Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c13.s3.20

v1.c13.s3.20

The fact that legal proceedings were conducted in the presence of, and settled by, the officers of the Central Government is also corroborated by other inscriptions. A civil dispute between the villagers of Ālattūr and Attipparru, in Saka 1328 (A.D. 1406-7), regarding the supply of water from the tank of Perunagar, Chingleput district, was settled in the presence of the Mahāpradhāni Arasar (Tipparasar ?).⁴ An instance which disproves the theory that the monarchs were arbitrary in legal matters is supplied by a record dated Saka 1467 (A.D. 1545-6) of the times of Sadāśiva Rāya. There was a dispute between two parties of the residents of Kondagai, in the Rāmnāḍ district; and their representatives, the mahājanas of the locality, placed the matter before the Emperor, who was encamping in Toṇḍaimaṇḍalam. Sadāśiva Rāya directed that the case was to be settled by an arbitration board of learned men in the presence of his own officer Sāḷuva Nāyaka. On their arriving at a satisfactory decision, remission of certain taxes was made to the village (temple ?) of Tiruvēṅgaḍapuram.⁵ Evidently the board that was made up of learned men would only have been composed of Brahmans versed in the Sacred Law; and the legal fee which the plaintiff and defendants paid took the shape of remission of taxes to the local temple.¹