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Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c18.s4: Section 4. Guilds

Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c18.s4

Language
English

Contents

Section 4. Guilds

A. Classical Notions

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Co-operation in political matters was to a certain extent responsible for the revival of a socio-economic institution which had already existed in the land. This consisted of members of a trade who grouped themselves into a guild and protected the interests of their calling. From the earliest times, Hindu canonists have sanctioned the promulgation of laws by the guilds for the benefit of their members and their trade. Thus Gautama says: "Cultivators, traders, herdsmen, money-lenders, artisans (have authority to lay down rules) for their respective classes".⁵ The privilege of forming a guild seems to have been extended even to the Brahmans. For we are told in the *Institutes of Vishnu* the following: "He who embezzles goods belonging to a corporation (of Brāhmaṇas and which have been sent to them by the king or by private persons) shall be banished. He who violates their established rule (shall) also (be banished)."¹ It is interesting to note that provision is also made for the guilds of thieves in the *Śukranīti*. "The cultivators, the artisans, the artists, the usurers, corporations, the dancers, the ascetics and thieves should decide their disputes according to the usage of their guild, etc. It is impossible to detect them through others' help. So they are to be found out with the help of persons born of (i. e., connected with) them."² That governments recognized the law of such guilds as authoritative can be made out from the sanctity given to it in the code of Manu. "(A king) who knows the sacred law, must inquire into the laws of castes (jāti), of districts, of guilds, and of families, and (thus) settle the peculiar law of each."³

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⁵ Gautama, XI., 21, p. 237.

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¹ *Vishnu*, V. 167-8, p. 38.

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² *Śukranīti*, Ch. IV, v, ll. 35-7, p. 184.

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³ *Manu*, VIII, 41, p. 260.

B. Historical Notices in the Pre-Vijayanagara times

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The existence of such guilds was of vital importance for the material prosperity of the people. This may account for the previleges enjoyed by these corporate bodies both during and before the Vijayanagara times. In the Karṇāṭaka as well as in the south they formed an indispensable part of the socio-economic structure of the land. We have had some occasions of referring to the power wielded by these organizations in matters which may be called political; we shall now proceed to give some more details about the different kinds of guilds, the features which distinguished them, and their leaders who must have been in no small measure responsible for the greatness of the corporations. But the source of their influence lies in their tradition; and, therefore, in order to understand the position which the guilds occupied in the society of Vijayanagara, we have to survey briefly the history of these associations in pre-Vijayanagara days.

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The account of guilds, especially in the Karṇāṭaka and the adjoining regions, centres round the name Vira-Baṇaja. Dr. Fleet remarked thus on the name: "Baḷañja is another form of 'baṇaṅju' or 'baṇañja', the modern 'baṇañjiga', 'baṇajiga' or 'baṇijiga', which must be the original of, or a corruption of, the Sanskrit 'bāṇija, bāṇijika' merchant, trader. 'Baṇajiga' is a division of the Liṅgāyats; and 'Virabaṇajiga', or in old Canarese 'Viravaṇiga', means a strict Baṇajiga."[¹] One of their most powerful strongholds was Baḷḷigrāme. An inscription dated A.D. 1093-4 of the times of the Western Chāḷukya Vikramāditya the Great, gives us the following interesting details about a guild of Baḷḷigrāme:

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¹ Fleet, *I. A. V*, p. 344, n. Cf. Dr. Oppert. "The word Banij denotes in both cases (i.e., of Manu and Yājñavalkya) a merchant, from it is derived the modern expression Banyan". *The Ancient Commerce of India*, p. 14. Dr. Barnett has the following to remark on the same term: "... But there was a vast organisation of associated traders which about the twelfth and thirteenth centuries had spead a network over the greater part of Southern India and Ceylon, and perhaps even further, and which, beginning with simple commerce and thence developing an elaborate social and semi-military system, strikingly recalls our East India Company. These were the Vira-banajus, as they were called in Kanarese, or Vira-Valañjigar, as they were styled in Tamil. The name signifies 'valiant merchants', and is therefore similar to our 'Gentlemen Adventurers'. Baṇaṅju is connected with the Sanskrit Vaṇij, and Valañju is a Tamil development, whence comes also the Sinhalese veṇanda or velanda. They claimed to have come originally from Ahicchatra, but their central body was at Ayyavōle, the modern Aihole, which was the seat of their Board of Directors, consisting of a council of 500 members". *The Ancient Tamil Township and Village*, p. 42 (Ms.).

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"Hail! The entire guild of the Nagaramummuri,[²] which was possessed of all the glory of the names commencing with 'That which......'[³] and has for its pure origin the perfect (lineage of) Khaṇḍali, which is adorned with the pure banner (bearing the device) of a hill (acquired) by preserving the Virabaḷañja laws, which embrace truth and pure conduct and brilliant achievements and morality and modesty, and are adorned with innumerable good qualities acquired by five hundred strict edicts celebrated throughout the whole world ; that which has eighteen cities ; that which has the boon of the sixty-four yōgas ; that which is the locality of the sixty-four ghaṭikās ; the supreme lords of the city of Ayyāvoḷe ; those who are a very cage of thunderbolts to (protect) those who take refuge with them ; those who bestow largely and afford a shelter ; those who give shelter, and protect; those who behave like brothers to the wives of other men ; those who are like the tree of paradise to (grant all the desires of) people who apply to them. . . . . . . . . "1

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² For a meaning of this expression Fleet *I.A.*, V., p. 343, n; J. Bom. R. A. S. X., p. 283, n. (40); *Ep. Ind.* XIII, p. 26. "Whether the title mummuridanda and bhallunki-danda-hasta borne by some of their officials refer to this semi-military character is uncertain". Barnett, *Ancient Tamil Township and Village*, p. 43 n. (Ms.)

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³ "Dvatrimśadvēḷāmaramum,—meaning unknown". Fleet *I.A.* V, p. 343, n.

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Some more details about these Baṇajigas are supplied by an inscription dated about A. D. 1150 which, after narrating their elaborate titles, says: ". . . . visiting the Chēra, Chōḷa, Pāṇḍya, Maleya, Magadha Kauśala, Saurāshṭra, Dhanushṭra, Kurumbha, Kāmbhōja, Gaulla, Lāḷa, Barvvara, Pārasa, Nēpāḷa, Ekapāda, Lambakarnna, Strī-rājya, Ghōḷāmukha, and many other countries ; and the grāmas, nagaras, khēḍas, kharvvaḍas, maḍambas, paṭṭaṇas, drōṇāmukhas, and siṁvahanas,—the cities of the elephants at the cardinal points ; and by land routes and water routes penetrating into the regions of the six continents; with superior elephants, well bred horses, large sapphires, moonstones, pearls, rubies, diamonds, lapis lazuli, onyx, topaz, carbuncles, coral, emeralds, karkkētana, and various such articles ; cardamoms, cloves, bdellium sandal, camphor, musk saffron, malegaja, and other perfumes and drugs by selling which wholesale, or hawking about on their shoulders, preventing the loss by customs duties, they fill up the emperor's treasury of gold, his treasury of jewels, and his armoury of weapons, and from the rest they daily bestow gifts on paṇḍits and munis fully versed in the chatus-samaya-shaḍ-darśana...carriers with asses and buffaloes, adorned with red trappings; the sixteen of the eight nāḍs, gavaregas, gaṭrigas, śeṭṭis, śeṭṭiguṭṭas, aṅkakāras, biras, biravaṇigas, gaṇḍigas, gāvuṇḍas gāvuṇḍasvāmis,—thus with? spear, headed rods in their hands, with an elephant as their bhēri (kettle-drum), the Bhēri (sect) as their maḍḍale (tabor), white umbrellas as their canopy, the mighty ocean as their moat, Indra as their hand-guard, Varuṇa as the standard-bearer, Kubēra as the treasurer, the nine planets as a belt, Rāhu as a tassel, Kētu as a dagger, Kuḷika as the fight, the sun and the moon as the backers, the thirty-three gods are the spectators; they draw forth the sword kshame (patience) and with it piercing the enemy named krōdha (anger), having the ḍava-ruga and para nirghghōshaṇa of the sons of warriors who have fought and won.... In the case of a sack which bursts from the contents collected from the points of the compass, an ass which runs away (laden) with grain, a wounded and fallen body, a cart that has been robbed, a blood load that has been lifted, a bar of gold that has been seized, a tax that has been evaded, a cry of looting, an assembly connected with caste customs, a bargain that has been made,—they are not ones to fail...”.¹

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¹ Fleet, I.A., V.; pp. 343-4.

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¹ E. C., VII, Sk. 118, pp. 86-7; Rice My Ins. pp. 122-3.

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All the Dēśis of Āryyavaḷa, who claimed to be the “followers of the Vira-Baṇañja dharma”, are said to have had the “visuddha-guḍḍa flag” in an inscription dated A. D. 1167². The same epigraph informs us that they united with the Dēśis of other places, and made a grant of dues (specified) along with Tippa Rāja, for the service of the god Ādi-Gummēśvara in the same year. Belgoḷa was also a prominent centre of the Baṇajigas. It appears that the Baṇajiga women too took some part in public affairs. An inscription dated about A.D. 1175 records the provision made for flowers for Gommaṭa Dēva of Belgoḷa by all the merchants of that holy place, including Gummi Seṭṭi's Dasaiya, Lōkeya-sahaṇi's daughter Sōmauve and two others named, after having purchased certain lands (specified) at Gaṅgā-samudra and Gommaṭapura from the assembly.¹

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² E. C., V, P. I, Bl. 177, p. 103. A communal grant of the latter half of the seventeenth century contains some interesting details about the merchant guilds of the same centre. The record belongs to the history of Golkonda. The contents of the grant are as follows: The several members of the leagne (samaya-pekkandra) of the lords of Ayyāvaḷi, indigenous, (svadēśa) foreign (paradēśa), both (ubhaya), and the itinerants (nānā-dēśa) among them, who had the hōmkalikā praśasti, who were the devotees of gods Gavarēśvara and Gautēśvara, the Vaiśyas of the 102 gōtras, with the several śeṭṭis, including Prithvi-Śeṭṭi Rāyani Bhāskaranna who had the grace of the goddess Kamala-Vāsavakanyakā of Vidyāvāsi, who obtained favour from Nagarēśvara-dēva, etc., the several matha-mahats (named) the several śeṭṭis of the fifty-six countries including those of Penugoṇḍa-sthala and other sthalas, the landowners (bhūmi-prabhu) belonging to the four reḍḍi families, the eighteen sects among the Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaiśyas, and Śudras together, viz. vyavahārikas, pañchālas (five sects of smiths), kumbhālikas (potters), tantuvayins (weavers), vastrabhēdakas (cloth dyers?), tila-ghāṭakas (oil millers) kuraṇṭakas (kura-

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¹ E. C., II, No. 242, pp. 103-104, text, p. 103 (2nd ed.) Dasaiya's relationship to Gummi Seṭṭi cannot be made out from the origin which runs thus—Gummi Seṭṭya Dasaiya.

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The same holy place had a guild of jewel merchants who about the year A. D. 1175 pledged themselves to pay annually certain dues (specified) on coral.² Another locality which could boast of wealthy guilds was Mosaḷe. When the Vaḍḍa-byavahāri Basavi Seṭṭi of Mosaḷe caused the images of Chatur-viṁśati (twenty-four) Tīrthaṅkaras to be made in about A.D. 1180³ evidently in Belgoḷa, there naturally arose the necessity of granting an endowment for the worship of the Tīrthaṅkaras. And in about A. D. 1185 the merchants of Mosaḷe pledged themselves to give annually certain specified amounts.⁴ From these instances it is evident that the prominent merchants of Belgoḷa and Mosaḷe, in the early ages, were followers of Jaina faith. This is confirmed by the activities of Nāgadēva, the great minister and Paṭṭaṇasvāmi of the Hoysala king Vira Ballāḷa, who caused in A. D. 1195 a number of buildings to be erected in front of the god Pārśva. Nāgadēva was a disciple of the

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² Ibid., No. 241, p. 103.

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³ Ibid., No. 197, p. 92.

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⁴ Ibid., No. 235, p. 101; No. 252, p. 106.

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ṭaka?; shoe makers), vastra-rakshkas (tailors), dēvāṅgas, parikeliti (pari-kelettēvaru (keepers of pack bullock?); gōrakshakas (cowherds), kiratas (hunters); rajakas (washermen), and kshauras (barbers), being assembled and seated on a diamond throne in the mukha-maṇḍapa made in the form of a moon (chandra-maṇḍala), made a gift of certain specified rates as a charitable endowment. We may note that in this record the eighteen castes are called phaṇas or samayas. Ep. Report for 1918, p. 174.

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Mahāmaṇḍalāchārya Nayakīrti. About the merchants of Belgoḷa it is said : "The merchants who were the protectors of that Jinālaya: born in the eminent line of Khaṇḍali and Mūḷabhadra, devoted to truth and purity, possessed of the lion's valour, skilled in conducting various kinds of trade with many seaports, adorned with the famous three jewels, the merchants residing at the holy place Belgoḷa" acquired celebrity on earth.¹

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¹ E. C. II, No. 335, p. 143.

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About A. D. 1240 the merchants of all the various countries made a grant for the Srī-Vaishṇavas of a place, the name of which is effaced, in the Eighteen-nāḍs, and Paḍi-nāḍ. The name Mudi-koṇḍachōḷapura and the Grantha characters² in which the incription is written suggest that the Nānā-Dēśis were also a powerful factor in the Tamil land.

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² E. C., IV, Y. 61, p. 33 text, p. 83.

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A few details about the organization of the Vira-Baṇajigas can be gathered from an inscription of the reign of the Hoysala king Sōmēśvara Dēva.³ The epigraph tells us that one of their leaders was styled the *senior māṇikya bhaṇḍāri*. Rāma Dēva Nāyāka, the minister of the king Sōmēśvara Dēva was called by that name. The charter which he issued to the merchants of Gommaṭapura, including those who formed the guilds of oil-men, runs thus: "In case the imposts, *nyāya anyāya* and *maḷa-braya* of the palace come to be levied, the *āchārya* of the place shall himself pay and settle the matter : it is no concern of the residents. Those who violate the terms of this charter are the destroyers of the Dharma-sthaḷa. If among the merchants of this holy place one or two, posing as leaders, teach the *āchārya* deceit, and, causing confusion by taking one thing for another, encourage him to covet a *hāga* and a *bēle* and ask for more, they are traitors to the creed, traitors to the king, enemies of the Baṇañjigas".⁴ The same epigraph concludes thus: "If knowing this, merchants are indifferent, they alone are destroyers of this charity and not the *āchārya* and the wicked. If without the consent of the merchants one or two leaders enter into the *āchārya's* house or the palace, they are traitors to the creed. With regard to privileges, former usage shall be followed".¹

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³ Rice gives the date of this inscription as A.D. 1266. E. C. II, No. 128, p. 176 (1st ed.) Narasimhachar supposes it to be about A.D. 1200. E.C., II, No. 333, p. 140 (2nd ed.)

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⁴ Rice gives a slightly different version in E.C., II, No. 128, p. 176 (1st ed.); No. 333, p. 140 (2nd ed.)

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¹ E.C., II., No. 333, p. 140, (2nd ed.) For some remarks on the guilds, see Majumdar, *Corporate Life*, pp. 86-92; S.K. Aiyangar Q.J.M.S., VI, p. 56.

C. Guilds in Vijayanagara

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The Vira Baṇajigas continued to exercise powerful influence in Vijayanagara times. Proud as they were of their heritage, they must have been zealous to retain their titles and privileges under the new monarchs. We have some details about the guilds of Vijayanagara; but these can be deemed complete only when they are taken in conjunction with the remarks we have recorded above. The Vira Baṇajigas in the fourteenth century were as fond of talking about themselves in eulogistic terms as their ancestors were in the early ages. This is the reason why we have the following in 1382: "...the five hundred *virśāsanas* of Jambū-dvīpa, the southern portion of the celebrated Bharata-khaṇḍa; adorned with many good qualities; of virtuous life; embodiments of policy, modesty and intelligence; protectors of the righteous customs of the Sālu-Mūle-Baṇaju sect; great dignity; mighty in energy; favourites of the lady Fame; born in the great and famous line of Bhala-dēva, Vāsudēva, Khaṇḍali and Mūlabhadra; boon lords of Ahichchhatra-pura; examples of virtue; establishers of inquiry; each one a hero; the only worthy in the world; a touchstone for the pious work of the Southern Vāraṇāsi; the home of piety; the birthplace of both the various Dēśis of the celebrated capitals of emperors and kings; the fan-palm of their warehouse; with these and many other titles; worshippers of the holy feet of the gods Gaṇēśvara and Gavarēśvara; all and many, the *nakhara parivara, mummuri-daṇḍa*..."² The same inscription gives us their centres in the fourteenth century: Vijayanagari, Hastināvati, Dōrasamudra, Gutti, Peṇuguṇḍa, Ādavāni, Udayagiri, Chandragiri, Muḷuvāyi, Kañchi, Paḍaiviḍu, Chadurangapaṭṭaṇa, Maṅgaḷūru, Honnāvuru, Chandāvuru, Āraga, Chandragutti, Aṇṇigere Huligere, Nidugallu, Chimatanakallu, Tariyakallu, Ānevidda, Sari. Kalheya, Telakalambi (Terakāṇambi), and Siṅgapaṭṭaṇa¹. To these we have to add the following: Eḍ-nāḍ in Gutti, Koṇḍaraḍe in Nāgarkhaṇḍa, Hānugal, the Chikka Jigaḷige and Hiriya Jigaḷige Four Hundred, Bāḷa-Chaugaḷe-nāḍ, Hosa-nāḍ, Kabunāḷige, Aydāvaḷige, Hiriya Mahaḷige, Chikka Mahaḷige, Jambeyahaḷi-nāḍ, Heda-nāḍ, Kunchi-nāḍ, Kora-nāḍ, Baḷe-nāḍ, Vakhaligere-nāḍ, Honnatti-nāḍ, Erad...ya...nāḍ, Halasige, Honāle, Ingundi, and other places.²

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² E.C., V., P. I., B1. 75, p. 63; see also E.C., XII., Ck. 7, text, p. 200.

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¹ E.C., V, P. II, p. 201.

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² E.C., VIII, Sb. 428, p. 75.

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The Vīra Baṇajigas maintained the names and the traditional greatness of their high officials. One of these, as will be narrated presently, was called the vaḍḍa-Byavahāri or the Senior Merchant. Another was known as the Paṭṭaṇa-svāmi. We have had an occasion of referring to these latter dignitaries while dealing with the corporate life which the people led in political matters, The office of paṭṭaṇa-svāmi was in some way connected with a sante or weekly fair which was established by the joint efforts of the people, and for the maintenance of which a grant of land, free from all imposts, or of dues, was made by them. In some instances the initiative was taken by the Government. Thus in the reign of Kampaṇa Oḍeyar in A. D. 1362, as related above, by order of the Mahāmaṇḍēśvara Rāchaya Dēva Mahārāja, who is called "Balu-manne-Rājulu of his (i.e., of Kampaṇa Oḍeyar's?) city", all those who belonged to both the sects of the Nānā-Dēśis in Pakkuṇḍra, together with all the farmers and subjects of the great Kayivāra-nāḍu and with the people who composed the eighteen castes, established a fair at Kayivāra; and as Paṭṭaṇa-svāmi of the fair, appointed Mārappa Śeṭṭi's younger brother Periya Nāyana, assigning to him land free of all imposts¹. This was evidently on the Hoysala lines as can be made out from an inscription dated A.D. 1316 which relates that, during the times of Ballāḷa Dēvarasa, III, Singaiya Daṇṇāyaka's obedient (son ?) Mācheya Nāyaka in conjunction with various persons (named) of Hommaḷiga-nāḍ and all the farmers of Chokka-nāḍ established a fair at Gaḷihāḷu and granted to Paṭṭaṇa-s(v)āmi Nāgappa's son Chokka Śeṭṭi lands as a koḍage along with various tolls (specified)². The conformity of Vijayanagara practice to Hoysala tradition in this connection is seen in an inscription dated A.D. 1412 of the reign of Dēva Rāya I. The great champion over the three kings, Junjōji Nāyaka's son Hiriya Mudiya Nāyaka having established a fair in Sōmagoṇḍanahaḷḷi of Hirasu-nāḍ, the Hirasu-nāḍ Prabhu and a number of others, including the representatives of the fifty-six countries, granted the office of paṭṭaṇa-svami to Māri Śeṭṭi's sons Daṇḍi Śeṭṭi and Tirumala Śeṭṭi, together with land (specified) as a mānya, with freedom from tolls (specified)³.

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¹ E.C., X., Ct. 95, p. 263, Infra, Chapter VIII.

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² E.C., IX., Ku. 6, p. 121.

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³ Ibid., An. 44, p. 114.

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That a paṭṭaṇa-svāmi could also be a vaḍḍa-byavahāri or Senior Merchant can be made out from an inscription dated A. D. 1395 which refers us to the reign of Harihara Rāya II. In that year some grant was made in Malaūr-sthala, the chief place of Keḷale-nāḍ, to the chief senior merchant (mahāmukhya-vaḍḍa-byavahāri) of the Hora-paṭṭaṇagiri of Vijayadannāyakapaṭṭaṇa, which is Hiriyūr, of the Sindava-kula, the Paṭṭaṇa-svāmi Kēti Śeṭṭi's son Kāliyappa Śeṭṭi by the hand of the Eighteen country.⁴ This office was however always associated with a weekly fair. In A. D. 1430, in the reign of Dēva Rāya II, the Sālu-mūles of the fifty-six countries, with all the cultivators and Pañchāḷas, having assembled, established a saṇte (or weekly fair), and in connection with it, granted as a mānya for the paṭṭaṇa-svāmi of the fair, Chiyi Bassi Śeṭṭi, land (specified)¹. Sometimes the office of a paṭṭaṇa-svāmi was conferred by a government servant on a prominent merchant. Thus in A. D. 1426, in the reign of Dēva Rāya II, Juñja Vōbēya Nāyaka's son Chitivoyya Nāyaka gave the office of paṭṭaṇa-svāmi to Buḍapa Seṭṭi, together with a mānya land (specified)².

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⁴ Ibid, Cp. 37 p. 140, text, p. 311.

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¹ E.C., X., Bp. 72, p. 152, See also E.C., IX., An. 64, p. 116, where an illegible inscription affirms a similar grant.

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² E.C., X., Bp. 83, p. 153.

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The extent to which a paṭṭaṇa-svāmi was bound to associate himself with the common people is seen in a record dated A. D. 1554 which informs us that Viṭhṭhaṇṇa Nāyaka, the Agent in Bukkāmbudhi, made some revenue regulations embodying them in a grant which he gave to all the Brahmans, the paṭṭaṇa-svāmi, the farmers and the subjects of the village.³ There is another record which not only confirms our statement that there existed harmony between the Central Government and the local units but also informs us the name of another official, or perhaps the same official under another designation, seṭṭi paṭṭaṇa-svāmi. This record dated A.D. 1556, also belongs to the reign of Sadāśiva Rāya. The inscription narrates that by order of the Mahā-maṇḍalēśvara Rāma Rāya Tirumala Rājayya Dēva mahā-arasu, the Mahā-nāyakāchārya Niḍugal Timmaṇṇa Nāyaka, and the subjects of the Niḍugal-sīme (a great number named), these and other gauḍas and subjects, with the Seṭṭi-paṭṭaṇa-svāmi, having purchased the Tūmukuṇṭe village in the Niḍugal kingdom, placing Gulli Tirumala Rājayy's seal-bearers (mudre-manuśyaru) in front of Keñchapa Nāyaka, granted the village for the services of the god Teruveṅgaḷanātha of Peyalabaṇḍe.⁴

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³ E.C., VI., Tk. 69, p. 118.

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⁴ E.C., XII., Si. 31, p. 93, op. cit., text, p. 270.

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The guilds had another high dignitary called the mahā-prabhu. From the manner in which it is used, it seems that the title of mahā-prabhu was also held by a Senior Merchant. In A.D. 1404, the Mahā-vaḍḍa-byavahāri, the Mahā-prabhu of both sects of Nānā-Dēśis, Yirigi Seṭṭi's son Yirigi Seṭṭi caused a Śivālaya to be made for the Virabhadra temple.⁵

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⁵ E.C., X. Kl. 73, pp. 19-20.

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The guilds conferred on some of the highest government officials the rank and dignity of the *prithivi śeṭṭi* or the Mayor of the Earth. The members of the *nakhara parivara* and *mummuri-daṇḍa*, whose centres we noted in an inscription dated A. D. 1382, together with their 300 Billa dependants and with the collection of the Holeyas of Vijayanagara, “having placed the diamond *vaisanige*¹ in the presence of the holy lotus feet of the god Virūpāksha, and sitting down, having agreed among themselves, with supreme affection,—the great minister (with praise) Muddayya-daṇṇāyaka, being the officer for superintendence of the customs of our fifty-six countries (*namma chhappanna deśada āchāravichārakke kartarādar āgi*), we confer upon him the mayoralty of the earth...”² In the next year the same officer, who is called this time Mude Daṇṇāyaka, received what seems to be a confirmation of the above, from the hands of all the Sālu-mūle of Eḍe-nāḍ and various other places, which we have also just now seen.³

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¹ For an account of the *vaisanige* see *Infra*, Chapter V, Legislation, Etiquette and Orthodoxy.

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² E.C., V., Bl. 75, p. 63, op. cit.; Rice, *My. Ins.*, pp. 267-70.

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³ E.C., VIII., Sb. 428, p. 75, op. cit.

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That the authority of the guilds over their members was supreme is evident from more than one inscription in which reference is made to the penalty they inflicted on those who violated the decisions of their unions. Thus the Vira Pañchāḷas of Terakaṇāmbi, whose “incomparable character” we noted in an inscription dated A.D. 1372, enacted the following: “Whose destroys this grant is put out of the Pañchāḷas, out of his trade, out of the assembly, and the nāḍ”. (*ī dharmma-vanu āvan obba aḷupidavanu Pañchāḷakke horagu āhaḷakke horagu samayakkevū nāḍigū horagu*).⁴

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⁴ E. C., IV., Gu, 34, p. 42, text, p. 106, op. cit.

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Foreign travellers have left a few notices of these guilds. ‘Abdur Razzāq writes thus: “The tradesmen of each separate guild or craft have their shops close to one another. The jewellers sell their rubies and pearls and diamonds and emeralds openly in the bazar".¹ Paes says: "There are temples in every street, for these appertain to institutions like the confraternities you know of in our parts, of all the craftsmen and merchants..."²

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¹ Elliot, Hist. of India, IV., p. 107.

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² Sewell, For. Emp., p. 256.

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The leaders of the guilds seem to have exercised some powerful control at the royal court. In A. D. 1355, Vayijaṇṇa, the leader of the Ubhaya Nānā-Dēśis, was the house-merchant of the Mahā-maṇḍalēśvara Harihara Oḍeyar.³ When the leaders of the guilds petitioned to the Government, it undertook the construction of new towns. The great Vaḍḍa-byavahāri, chief of (both sects) Nānā-Dēsis, Arjju-bhaṭṭayya's son Mahā-dēvaṇṇa made petition to Bukkaṇṇa Oḍeyar, saying, "Make Lakshmīpura...in Changa-nāḍ"; and the king forthwith passed the necessary orders which were duly executed by the chief minister Sōvappa with the aid of the farmers of Navile, Haṇḍa-raṅge, Posanāḍ, Allāḷapaṭṭaṇa and other places.⁴

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³ My. Arch. Report for 1919, p. 33.

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⁴ E. C., V., P. I., Ak. 68, pp. 258-9.

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The heads of the guilds could secure remission of taxes from the Government. In about A. D. 1380, in the reign of Harihara Rāya II, remission of certain taxes was made to all the Nanā Dēśis of Māmballi alias Harihararāya-paṭṭaṇa.⁵

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⁵ My. Arch. Report for 1917, p. 48.

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Guilds were confined not only to the Nānā-Dēśis. The truth of the remarks of foreign travellers that all trades had their own guilds can be made out by noting a few references to the organization of Vira Pañchāḷas, salt-makers and potters. The guild of Vira Pañchāḷas, reference to which has been made above, was powerful enough to impose a tax on its members for religious purposes. All the Pañchāḷas of Yeṇṇe-nāḍ, for example, in A.D. 1398, in order to provide sandal, musk, vermilion, camphor, and rain water for the decoration of the god Aṇilēśvara, presented an offering at the rate of one haṇa in their several villages.¹ The existence of a guild of salt-makers is seen in the gifts they were able to secure from the Government. In A. D. 1551, during the times of Sadāśiva Rāya, a grant of rent-free land was made to the salt-makers (of the Moḷakālmur tāluka) by Geṇabūr Hiriya Konaya Dēva Mahā-arasu. This was confirmed by the Hānya Hebbār Bōlārapa together with all the subject and farmers, in the same year.² That the potters had their own guilds can be gathered from the charter which their headmen (*kumbhāra-svāmigaḷu*) received in about A. D. 1580, evidently from the Government.³

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¹ E. C., IV., Ch. 119, p. 16.

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² E. C., XI., Mk. 8, & 9, p. 91.

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³ E. C., IV., Yl. 2, p, 27. Infra, Chapter on Etiquette.

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