we sometimes find owners recovering the possession of their lands by the production of the copper plates.