The Colas c25.50

c25.50

Cattle-lifting was a common offence in several parts of the kingdom and was not easy to control. The gift of Mangalam (Salem Dt.) as a *dēvadāna* was accompanied by a proclamation that the property of those who stole the cattle from the *dēvadāna* or otherwise caused any injury to the village would be forfeited to the temple,—a somewhat drastic declaration equalled only by the wide terms of some clauses in the emergency laws of modern states. Acts of mischief against cattle, one of the chief forms of wealth in those days, from robbers and by means of regular cattle-raids in the open are recorded in numerous inscriptions from the Pudukkottah, North Arcot and Mysore areas.¹³⁹ Another source of danger to cattle was from wild animals, and a vigorous relief sculpture on a rock at Kīḻ-muttugūr (N. Arcot) commemorates the heroism of a man who felled a tiger on the spot.¹⁴⁰ Such stray instances are bound always to occur; and their fewness on the whole strengthens the impression that during this period internal peace was very successfully maintained. But the times were rough, and people had none of the sentimental squeamishness about physical pain and suffering that marks our outlook on life to-day.