The Colas c26.29

c26.29

An inscription from Siddhamalli (Mannargudi tq. Tanjore) dated in the third year of Adhirājendra records a very interesting *grāma-vyavasthā* (a constitutional resolution for the village) arrived at by the *sabhā* at a full meeting summoned after due notice and held in the presence of a royal officer. It says that the executive committee (*ūr-kūṭṭam*) and the *vāriyams* (*ūr-vāriyam*) as also the *vāriyam* for the *nāḍu* (Purangarambai) were to be manned only by the *Śāsanabaddhar* and the *Śāsanabaddha-makkaḷ*. If others are to do such work, they must be elected at a full meeting of the *sabhā* held after due notice in accordance with a royal order (*tiruvāṇai*); if, however, they are directly appointed by the government—*ippaḍi anṟikke rājakulattāl varaṇanjeyvār*—they should be ten per *śēri* for *kūṭṭam*, one per *śēri* for *vāriyam*, and three per *śēri* for *nāṭṭuvāriyam*. And in any case only persons who had not served for five years including the year concerned should be chosen. The inscription breaks off here and is perhaps not complete. But the part that has survived is remarkable for two reasons; it contemplates three alternative methods of appointment to the executives of the village and the *nāḍu*—hereditary right guaranteed by *śāsana*, election by *sabhā*, and appointment by government. Then, it shows that one class of persons were deemed qualified in their own right for all the executive posts; they are described as *Śāsanabaddha* and *Śāsanabaddha-makkaḷ*. These terms are not easy and can be elucidated only tentatively at present. An inscription of Uttama Cōḷa's reign from Śembiyanmahādēvi (Tanjore dt.) states that the *Śāsanabaddha-caturvēdibhaṭṭattānap-perumakkaḷ* of that village were brought into existence as a body by the queen whose name the *brahmadēya* village bears; this shows that the term refers to men included by name in the original *śāsana* deed creating the *brahmadēya*, who were chosen naturally for their learning and character; and the *makkaḷ* of our inscriptions may then be taken to apply to their descendants. This view, if correct, leads to the further inference that the hereditary owners of *brahmadēya* lands were quite ready to admit others into partnership in the management of local affairs, and content, if necessary, to limit the sphere of their own political ambition to give scope to their fellows,—or possibly found themselves compelled to do so by the force of changing conditions.