Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c24.s1: Section 1. Joint-activity in pre-Vijayanagara Days
Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c24.s1
- Language
- English
Section 1. Joint-activity in pre-Vijayanagara Days
v2.c24.s1.1
The Vijayanagara Empire, some institutions of which we have outlined in the previous pages, did not owe its origin to any supernatural agency that suddenly enabled the sons of Saṅgama to establish their sovereignty over the southern peninsula. We admit that they received considerable support from the religious leaders of the times. But the contribution of the common people was greater for the cause of the country. The Gauḍas of different *sīmes* were as much responsible for the growth of the Empire as the *gurus* of Śṛṅgēri. The part played by the latter has been unduly magnified, while the share of the former has not been estimated. Five brothers aided by one or two intellectual prodigies would never have been able to achieve that measure of success but for the support which they received from the people. When one realizes how stroke upon stroke of the Muhammadans shattered the hopes of the Hindus in the latter half of the thirteenth and in the beginning of the fourteenth centuries, one cannot help feeling that religious merit alone, however profound and great it might have been, would have hardly been able to create a solid wall of opposition out of what was nothing but a universal chaos. Something equally great and profound was needed to achieve that noble end, and that was found in the remarkable spirit of co-operation which all classes of people brought to bear upon matters of social importance.
v2.c24.s1.2
But both the rulers and the people of Vijayanagara were only heirs to a rich heritage. Co-operation for a common cause characterized the actions of the people in the Tamil land as well as in the Karṇāṭaka in early times. Bearing in mind the evidence relating to corporate activities in purely political matters, already cited in this treatise, we may now turn our attention to that pertaining to social issues as recorded in inscriptions. Here we may also include certain quasi-social features in connection with political, economic, legal and religious spheres of life without which our account may be deemed inadequate.
v2.c24.s1.3
According to a record dated about A. D. 725 it is clear that the people of the Karṇāṭaka, like those of the Tamil land, were aware of the advantages of corporate existence. The epigraph which gives us this information, is of the times of the Yuvarāja Vikramāditya, who has been identified with the Western Chālukya king Vikramāditya II. The inscription records the mutual obligations and rights of the royal authorities, represented by the Heir-Apparent Vikramāditya, and of the *mahājanas* (Brahman householders) and burgesses of Lakshmēshwar. The preamble runs as follows: "Hail! the social constitution (*āchāra-vyavasthi[sthe]*), which the Heir-Apparent Vikramāditya has granted to the Mahājanas and the burgesses and the eighteen *prakritis* of Porigere (is as follows)." The charter then proceeds to specify the position of the royal officers and their relation to the municipality in the following terms: "The king's officers are to protect those of the houses that are untenanted, the king's gift, the king's proclamation, authoritative testimony of good men (?), constitutional usage (*maryāde*), copper-plate edicts, continued enjoyment of (*estate*) enjoyed (*bhukta-anubhōgam*)... the lives of the five *dharmas*." Then comes the section defining the duties of the townspeople beginning with the *mahājanas* or Brahman burgesses. "This is the municipal constitution (idu mahājanakke nagara maryāde). (Here come details of the rates payable by householders and fines from those accused of theft and minor delinquencies). (All these) shall be paid to the guild there in the month of Kārttika. A gutta¹ shall be paid for (?) to the ruva in the month of Māgha." The epigraph which is unfortunately illegible in many parts, next proceeds to refer to the government of the pāṇḍis and śeṭṭis in the town, the guild of braziers (kañchanagāra-śeṇi) and oilmen and other details which are effaced. The ending of this epigraph which contains a supplementary endowment bears directly on the subject in question, since it deals with the joint-activities of the Brahmans and the common people. "Also the field endowment to (?) the ara of the fortunate Kupparma the three-hundred households and the Gāmuṇḍa of the province, together with the goḍigar (?) have granted."²
v2.c24.s1.4
¹ Guttam rūvamge Māgha-māsadul koḍuvudu. Barnett, Ep. Ind., XIV, p. 191, ll. 22-3. See ibid., p. 190, n. (4). Supra Volume I., Ch. IV.
v2.c24.s1.5
² Ep. Ind., XIV, pp. 190, 191, ll. 46-55.
v2.c24.s1.6
From the beginning of the eleventh century A. D. we have more numerous records describing the varied corporate activities of the people. An effaced inscription in Tamil dated about A. D. 1019 informs us that the mahājanas of Malavūr alias Irājēndrasiṃha-chaturvēdimaṅgalam granted certain privileges, resembling those given above, in connection with some houses of the village, to Kō...(sarattu-Āḍi-māsa...vyavasthai-paṇṇina paḍi iv-ūril gṛihamgaḷ-uḷḷavai kshētraman nashṭa...ājñā...lum gṛihamga...traṭṭōḍu upathiy-āga ājñā-krayam-idak-kadvōm-allav-āgavum gṛihamgal a...)³ The mahājanas of the same agrahāra in about A.D. 1160 having received specified sums of money, granted certain lands (specified) as a kuḍaṅgai, as a permanent endowment, to Satyanāda-svāmigaḷ's son Nilkaṇṭha-dēvar. They also bound themselves to exempt lands from certain specified taxes.⁴ In the reign of Hoysala king Narasimha Dēva in A. D. 1173 Mallapa, son of the accountant Bamma, erected a temple of Galagēśvara in Dōrasamudra. And the generous Bārika-Chinna commended it to Narasimha Dēva, and the townspeople and the *sēnabōva* Malliyaṇṇa favoured it. The *heggaḍe* Yareyaṇṇa gave certain specified lands to the temple. And Bārika-Chinnaya and *sēnabōva* Malliyaṇṇa being present, granted for it one family of oilmongers and one family of garland makers. And all the townspeople of Chittavaṭṭi and the Brahmans of Hannasēṇi made a grant of a handful of rice, with one areca-nut and two betel leaves per shop. The oilmonger chiefs (many named) of the thousand families, together with the fifty families of the tread oil-mills, granted a *solige* of oil per mill.¹
v2.c24.s1.7
³ E. C., IX, Ch. 96, p. 154, text, p. 101.
v2.c24.s1.8
⁴ Ibid., Ch. 81, p. 148.
v2.c24.s1.9
¹ E. C., V, P. I, Bl. 75, p. 75.
v2.c24.s1.10
When the Kaḷachuriya king Vikramāṅka was "ruling with gentleness" the Banavase-nāḍ in A.D. 1177 and "the thousand of the wealthy Kuppaṭūr, followers of Manu's code were at peace", on "the wretched Gavuḍasāmi" coming "like an Asura" to destroy the sacrifices of that town, with his followers who attacked, seized, and imprisoned the Brahmans, raided and besieged the villages, "loosing the waists (of the women)" and seizing the prisoners, the brave Kēteya Nāyaka, son of Idukeya Nāyaka, "with a great fury like that of Māri" slew the enemy, recovered the women and livestock but died in the glorious attempt. "All the Brahmans, approving, granted for him a *netta(ru)-goḍage* and a house (specified) as a permanent endowment".²
v2.c24.s1.11
² E. C., VIII, Sb. 251, p. 39.
v2.c24.s1.12
In about A. D. 1180 a fight took place regarding the boundary of Kōravaṅgala and Dudda in the reign of the Hoysala king Vira Ballāḷa II. Baramōja and Masaṇōja, sons of Biṭṭiyoja, fell in the fight. "All the Brahmans of the immemorial agrahāra of Śāntigrāma and the farmers raised the stone to their memory."³ Leṅkaṇa Nāyaka of Karimale in A. D. 1223, as related elsewhere, captured the cows of Malaval and departed. Māva-bōva of Malavaḷḷi opposed him, recovered the cows but died in the attempt. "The *Mahāmaṇḍalēśvara* Nigalūr Bommi-Dēvarasa, with the farmers and subjects of Malavaḷḷi, approving of Chikka-bōva's elder brother Māva-bōva's service, granted land (specified) for him as a *nettaru goḍage*."¹ All the *mahājanas* of Kūḍalūr alias Rāja-rāja-chatur-vēdimaṅgalam in Kiḷalai-nāḍu of Muḍi-goṇḍa-Śōḷa-vaḷanāḍu, bestowed, according to an illegible inscription dated A. D. 1232, upon...the office of *gāmuṇḍa* and granted to him according to former custom certain specified lands. The epigraph does not tell us the reason of their benevolence.² In A. D. 1239 Jakkayya, son of Bomma Gauḍa, fell in a fight about the boundary of Bāgaḍe and Kittanakere. His father and his elder brother set up a *viragal* in his name. "And all the Brahmans of Vijaya-Narasimhapura, which is Bāgaḍe, being pleased", granted certain specified land as an *umbali* to his descendants.³ All the Brahmans of Nallūr, in about A. D. 1247, measured the land (in their village ?) and made the following order—"For twenty-four years no one of the twelve groups of five may reduce the fixed rate."⁴
v2.c24.s1.13
³ E. C., V, P. I, Hn. 70, p. 22.
v2.c24.s1.14
¹ E. C., VII, Sk. 268, p. 144. ² E. C., IX, Cp. 112, pp. 156-7. ³ E. C., V, P. I., Ak. 184, p. 185. ⁴ E. C., VI, Kd. 133, p. 25. ⁵ E. C., VII, Ci. 54, p. 188. ⁶ E. C., IX, An. 84, p. 119.
v2.c24.s1.15
Evidently the Brahmans could also unite for purposes of settling land revenue questions. Nāyaga Nāyaka, son of Hiriya Bomma, in A. D. 1277, fell in a cow raid in Nelkudure. Pleased with his bravery, all the *ūr-oḍeyas* of Nelkudure, Jaya Dēva Daṇṇāyaka and all the subjects granted specified land as a *nettaru-goḍage*.⁵ In A. D. 1297 Dātiya Sōmaiya Daṇṇāyaka's son Śinga(ya) Daṇṇāyaka together with the inhabitants of Periya-nāḍu in Poṇmaṇiga-nāḍu, and the (?) officers at the door of Śingaya Daṇṇāyaka, remitted certain specified taxes in the villages which were the property of the god Dāmōdara.⁶
v2.c24.s1.16
The carpenters, blacksmiths, goldsmiths and all the Vīra-Pañchāḷas of the four nāḍs, belonging to the Jagipu Maṭha of the Hiriya Kāḷa Maṭha of Dōrasamudra, granted a number of taxes to some one whose name is effaced in the inscription.¹ All the Brahmans of the immemorial agrahāra of Nēmaṭṭi and a number of Gauḍas (named), "uniting, in order to provide for the gauḍike of Chaṭṭanahalli in their nāḍ", purchased land (specified) and granted it, in about A. D. 1314, to Chenneya Nāyaka's grandson Śaṅkappa as an umbaḷi.²
v2.c24.s1.17
¹ E. C., IX, DB. 52, p. 69.
v2.c24.s1.18
² E. C., VII, Hl. 76, p. 173.
v2.c24.s1.19
But there are also instances of Brahmans having received grants of land at the hands of Gauḍas. In A. D. 1314 Vīra Baḷḷāḷa III gave a royal order (rāyasa) to the Sēnabōva Kāvaṇṇa, Kāḷa Gauḍa, Nāya Gauḍa, and other Gauḍas and subjects, the nature of which is not specified in the epigraph. These donees, however, on receiving it, granted land in Heggere irrigated from the Būdihāḷa tank to "all the Brahmans of the all-worshipful senior great crown-agrahāra (piriya-paṭṭada-mahāgrahāram) Udbhava-sarbbajñā-vijaya-Baḷḷāḷapura, which is Arasiyakere", as a permanent endowment.³ An effaced inscription dated A. D. 1326 relates that during the administration of Permmāḍi and others (named), all the Brahmans of the great āśrama of Muḍigoṇḍachōḷamaṇḍala, the immemorial agrahāra Malavūr, which is the Rājēndra-siṃha-chaturvēdimaṅgalam, gave to the great senior merchants, the Nānā-Dēśi-nakharangaḷu and all the other people of certain other classes (whose names are given), a niyama-śāsana relating to shops.⁴ All the Brahmans of the great agrahāra Baḷḷāḷapura, which is Kittanakere, with the consent of the royal officer Kāmeya Daṇṇāyaka, son of the great minister Poṇṇaṇṇa, in about A.D. 1336, granted Madahalu, a hamlet of Kittanakere, as a rent-free estate together with the gauḍa's office of Hiruvūr, a house, dues from the fair, and certain specified land in the latter place, to Kala Gauḍa, son of Maleya Rāma Seṭṭi, for having repaired Kittanakere-sthala which had fallen into ruins. Nāchappa and Dēvappa, sons of the great master of the robes, Nācheya Heggade, joined the Brahmans on this occasion.¹
v2.c24.s1.20
³ E. C., XII, Ck. 26, p. 79.
v2.c24.s1.21
⁴ E. C., IX, Cp. 98, p. 155.
v2.c24.s1.22
¹ E. C., V, P. I, Ak. 67, p. 136.
v2.c24.s1.23
Turning to the corporate activities of the people in what may be called legal matters, we have also many instances of the same spirit of joint-action which they showed in socio-political affairs. Buying and selling land, fixing the village boundaries and questions of a similar nature occur in the inscriptions of both the Karṇāṭaka and Tamil land. It must have been already evident to the reader that the ancient village assemblies of the south exercised considerable influence in the Tamil country. These remarks only supplement those made in connection with local administration under Vijayanagara. An inscription dated in the fourth regnal year of the king Parakēsarivarman alias Śrī-Rājēndra-Śōḷa Dēva relates that the great assembly of Ukkal alias Vikramābharaṇa-caturvēdimangalam, ordered the writing of a sale-deed (vilay-āvaṇam), of land in its own subdivision of Kāliyūr-kōṭṭam, for the maintenance of two boats (ōḍam) which had been assigned to the tank in their village by an individual (named) of the locality. The sale-deed relates the following, among other details : "We have sold, and executed a deed of sale for three thousand kuḷi, (measured) by a rod of sixteen spans (śāṇ) (with details) of land which was the common property of the assembly ".² In the record dated in the second regnal year of the king Rājakēsarivarman, we are told that the great men of the big assembly which included the great bhaṭṭas of Nālūr, a brahmadēya of Sērrūr-Kūrram, sold the market-fees (aṅgadik-kūli) of the bazaar street in their village to the god Mahādēva of Mūlasthāna at their village of Tirumayāṇam. These great men including the bhaṭṭas sold and executed the sale-deed (vilai-śrāvaṇai) with certain specified conditions relating to the māheśvaras and the members of the assembly.¹ In the Vēlūrpāḷiyam plates of Vijaya Nandivarman (III), we are told that along with a long list of exemptions (parihāra) and a written declaration (vyavasthā) Tirukkāṭṭupaḷḷi was made over to the temple assembly (paraḍai Skt. pariṣhad) of the village by a certain Yajña Bhaṭṭa, in the sixth year of the reign of the king.² An inscription dated in the third year of the reign of king Parakēsarivarman alias Śrīrājēndra Śōladēva, Sōmanātha, the supreme lord of Nipuṇilapura, and other great lords purchased from the citizens of Vāṇapuram in Karaivali, in Jayaṅgoṇḍa-Chōḷa-maṇḍalam, the cultivating land called Gaṅgādēvimaṇali. The epigraph further states that the citizens of Vāṇapuram sold and gave by a deed of sale, with all exemptions, the land enclosed within the boundaries (specified), having received from Sōmanātha the whole of the purchase-money and the tax-money due for the one thousand kuḷi " at the very place of the sale."³ An inscription dated in the ninth year of the reign of the king Parakēsarivarman alias Rājēndra-Chōḷa Dēva, relates that certain shepherds (named) made provision to supply ghee for a lamp in the Arinjiśvara temple, and agreed to stand security for one of them in case he died, absconded, got into prison, fetters or chains.⁴
v2.c24.s1.24
² S. I. I., III, P. I, pp. 16-7.
v2.c24.s1.25
¹ S. I. I., III, P. III, pp. 222-3. See also ibid, p. 262 for a sale-deed by the villagers (ūrōm) of Tiruviḍavandai in Paḍuvūr-nāḍu, a subdivision of Amūru-kōṭṭam. See also S. I. I., III, P. I, p. 11, for certain specified restrictions imposed on the members of the village and commissions of the temple of Sāttaṇ, by the great assembly of Śivachūḷāmaṇi-maṅgalam alias Vikramābharaṇa-chaturvēdimaṅgalam.
v2.c24.s1.26
² S. I. I., II, P. V., p. 507. The request (vijñapti) was made by the Chōḷa Mahārāja Kumārāṅkuśa, while the executor (ājñapti or āṇatti) was the minister Namba of the Agradatta family.
v2.c24.s1.27
³ Ibid., III, P. I, pp. 108-9.
v2.c24.s1.28
⁴ Ibid., III, P. I, p. 29. It is impossible to do any justice to the numerous instances of corporate activities among the people of the Tamil land. The examples we have given here hardly convey the spirit of co-operation which runs through the actions of the ancient Tamilians. B. A. S.
v2.c24.s1.29
Legal disputes in the Karṇāṭaka, as the examples we have already given prove, seem to have been sometimes settled by the sword. The people, however, compensated their provincial animosity by joint-endeavours at providing for the families of those who fought and died in their cause. Thus in about A. D. 1174 Honna Gauḍa, son of Bhīma, died in the war about the boundary of Honnāvūru and Niraguṇḍa. On which all the people of Masaṇa, in the government of the senior betel-carrier, the Heggaḍe Māchiyaṇṇa, uniting (made a grant for his family).¹
v2.c24.s1.30
¹ E. C., V, P. I, Hn. 68, p. 20.
v2.c24.s1.31
The custom of selling and buying land, and of settling questions connected with it, by corporate bodies was also common in the Karṇāṭaka. In A. D. 1179 the Brahmans of Siṅdaghaṭṭa, also called Saṅgamēśvara, sold to Mādaṇṇa and Bommaṇṇa, sons of Gandani Dēvaraṇṇa, for forty-four gadyāṇa certain specified land belonging to the god Lakshmī-Nārāyaṇa of Siṅdaghaṭṭa. The following is related in an inscription dated about A. D. 1215: Biṭṭi-guru, son of Devarāśi-guru, the temple priest (sthānāchārya) of the immemorial agrahāra Vijaya-Narasimhapura, which is Kaḷikaṭṭi, together with Jagata Jiya and others (named) agreeing among themselves in the presence of the great senior merchant Ponnachcha Śeṭṭi and others (named), gave to all the Brahmans of the same agrahāra, a vōle (or written deed) as follows: "A dispute having arisen as to some gain in the land of the god Kamaṭēśvara,—the people of the place, Ponnachcha Śeṭṭi, the Jiyas, Gavuḍas and Chavu-gāveyas having assembled, inspected the place, saw that from the beginning it was no part of the god's endowment, and said to those priests,—' It is not right for you to dispute about this'. On which the priests agreeing said: 'We will make no dispute. From this day forth the land of all the temples which we have been enjoying is ours; the land which the Brahmans have been enjoying since the agrahāra was established is theirs. When the land was distributed to us and to the Brahmans there was no watchman for Haḷḷi Hiriyūr'." Such was the vōle given to the Brahmans by the priests (sthānikaru).²
v2.c24.s1.32
² Ibid., Ak. 49, pp. 127-8.
v2.c24.s1.33
Among themselves also the Brahmans could act for a common purpose. In A. D. 1229 all the Brahmans of Taḷirūr *agrahāra* agreeing together made a *sameya-śāsana* as follows : "Shares (*vṛttigaḷanu*) which have not paid the fixed rent (*siddhāya*) and are ruined, from the day they have been left *ōhaḷa*,¹ will pay interest at the rate of three *hāga* a month for a *hon*. The *ōhaḷa* share may be redeemed up to three months on payment of the rent and interest (*ōhaḷav iṭṭa vṛttiyan uraṁ vṛddhikavāgi tiṅgaḷu mūrakke honna tettu biḍisikoṁbaru*). If not redeemed, the *ōhaḷa* share may be exchanged, mortgaged, sold or given away (*biḍisada-paksha ā-vōhaḷada vṛtti sanda māru-ādhi-kraya-dānākke saluvudu*). No debtor can claim the former rent from the date of the share being left *ōhaḷa* as a debt. Such is the rule made for the village. Whoso transgresses this (will incur the anger) of the emperor, and be...".²
v2.c24.s1.34
¹ "No meaning can be found for this word, which is not in any dictionary". E. C., V, P. I., p. 171, n. (3).
v2.c24.s1.35
² Ibid., Ak. 128, p. 171, P. II, p. 519.
v2.c24.s1.36
The above settlement is almost of the same nature as the following which was made by all the Brahmans of Mallikārjuna *agrahāra*, which is Diṇḍigūr, in A. D. 1231. "Considering that the former division was not equal," these Brahmans of Diṇḍigūr had the wet and dry fields of the villages measured by agents, and agreeing among themselves on the principle that all were equal and should share alike, made the following permanent settlement of the desired shares (*dhṛivav āgi ichchā-vṛttiyāgi*). Here follow the number of shares allotted to each village (named); altogether 158 shares. All those who have permanently agreed to this settlement, " if anything should befall from the act of God or from the inroad of wild tribes, cannot excuse themselves saying it is not equal. By whatever village any sale or gift takes place, this settlement is not to be transgressed."³
v2.c24.s1.37
³ Ibid., Cn. 170, p. 200.
v2.c24.s1.38
It was perhaps to avert common legal disputes that all the Brahmans of Agunda on the occasion of the construction of the Kāliya-gaṭṭa of Saṇḍa by the minister Sōmaiya Nāyaka, enacted a rule to the following effect: "Whatever trouble arises about these, those Brahmans and the farmers and chiefs of Neluvalige will dispose of it." The persons referred to here were those in whose presence the Brahmans of Agunda gave Sōmaiya Nāyaka a grant of various specified lands. They were the Brahmans of the immemorial agrahāra Tumbegana Hasaūr, Eḍevoḷalu, Sālūr, Bannivūr, Biriguñji and Koṭṭurhaḷḷi, all the Brahmans of the ninety-six villages, all the chiefs of Neluvalināḍ, Bayiche Gauḍa of Puṇyadahaḷḷi, and the Mahāmaṇḍalēśvara Tammarasa, the ruler of Hosaguṇḍa.¹ Of a similar nature is the regulation that was made by the Brahmans of the Hariharapura agrahāra, also called Keḷḷaṅgere, in A. D. 1297, to the effect that they would dispose of any dispute arising as to the lands of the village Sūleyakere, which they had sold, with all rights except koḍage, to Heggaḍe Jayitaṇṇa's son Ayyaṇṇa.²
v2.c24.s1.39
¹ E. C., VII, Sk. 312, p. 153.
v2.c24.s1.40
² E. C., V, P. I. Ak. 120, p. 166. See Ak. 121 where in A. D. 1299, we are told that the Brahmans of the same agrahāra sold the same village, but this time together with Bammihaḷḷi, to the same Ayyaṇṇa, confirming the deed of sale by a patra-śāsana and a śilā-śāsana. Ibid., p. 166.
v2.c24.s1.41
The Brahmans of the same immemorial agrahāra Hariharapura gave further expression to their sense of solidarity when in A. D. 1318 they gave a stone śāsana to the treasurer Kāvaṇṇa's son Rāmaṇṇa embodying the following clauses in their agreement. "The land in our village which Hariyaṇṇa and others (named), being unable to manage or to pay the original fixed rent and the extra taxes, transferred to us with a vōle,—that land, we having received from Rāmaṇṇa eight gadyāṇa for kaṭṭuge, kāṇike, Rāmaṇṇa will pay to the Brahmans for the land one gadyāṇa a year in the month of Pushya and will manage the land (specified); the Brahmans themselves will defray any tax imposed by the palace. That we should pay such taxes imposed by our village seems not to be the custom. This land Rāmaṇṇa may mortgage, sell or give away. Any dispute relating thereto will be settled by the Brahmans. To this land there is no reason to connect the northern field : that the Brahmans themselves will themselves enjoy. The land is granted to Rāmaṇṇa and his posterity."1
v2.c24.s1.42
The Brahmans of other *agrahāras* too could likewise unite for common objects. All the Brahmans of the *agrahāra* Vijayagōpālapura, or Igaṇasaṅthe, in about A. D. 1324, "agreeing among themselves, made the following division of Niragunda villages belonging to their land endowment, so as to form a permanent contract (*Nirgunda haḷḷigaḷanu dhruva vuṇḍigeyāgi hañchikoṇḍa-krama*): Details of *tattu* or parts, with the villages and shares belonging to each, altogether 100 shares. All the former rights connected with each village and the families living in it belong to the shareholders of that *tattu* in which it is included. At this time of partition the families among those in Nirugunda who have come there on contract (*i-hasugeya kāladalli Nirugundadallida vokkuḷugaḷoḷage vuṇḍigeyinda banda vokkuḷugaḷu*) belong to the shareholders of that *tattu* in which they are. The three families of Bēḍas in Ajjagauḍanahalli belong to the *tattu* in which it is included. Of the various families, whether they stay or whether they go, the loss or gain whatever it is, belongs to the shareholders of their respective *tattus*. Should any dispute arise regard....within the four boundaries of the villages included in these four *tattus* the Brahmans will decide and settle it."2
v2.c24.s1.43
The Vaiṣṇava Brahmans of the fourteen *vṛttis* in the middle of the village Baṇḍūr, in A. D. 1325, gave a written agreement (*patra-śāsana*) to the Brahmans of the six-sides of all-honoured great *agrahāra* Prasanna-Sōmanāthapura, making certain exchange of lands.³ These *āchāryas*, Vaiṣṇavas and Nambiyars of Baṇḍūr, we may incidentally note, had received a written grant (*patra-śāsana*) from the Hoysala king Vira Narasimha Dēva in A. D. 1281.⁴
v2.c24.s1.44
¹ E. C., V, P. I, Ak. 113, p. 161.
v2.c24.s1.45
² E. C., XII, Tp. 41, pp. 49-50, text, p. 141.
v2.c24.s1.46
³ E. C., III, TN. 99, p. 88.
v2.c24.s1.47
⁴ Ibid., TN. 100, p. 86.
v2.c24.s1.48
In about A. D. 1333 during the administration of the Mahā-prabhu Toya Siṅgeya Daṇṇāyaka, all the Brahmans of the agrahāra Hiriya-Narasimhapura, also called Karuviḍi, agreeing among themselves, resolved to divide the estate equally among the families, setting up a stone in (the temple) of Hoysaleśvara. Collecting into one all the garden, wet and dry land, and all other parts of Haḷḷiyūr and Hiriyūr, they divided them into 125 shares. (The details and regulations of their distribution are stated.) The epigraph runs thus: "Whoso enjoying land under this śāsana transgresses the regulations is excommunicated from the thirty-two thousand and is a traitor to the agrahāra." "Whoso transgresses the regulations of the śāsana will come under the order of Vīra Ballāḷa Dēvarasa and of Toya Siṅgeya Daṇṇāyaka".¹
v2.c24.s1.49
¹ E. C., XII, Tp. 83, p. 59.
v2.c24.s1.50
Social transactions related to agriculture also give us an idea of the corporate life of the people in pre-Vijayanagara times. In about A. D. 1030 during the reign of Rājēndra Chōḷa Dēva, the members of the assembly of Kūḍalūr alias Rājarāja-chaturvēdimaṅgalam, granted certain specified lands for the offerings of the god Jayaṅgoṇḍa-Śōḷa-Viṇṇagar Āḷvār. "They gave a śāsanam to the effect that they would themselves have the lands ploughed, carry to the temple, and measure out with the marakkal named Jayaṅgoṇḍa-Śōḷa a certain quantity (specified) of paddy every year." The members of the assembly also authorized the pūjāris of the god (?) to receive (?) śuṭṭukadam and a share of the produce of the lands.²
v2.c24.s1.51
² E. C., IX, Cp. 133, p. 161.
v2.c24.s1.52
The one great concern of the people was the construction of tanks for agricultural purposes. The activities of all classes of people form a significant chapter in the agrarian history of the times, incidentally adding particular interest to the subject from the point of view of their corporate life. The mahājanas of Maḷavūr alias Rājēndra-siṁha-chaturvēdimaṅgalam and Kumāra Cheṭṭiyār, in about A. D. 1060, granted certain lands (specified) to Malli Gauḍa of Appi-ūr, son of Mādi Gauḍa, below the tank which he had constructed in the village.¹ The thousand (Brahmans) of the Kuppaṭūr agrahāra, uniting, in A. D. 1071, gave to the Koṇḍeya-taḷa-prahāri, Gaṇḍara Dēva Seṭṭi, who had constructed a new tank, and formed new rice-fields cutting down forests, one matta of rice-land under the tank, according to the Kachchavi pole.² The mahā-prabhus and nāḷ-gauḍas of Halukūr, who had gained celebrity for their charity, constructed tanks, built temples, and gave shelter to refugees. The inscription dated A. D. 1177 which gives us this information, tells us that in the presence of all the subjects and farmers of Halukūr, the Mahā-prabhu Narasiṅga Gauḍa, along with three other Gauḍas (named), gave a religious significance to their deeds, by granting specified land to Chikkakavi-jīya of the Lākuḷāgama-samaya of the Kālamukha sect, washing his feet at the time of the moon's eclipse.³
v2.c24.s1.53
¹ E. C., IX, Cp. 154, p. 165.
v2.c24.s1.54
² E. C., VIII, Sb. 317, p. 55.
v2.c24.s1.55
³ E. C., V, P. I, Ak. 62, p. 135.
v2.c24.s1.56
Nāgarāśi-paṇḍita, who was also an ascetic of the Kālamukha order, received a specified gift of land in about A. D. 1189 from all the jagat-koṭṭali of the Seven-and-a-half-Lakh (country), Māra Bōva, Biṭṭi Bōva, and all the jagatis of Kalikaṭṭe, Duggabbe's son Kētaṇṇa, Kalleya, and the sixty chief men, in the presence of Sōmeya Nāyaka and all the subjects and farmers of Kalikaṭṭe. These jagati-koṭṭalis, whose identification it is not possible to determine, are also described in the same epigraph as having made Kalikaṭṭe as beautiful as Amarāvatipura, "constructed tanks built Śiva temples which all the world praised", and filled the town of Kalikaṭṭe with fruitful areca trees and fields bearing the gandhaśāli rice.⁴
v2.c24.s1.57
⁴ Ibid., Ak. 48, p. 127.
v2.c24.s1.58
In about A. D. 1190 certain persons (named) made grants of land to provide for maintaining the waste weir of the old tank, evidently in Arasiyakere, when Tippa was managing the customs of the same place.¹ When Kūsadallayya of Notta built a tank to the west of the breached tank of Hirevāḷahaḷḷi in Nirugunda-nāḍ, in A. D. 1196, Mallayya Nāyaka of Bāgavāḷa together with a number of others (named), gave him eight salage of rice-land under the tank as kere-goḍage.² In about A. D. 1211 the Brahmans of Nāraṇagaṭṭa channel, "having agreed that besides the water of the small tank for the rice-land of the Viṣṇu temple, no water can be allowed from the Nāraṇagaṭṭa channel," granted for the local god for bringing water according to the shares a fixed rate of one gadyāṇa a year.³
v2.c24.s1.59
¹ E. C., V., P. I., Ak. 85, p. 145.
v2.c24.s1.60
² Ibid., Ak. 178, p. 184.
v2.c24.s1.61
³ Ibid., Ak. 132, p. 172.
v2.c24.s1.62
According to a record dated about A. D. 1221 Chaṭṭayya Perumāḷa Dēva was about to expend 100 hon, "on account of unforeseen calamity", on the first paddy land south-east of the fields of the immemorial agrahāra Erekere, when "all the Brahmans belonging to it said that if he would build steps to the Dāsi-śeṭṭi tank, which was a very much superior place, it would be as if he had re-established their agrahāra. Accordingly, accepting this as a great favour, he allotted those 100 hon to the work of that tank. And all the Brahmans, being filled with joy, gave to the tank the name of Perumāḷa-samudra, and made to Chaṭṭayya Perumāḷa Dēva a free gift of 160 poles of garden land under the tank, accepting from him the prescribed worship of their feet".⁴
v2.c24.s1.63
⁴ Ibid., Bl. 154, p. 96.
v2.c24.s1.64
The public works of the same general, who is called Perumāḷe Dēva Daṇṇāyaka in A. D. 1270, are also mentioned in connection with the activities of the Brahmans of many agrahāras. This record informs us that "of the land which (with the usual titles) Vira Narasimha Dēvarasa had granted to the great minister Perumāḷe Dēva Daṇṇāyaka, all the Brahmans of Śrīraṅgam and of the all-honoured agrahāra Udbhava-Viśvanāthapura, which was Bāḷugu, and of four other neighbouring villages (named), made an agreement as follows with all the Brahmans of the all-honoured *agrahāra* Udbhava-Narasimhapura, which was Beḷḷūr :—In our Śrīraṅgapura, leaving the land to which water comes from the Allāḷasamudra tank, we have cultivated the rest. And Perumāḷe Dēva Daṇṇāyaka having spent much money and caused that Allāḷasamudra to be rebuilt so as to endure, we have taken from the land under that tank certain land (specified), west from the old breach which Perumāḷe Dēva Daṇṇāyaka has repaired, measuring forty-eight *kamba* according to the pole of thirty-two paces, for which we will pay to the Brahmans of Beḷḷūr a sum total of twelve *gadyāṇa* a year". The concluding lines of the same epigraph clearly indicate that the joint-activity of the people, as is proved by some of the inscriptions we have cited above, had royal sanction behind it, at least in the times of the Hoysala rulers. The epigraph in question ends thus : "Whoso transgresses this settlement falls under the order of the Pratāpa Chakravarti Hoysala Vira Narasimha Dēvarasa."¹
v2.c24.s1.65
¹ E. C., IV, Ng. 48, pp. 125-6.
v2.c24.s1.66
The close relationship in which the State stood to the corporate activities of the people in this direction is also seen in another inscription of about A. D. 1270 which informs us that the *Mahāsāmanta*...Nārāṇamayya and the farmers and subjects of Gaṇḍāsi fixed as the water-rate for the lands watered from the old tank, for a *khaṇḍuga* of rice-land a *khaṇḍuga* of *bittuvaṭṭa*. And for the work of the tank they granted land (specified) under the tank.²
v2.c24.s1.67
² E. C., V, P. I, Cn. 222, p. 221.
v2.c24.s1.68
Provision was also made by the people for the maintenance of the cart-drivers attached to tanks. In about A. D. 1294 Dēvappa's son, the famous Chandappa, presented to the Brahmans of Hariharapura *alias* Kellaṅgere, a cart for the tank (of the *agrahāra*). Those Brahmans made a grant of specified land for the livelihood of the cart-driver. It was further resolved that "in the old town and in the villages... will be given for the grain for the bullocks and buffaloes."³
v2.c24.s1.69
³ Ibid., Ak. 116, p. 162.
v2.c24.s1.70
For having repaired village tanks, the people conferred on charitable persons land as a *kodaṅgai*. The great minister Tamma Śiṅgaya Daṇṇāyaka, according to a record dated A. D. 1314, together with the inhabitants of Pulliyur-nāḍu, granted to Dāmōdara Sōmaiya certain specified lands as a *kuḍaṅgai* for having built the Kaṟkirai tank in Pulliyur-nāḍu, which had been breached and gone to ruins.¹
v2.c24.s1.71
¹ E. C., IX, Ht. 139, p. 106.
v2.c24.s1.72
How the Brahmans appreciated the work done by eminent men for public purposes is narrated in a record dated A. D. 1314. Māchaya Daṇṇāyaka having bought from the Brahmans certain lands bordering on the tank of the stream to the north of Dēvarahaḷḷi, a hamlet of the *agrahāra* Chennakēśvarapura *alias* Goravūr, in the name of his mother Māyakkā having expended three or four thousand *honnu* and constructed a tank, the 144 Brahmans of Goravūr, agreeing among themselves, made over the lands under it, excepting temple benefactions, for the benefit of Māchaya Daṇṇāyaka's children's children.²
v2.c24.s1.73
² E. C., V, P. I, Hn. 182, p. 42.
v2.c24.s1.74
The common people were in no sense inferior to the Brahmans in recognizing the services of influential persons. Another record also dated A. D. 1314 informs us that Akaimā ...mother of the same Māchaya Daṇṇāyaka, bought certain land from the Brahmans of Bēḍarahaḷḷi, a hamlet of the *agrahāra* Haleya-Goravūr, and having spent 3500 *gadyāṇa* built the tank called Māchasamudra after her son. The 144 shareholders of Goravūr, with the consent of all the people and farmers of Hirivūr, settled that certain specified lands were to be granted as permanent endowment to Māchaya Daṇṇāyaka's children's children.³
v2.c24.s1.75
³ Ibid., Hn. 164, pp. 40-1.
v2.c24.s1.76
In about A. D. 1324 all the Brahmans of the *agrahāra* Ballāḷapura which is Hiriya-Gaṇḍasi, " being seated in the place of council, agreeing among themselves, gave to Māyi-sāhani's son Machiya Nāyaka, a stone *śāsana* " for having constructed a virgin tank in the village of Jōgehaḷḷi to the west of the town.¹
v2.c24.s1.77
¹ E. C., V., P. I., Ak. 158, pp. 180-1.
v2.c24.s1.78
The inhabitants of Pulliyūr-nāḍu, in about A. D. 1330, showed that they could be as generous as the Brahmans. Together with Dāṭi Śiṅgeya Daṇṇāyaka, Nambi Sōma Śeṭṭi, Pulimāra Gauḍa, Ānaiyār, the accountant of the nāḍu, and others (named), the people of Pulliyūr-nāḍu granted to Nambi Dēvi Śeṭṭi the pool situated between Attivallai and Sūlivallai adjoining Śattiparam, which, after clearing out the silt, he had made into a tank, as a kuḍaṅgai.²
v2.c24.s1.79
² E. C., IX, Ht. 56, p. 94.
v2.c24.s1.80
For purposes of awarding honours too the people worked in harmony with the officers of the government. In A.D. 1343 the Mahā-sāmantādhipati Chikka Kaḷaya Nāyaka together with all the farmers of Kāḍagōḍi-sthaḷa on the south side of the great Saṇṇe-nāḍ, granted to the sēnabōva of the Saṇṇe kingdom, Perumbāchāri's (son) Sātuvela Allāḷa all the wet and dry land with the four boundaries of Haṭṭandūr in their own sthaḷa, as a sarvamānya koḍage.³
v2.c24.s1.81
³ E. C., IX, Bn. 41, p. 10.
v2.c24.s1.82
Instances of the corporate activities of the people for religious purposes are found in the records of the Tamil kings. We shall give only a few of these, since it is well known that joint-action was a special feature of the village assemblies of the ancient Tamil people. The following relates to the times of Rājakēśarivarma, who may have been perhaps Āditya I. The great merchants (nagarattār) of Kumāramārtāṇḍapuram assigned, and gave with the consent of the guild, their income of every alternate year from the collection (vārāvaigal) from certain specified flower gardens for the repairs (pudukkuppuram) and gōpuram of the local temple. If they failed as a guild or as a single individual, one among them who was in charge of the temple, was authorized to levy a fine of gold himself and realize it from the defaulter openly or at any place he liked.⁴ Another record dated in the twelfth regnal year of Ko-Rāja- Kēsarivarman (Rājarāja Dēva) informs us that the *sabhai* (assembly) of the same village pledged themselves to furnish a yearly supply of paddy to the temple treasurers (*Śiva-paṇḍāri-gal*) from the interest of a sum of money, which they had received from a large stone-temple, named Rājasimhēśvara at Kañchipuram, or to pay a fine of a quarter *pon* daily.¹
v2.c24.s1.83
⁴ S. I. I., III, P. III, p. 224.
v2.c24.s1.84
¹ *S. I. I.*, I., p. 140. See also *S. I. I.* III, P. I, p. 18.
v2.c24.s1.85
In A. D. 1007 during the times of Rājarāja Dēva, the members of the assembly of Periya-Maḷavūr "having assembled without a vacancy in the assembly, in the temple of the god Jayaṅgoṇḍa-Śōḷa-Viṇṇagar-āḷvār at Nigarili-Śōḷapuram", granted specified land for the daily offerings of the god. It is interesting to observe that these members of the assembly of Periya-Maḷavūr alias Rājēndrasiṃha-chaturvēdimaṅgaḷam, gave the *śāsana* for the above god "binding ourselves to plough and cultivate the lands ourselves, and to bring to the temple and measure out fully, with the *marakkāl* named Jayaṅgoṇḍa-Śōḷan, a certain quantity (specified) of clean paddy."² The citizens of Nigarili-Śōḷapuram also gave a grant of land to the same temple in the same year.³
v2.c24.s1.86
² *E. C.*, IX, Ch. 128, p. 159. See also Cp. 132, p. 161.
v2.c24.s1.87
³ *Ibid.*, Cp. 131, p. 160.
v2.c24.s1.88
In A. D. 1014 five prominent men (named) of the assembly of Vaṇṇdūr alias Chōḷamādēvi-chaturvēdimaṅgaḷam, in Kiḷalai-nāḍu of Gaṅgapāḍi, gave a signed agreement to the *pūjāris* of the same god mentioned above, pertaining to minute regulations they had made in connection with the grant of paddy that was given as a gift for the offerings of the god.⁴
v2.c24.s1.89
⁴ *Ibid.*, Cp. 129, *ibid.* For a similar gift of a tax *dēvadāna* by seven members of another (?) assembly of the same *puram*, see Ch. 139 dated about A. D. 1015. *Ibid.*, pp. 162-3.
v2.c24.s1.90
Bāvaṇa and Rāvaṇa, two brothers, sculptors by profession, and "possessed of unblemished virtues", in A. D. 1139 in order "to clear an aspersion on their own race of the sculptors," set up the image of the god Kusuvēśvara, and calling together Mēchi Seṭṭi, Kirtti Seṭṭi, with all the chief people of the town (name ?) and the five *mathas*, along with them presented that temple of the god Kusuvēśvara to Gautama Dēva as attached to the god Kēdarēśvara. Whereupon Gautama Dēva (on the date specified), in the presence of all the townspeople and the five maṭhas, made for the decorations and offerings of the god a specified grant of land. "And Mēchi Seṭṭi, Kirtti Seṭṭi and the other chief townsmen, on account of their having been spectators of such a pure work of merit, for the repairs of the temple remitted for ever the land-rent of the house which Bāvaṇa had occupied. And the fifty families of oilmen granted for the perpetual lamp one soṇṭige of oil from their mills. And Khēvale Gāvuṇḍa and all the headmen of the tailors, for the god's Chaitra purification festival, granted one paṇa a year from each family; and in case of a marriage, one paṇa from the bride-groom's party, and one paṇa from the bride's party, and the money for kusumbe (red safflower)".¹ No greater proof than the above is needed to maintain that the people of the Karṇāṭaka were bound together by a remarkable spirit of co-operation, especially in religious matters. This assertion of ours is further proved by an inscription dated A. D. 1143 which informs us that Viṣṇuvardhana Dēva's senior door-keeper (hiriya-haḍiyara) Rēvimayya, with the knowledge of all the citizens of Viṣṇusamudra in Āsandi-nāḍ, granted specified land for the god Nakharēśvara. Also Dāsayya, son of Bū Seṭṭi, made a specified grant for the same. And all the citizens assigned certain tolls (specified) for the same. And the oilmongers made a specified grant for the perpetual lamp of the god.²
v2.c24.s1.91
¹ E. C., VII, Sk. 112, p. 83.
v2.c24.s1.92
² E. C., VI, Kd. 99, p. 18.
v2.c24.s1.93
The Brahmans of Hariharapura or Kellangere, in A. D. 1161, "washing the feet of Śivaśakti-paṇḍita", the priest of the temple of the god Dharmēśvara, granted (specified) lands for the perpetual lamp, decorations and repairs of the temple. "And the Heggades of the customs remitted the customs payable to them, also for the same purpose, together with one oil mill for the god Dharmēśvara and another for the god Kēśava. And to Nāchaya, the worshipper of the god Dharmēśvara, they granted the customs dues on looms and the plaited hair tax.¹
v2.c24.s1.94
¹ E. C., V, P. I, Ak. 117, p. 163. See Ak. 111, p. 160, for a similar instance. For an endowment made over by a Heggade, declared to be under the protection of all the subjects of the nine nāḍs, see ibid., Bl. 25, p. 53.
v2.c24.s1.95
Grants of land were often made in the presence of the people. Thus in A. D. 1174 the Heggaḍes of Arasiyakere, Rēchaṇa, Kētamalla, and Muttaṇa Māra, in the presence of the subjects and farmers, gave land as a gift for the decorations of the god Areya Śaṅkara. The townsmen (or merchants) granted a pot of rice to Mādhava-jiya, of the Kālamukhas, evidently a priest of the same temple (at Hagariṭṭige).²
v2.c24.s1.96
² Ibid., Ak. 69, p. 137. See also Ak. 127 of A.D. 1185, pp. 169-70; Ak. 61 of A. D. 1185, p. 133; Ak. 193 of 1194, pp. 186-7; E. C., VI, Tk. 45, p.112; E. C., VIII, Sb. 140 dated in A.D. 1198, p. 20; E. C., IV, Hg. 14,p. 67.
v2.c24.s1.97
The corporate activities of the Jainas were too varied and prominent to be left out of account in the history of the Karṇāṭaka. Their public charities in A. D. 1220 are minutely described in a record of that date. Arasiyakere owed its greatness to the liberality of these bhavyas, who, in addition to their other works, contributed a koṭi (of money), with a temple and an enclosure wall, for the shining Sahasrakūṭa Jina image set up by the great Rēcharasa. They also made provision for the livelihood of the pūjāris and servants of the Sahasrakūṭa Chaityālaya, the food to be given to all those of the four castes who may come, and the repairs of the Jina temple, the Chaityālaya, purchasing land from the 1000 families of the locality. They also received funds (specified) from the people (named) and a shop from the Paṭṭaṇasvāmi Kalla…³
v2.c24.s1.98
³ E. C., V, P. I, Ak. 77, p. 141. Cf. The charity of some of "the faithful" (named) for the cause of the agrahāra Talirūr, also in the same year A. D. 1220. Ak. 133, p. 172. In Ak. 92 of A. D. 1223 we have a further proof of the bounty of the citizens of Arasiyakere, p. 148.
v2.c24.s1.99
As regards the joint-activity of the Brahmans we have a record dated about A. D. 1227 which informs us that all the Brahmans of Narasimhapura which is Muduvaḍi, in order to provide for the perpetual lamp of the family god Amṛtēśvara, agreeing among themselves, created a fund as the capital.⁴
v2.c24.s1.100
⁴ Ibid., Ak. 152, p. 180.
v2.c24.s1.101
In A. D. 1228 the kings Iśvara Dēva, Māda Dēva and Malli Dēva of the Sinda-kula and various sāvantas (named), Chikka Bēgūr and Bāsūr, made grants of offerings (specified) for the god Rāmanātha of Mora-Guruva. And the nāḷ-prabhus (named) followed their example by granting specified offerings at the various seasonal festivals. The five hundred svāmis and a number of others (named) including sāvantas, the 300 Billas of the Ninety-six Thousand, and boatmen, the bōvas, and the ālegolegas made a grant of the fallen areca-nuts in Baḷḷe, Kuṛuva and Bēgūr, and the boatmen's taxes in those places, evidently for the offerings of the same god.¹
v2.c24.s1.102
¹ E. C., VII, H1, 8, p. 159. For another example, see E.C., VI, Tk. 83 of about A. D. 1230, pp. 120-1; Kd. 100 of A. D. 1240, p. 18; Tk. 3 of A. D. 1260, p. 103; E. C., VIII, Sb. 247 of A. D. 1288, p. 38.
v2.c24.s1.103
In what manner the State acceded to the demands of the people is related in an inscription dated A. D. 1290. "On a petition being made by the inhabitants of Iḷaippākka-nāḍu, the officer Ṡellappiḷḷai, the temple manager of Naḷaṇḍigaḷ Nārāyaṇa-Tādar and some others (named), to the effect that the provision made for the expenses of festivals of the god Ṡokkap-perumāḷ of Tombaḷūr is inadequate, the king (Hoysaḷa Vira Rāmanātha Dēva) remitted " 10 pon out of the amount that was being paid by (the village of) Tombaḷūr.²
v2.c24.s1.104
² E. C., IX, Bn. 11, p. 6. For the provision made by all the Brahmans of an agrahāra, the name of which is effaced in the inscription, see E. C., IV, Yl. 57 of about A. D. 1292, p. 32. The Pāñchāḷas of a certain place also gave expression to their solidarity in about A.D. 1300 E. C., IX, Bn. 12, P. 6.
v2.c24.s1.105
For patriotic as well as religious purposes the inhabitants of Periya-nāḍu in Māśandi-nāḍu, including Piḷḷa Gauḍa, the officer of the nāḍu which was called after the ruler, Vira Baḷḷāḷa Dēva-nāḍu, and the royal officers (named), A.D. 1304, granted the wet and dry lands (specified) in the villages of Neṛkundi and Erumūrkkadappaḷḷi in order to provide for the offerings of the god Ṡingaveṅgai-Uḍaiyār.³ With the same object the Mahāsāmantādhipati Sakkaya Nāyaka's son Vaiśandagaḷi Dēva together with the inhabitants of the nāḍu (Muttakūr ?) in A. D. 1315 granted the village of Araiyūraṇpaḷḷi in the Muttakkūr division, for the offerings of the god Seviḍai-Nāyaṇār.¹
v2.c24.s1.106
³ E. C., IX, Bn. 53, pp. 11, n. (3), 12.
v2.c24.s1.107
¹ E. C. IX., Ht. 159, p. 109. See also Ht. 100 of about A. D. 1330, p. 100.
v2.c24.s1.108
In A. D. 1320 Mādhava, son of...va Rāya, having secured land valued at sixty *honnu* which he obtained from the road to the town of Kūḍali, together with other favours from the minister Bombeya Daṇṇāyaka, presented that piece of land, with (the consent of ?) sixty farmers, one hundred and twenty temple priests, and others, for the decorations of the god Rāma of Kūḍali.²
v2.c24.s1.109
² E. C., VII, Sh. 69, p. 27.
v2.c24.s1.110
The inhabitants of Tēkal-nāḍu, in A. D. 1328, granted lands (specified) below the big tank of Śirraṭṭimaṅgalam for the offerings of the god Varadar of Tēkal. They also gave a deed of gift to Śokkaperumāḷ permitting him to have it engraved on stone and copper. The concluding lines of their grant run thus: "We also pledge ourselves to pay any unjust dues that this village may become liable to by reason of this *nāḍu* passing into other hands and to restore it intact for the above purpose."³
v2.c24.s1.111
³ E. C., X, Mr. 11, p. 158.
v2.c24.s1.112
That the traditions of solidarity of the early rulers and their people lived till the year of the foundation of the Vijayanagara Empire is proved by a record dated A. D. 1346 which deals with the activities of citizens and officials. The inhabitants of Ambaḍakki-nāḍu, including Pāppiśiyar and six others (named), and the *Mahāsāmantādhipati* Mañjaya Nāyaka's son Aṅkaya Nāyaka granted all the wet and dry lands belonging to Ānur of their *nāḍu*, to provide for the offerings in the temple of Irājēndra-Śōḷa-Tekkiśvaram-Uḍaiya-Nāyaṇār at Śengai. The grant contains the signature of the *nāḍu-Seṭṭiśvara-dēvar*, that of the *nāḍ* accountant Nilappan, and of a few more persons.⁴
v2.c24.s1.113
⁴ Ibid., Sd. 67, pp. 187-188.
v2.c24.s1.114
For purely charitable purposes endowments of the people in pre-Vijayanagara times are numerous, both in the Karṇāṭaka and Tamil lands. In the south public charities, as in the reign of Parāntaka II, were placed under the *māhēsvaras* and great men of assembly.¹ Sometimes, as in Utkal, the village assemblies pledged themselves to feed Brahmans daily from the interest which amounted to 100 *kāḍi* of paddy every year.²
v2.c24.s1.115
¹ *S. I. I.*, III, P. III, pp. 256-7, 260.
v2.c24.s1.116
² *Ibid*, P. I, p. 13. See also *S. I. I.*, I, p. 69, *E. C.*, III, Nj. 161, p. 111.
v2.c24.s1.117
The same liberal ideas which prevailed in the Tamil country also induced the people of the Karṇāṭaka to give concrete expression to their feelings of generosity. In A. D. 1103 the thousand Brahmans of the *agrahāra* Nelavatti gave specified garden land to Mādhava Salaṅgi Kēśavayya's son Biṭṭemayya, "worshipping his feet", for the *khaṇḍika dharma*.³ Certain farmers (named) in about A. D. 1136 made a grant of land (specified) for (the god) Mahādēva of Manaḷi (in Yeḍatore).⁴
v2.c24.s1.118
³ *E. C.*, VII, Hl. 66, p. 172. *Khaṇḍika-dharma*="Grant for the recitation of some portion of the Veda". *Ibid.*, n. (2).
v2.c24.s1.119
⁴ *E. C.*, IV, Yd. 14, p. 53.
v2.c24.s1.120
Endowments were also made for the temples of the Jainas. In about A. D. 1173 all the chiefs and farmers of Iḍai-nāḍ, which was Periya-nāḍ, made a grant for the *basti* in Kolgaṇa, to the *Mahāmaṇḍalāchārya* Pādirāja Dēva Uḍaiyar's disciple Śiṅgaṇa Dēva.⁵
v2.c24.s1.121
⁵ *Ibid.*, Ch. 181, p. 22.
v2.c24.s1.122
In about A. D. 1180 the *mahājanas* of Kūḍalūr granted certain specified land as a *kuḍaṅgai* to (?) Sōmaṇṇa Gāvuṇḍan.⁶
v2.c24.s1.123
⁶ *E. C.*, IX, Cp. 157, p. 165.
v2.c24.s1.124
The great minister Perumāḷe Dēva Daṇṇāyaka bought certain specified land at Esagūr from certain Gauḍas (named) of Beṇṇedoṇe, in Bemmattanūr-vṛtti, in A.D. 1286, in the presence of the various local authorities and interested persons (named), and made grants (detailed) from it to *Adhikāri* Viṭṭhappa, Balla Gauḍa, Sēnabōva Bāchayya, Heggaḍe Bommayya, and two others (named). And the remainder of all the land at Esagūr he granted to a number of gods (named).
v2.c24.s1.125
And all the farmers of Bemmattūr made a grant. And the citizens, nāḍ-prabhu, nāḍ-śeṭṭis (many named), the rāja-guru and dharma-gurus, the temple priest of Hiḍimbēśvara, Sēnabōva Bāchaṇṇa, Heggade Kāmabōva, and all the subjects uniting in a work of merit, Perumāḷe Dēva Daṇṇāyaka caused the śāsana to be written and given, freeing on the part of the nāḍ itself all the land of that Esagūr from taxes and dues (specified).¹
v2.c24.s1.126
¹ E. C. XI, Cd. 32, pp. 9-10. See also E. C., IV., Ng. 41, dated A. D. 1284 for some more charities by the same general, p. 124.
v2.c24.s1.127
The inhabitants of Iḷaippākka-nāḍ together with the officer of the nāḍ and one another person, in A. D. 1288, made an endowment for some purpose not stated in the epigraph.² An effaced inscription of a similar nature, dated A. D. 1303, informs us that the Brahmans (named) of Kyaslūr in Sāntalige-nāḍ of the Āraga-veṇṭhe, gave to Liṅgappa's son Chalappa some village.³
v2.c24.s1.128
² E. C., IX, Dv. 24, p. 76.
v2.c24.s1.129
³ E. C., VIII, Tl. 139, p. 191.
v2.c24.s1.130
According to a record dated A. D. 1305 Chakravarti Daṇṇāyaka, son of Perumāḷe Dēva Daṇṇāyaka, granted certain specified lands in Śivapura situated in Gaṅga-Nārāyaṇa-Chaturvēdi-maṅgaḷam, to some persons (named). The same inscription tells us that he had received a village (?) as a sarva-mānya from the inhabitants of the Iḷaippākka-nāḍu.⁴
First 130 of 147 passages. Read on