The Colas c12.30

c12.30

Mention is made in the *Śilappadikāram* and the *Maṇimēkalai* of groups called *aimperunguḻu* and *eṇpērāyam*. Another group of five categories of persons is sometimes added to these to make up the ‘eighteen *kiḷaippālōr*’ as the early lexicon *Divākaram* calls them, or the ‘eighteen *śuṟṟam*’ as they are more commonly known. There are noticeable divergences among the earliest authorities on the content of *aimperunguḻu* and *eṇpērāyam*: ²⁷ this, taken along with the contexts in which these phrases occur outside the lexicons, is enough to convince a student of Tamil Literature that these various groups are part of the royal paraphernalia which accompanied kings on ceremonial occasions. The *Kuṟaḷ* knows nothing of them. Kanakasabhai,²⁸ who recognised that the ‘*eṇpērāyam*’ were the eight groups of attendants who contributed to the ‘pomp and dignity’ with which the king was surrounded, somehow convinced himself that the ‘*aimperunguḻu*’ was of another order, and has made a number of statements not one of which is warranted by his sources. ‘The council of representatives safeguarded the rights and privileges of the people; the priests directed all religious ceremonies; the physicians attended to all matters affecting the health of the king and his subjects; the astrologers fixed auspicious times for public ceremonies and predicted important events; the ministers attended to the collection and expenditure of the revenue and the administration of justice.