The Colas c25.12

c25.12

Apparently each important member of the royal family had his own entourage of such personal attendants; this is seen from such expressions in the inscriptions as: 'In the particular service (*tanic-cēvagam*) of Uḍaiyār Kōdaṇḍarāma,' 'the Śatrubhayankarat-terinda-*vēḷam* of Pañcavan Mahādēviyār'¹⁷ and so on. The king, his queens and their numerous relatives set the example, so generally followed by the official nobility, the merchants and other well-to-do classes of society, of erecting temples and endowing them on a liberal scale, and spending considerable sums of money on the reclamation of land, promotion of irrigation works, maintenance of schools and hospitals and other useful works. In order to be able properly to comprehend the loving regard and affection which generally actuated the feelings of the people towards their rulers of various grades, we must take account, among other things, of the generous measure in which much that was collected from the people by way of numerous taxes, aids and dues was returned to them in the form of charitable endowments. Such endowments formed indeed an essential feature of national economy, and it is important to grasp the significance, political and social, of the lead given by the court in this respect.