The Colas c27.35

c27.35

A late Cōḷa inscription from Tiruvoṟṟiyūr,⁷⁶ dated A.D. 1223, records the fact that some lands which were treated as *iṟangal* were, on enquiry, found to be only *nīngal* and that, consequently, they had to pay into the treasury of the temple a considerable number of taxes and dues which had so far not been collected. It is clear that the term *iṟangal* means exemption (from taxes) while *nīṅgal* implies only that the taxes were removed from the state revenue registers because they had been transferred to some other agency for its own use.⁷⁷ Again, some cultivable land which was lying unclaimed (*pārrili*) was assigned in 1233 by the *sabhā* of Talaiccangāḍu as *iraiyili dēvadāna* to three Śiva temples of the locality; the gift contained the provision that if the land was not entered as *iraiyili* in the *oḷugu* and *pottagam*, title-deed and register, but only as *tiṟappu*, open (to assessment), the *iṟai* on the land was to be borne by the inhabitants of the village.⁷⁸ Evidently the record was engraved when the status of the land had not been finally decided; the assembly had evidently taken steps to secure *iṟaiyili* status for the land from the central government; but they also provided against the contingency of their efforts proving unsuccessful. Records like this give us a casual glimpse of the relations between local and central authorities.