The Colas c22.7

c22.7

In the sixth year of the reign there was scarcity and distress consequent on a big flood which brought destruction to the villages and their crops. A fairly extensive tract of land in the North and South Arcot districts seems to have felt the effects of the visitation. An inscription¹⁵ of A.D. 1125 from Tiruvōttūr (North Arcot) records a flood and the consequent destruction of crops leading to the sale of some land by the *ūr* for raising money to pay the taxes of the year. In the same year, at Tiruvadi (South Arcot), the Mahāsabhā had to sell some of the common land for the same purpose on account of difficulty experienced in the payment of the land tax (*kaḍamaittaṭṭu*) for the sixth regnal year.¹⁶ In a somewhat later record of the eleventh year from Kōvilaḍi (Tanjore district), the fact is mentioned that the village of Tiruppēr became deserted owing to the advent of bad times;¹⁷ it is not certain, however, that this vague statement has reference to the same conditions as those noted in the two inscriptions cited above; if that be so, the area affected by the distress must have extended into the Tanjore district also.