The Colas c29.10.2

c29.10.2

After this conversion to *veḷḷān-vagai*, Paḷaiyanūr was made a *dēvadāna* of the Tiruvālangāḍu temple. The difference between this village and others of the *veḷḷān-vagai* is clearly stated in the following terms: ¹² 'This *ūr* is to be exempted from paying *iṟai* like other villages (held) by *veḷḷān-vagai*; for every year from the sixth, it is to pay a permanent *iṟai* (*ninṟiṟai*) of three thousand two hundred and eighty-eight *kalams*, seven *kuṟuṇis* and five *nēlis* of paddy and one hundred and ninety-three *kalañjus*, (one) *mañjāḍi*, and one *mā* of gold as paid before including *paḍi* and *paḷḷi*;¹³ it is to be assessed accordingly and (the assessment) entered in the accounts.' Now, these words of king's order provide a peep-hole into some important aspects of the land system under Cōḷa rule. The ordinary ryotwari village as we now call it was the *veḷḷān-vagai*, having direct relations with the government and paying a land-tax liable to revision from time to time. Whether the settlement was with the individual cultivator as at present, or, as seems more likely from the strength of communal organisations and life, with the village as a whole, is not certain. The statement that Paḻaiyanūr while it was a *brahmadēya* under the *sabhā* paid an *iṟai* of a large amount to the state is proof that a *brahmadēya* was usually subject to certain imposts payable in a lump sum of gold¹⁴ to the central government.