Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c10.s5.t2.41

v1.c10.s5.t2.41

The system of letting out temple-lands on lease, however, seems to have been rather elaborate. We are told in an inscription of Saka 1457 (A.D. 1534-5) that the *mēlvāram*, or the Government share, on areca, cocoa-nut, mango, and other trees grown on the *tiruvidaiyāṭṭam* lands of the Aruḷāla Perumāḷ temple in Little Conjeeveram, Chingelput district, was formerly three-fourths of the yield, the remaining one-fourth going to the cultivator; that in a severe drought the above trees withered; that the tenants were asked to plant free trees and pay up the *mēlvāram* in the reduced ratio of two-thirds; that, in the case of sesamum, green-grain, and sugar-cane, the rates obtaining in adjacent villages were adopted; and that in cases where betel, plantain, and other quick-yielding crops were reared side by side in newly planted areca and cocoa-nut groves, the *mēlvāram* was fixed at three-fourths of old rate.³