Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c11.s2.t2.8

v1.c11.s2.t2.8

Lest it should be surmised that Hindu governments in pre-Vijayanagara days were partial to the Brahmans, we shall give an incident which took place somewhere in the middle of the thirteenth century, during the reign of a certain Jaṭāvarman Sundara Pāṇḍya, in connection with Brahmans who were found in unlawful possession of arms. It is stated that at Uttippākam alias Ādināyaka-chaturvēdimangalam, the Brahmans, Ātakoṇḍavillai, Pāmbaṇaiyāṉ, Malaivāyakakōṉ, Varadaṉ and Salvaṉ and some Veḷḷāḷa Sūdras gave up the duties legitimate to their caste and following the profession of lower classes, wore weapons (dangerous to human life), murdered Brahmans, cut off (their) ears, insulted the Brahman ladies, committed robbery, destroyed cattle and sold them, to the great distress and terror of the residents of the district. When, on a previous occasion, this matter had been reported to the ruling authorities, the chief Vikrama-śōḷa-dēva alias Iruṅgōḷaśaniyaṉ Vāṇarāyar, Tirumalaitandār alias Muṇaiyadaraiyaṉ and others, who were in charge of the country, had got 'the offenders together, beaten them, fined them, pulled down their houses, and kept them under surveillance(?)'". But as these offenders were not actually imprisoned, and as this leniency in punishment did not contribute to any change in their character, the people again complained of their misdeeds to Prince Pottappiyarāyar, who next took charge of the country, and requested him to apprehend the mischievous people. Under orders from this prince, the chief Vaḷḷuvaṉāḍāḷvāṉ Iruṅgōḷar and a band of Malaiyala soldiers went to capture the rebellious persons, with the result that the criminals escaped to the hills after they had killed (a few of the soldiers that had followed them), pierced some, shot others down with arrows, and robbed the rest of their weapons. However, Ātkoṇḍavillai and Pāmbaṇaiyāṇ were secured and locked up in the prison-house of Tirukkachchūr. After sometime, they were being taken along with some other prisoners, to the king (Ulaguḍaiya-Perumāḷ) at Kaṇṇattūr. On entering the forest of Sāṇūr Arasippākkam, the northern hamlet (of Uttippākkam?), the three other Brahman brothers, who were still at large, and who, in the meantime, had collected together a number of people, attacked and killed the party which was leading the captive brothers to the king, liberated them and escaped. The news of this action of the rebels having reached the king, he issued stringent orders that they be captured wherever found, and punished according to the rule applicable to the lower classes, that their houses and other hereditary property be sold to the temple and other charitable institutions, that the money thus realized be credited to the treasury in payment of the fine imposed on them, and the balance, if any, be presented to the temples (of Tiruvagattīśvaramuḍaiya-Nāyaṇār and Kailāyamuḍaiya-Nāyaṇār at Uttippākkam) as a permanent charity in the name of the criminals. The order of the king was carried out by the people and the money realized by the sale of lands was deposited in the treasury at Tirukkachchūr.¹ This tradition of impartiality² was handed down to the rulers of Vijayanagara, whose administration we shall now examine from the point of view of the divisions of the Empire, the problems which faced them, and the methods that were adopted to solve them.