The Colas c30.21

c30.21

The transfer of immovable property by sale or gift was generally attended with more formalities than that of movables. The ordinary transactions among individual owners are seldom represented in the records before us. Only those of public interest are found recorded in inscriptions, and an analysis of the sales of land so recorded reveals that at least four types were distinguished among them. They are: (1) *ājñākrayam*, (2) the *peruvilai* (great sale) of some king (named), (3) the *peruvilai* of Caṇḍēśvara and, (4) *sabhaivilai* or *ūr-vilai*. The first of these was sale by *ājñā* or royal order of the properties of persons found guilty of treason against the king or his family. The leading example of this class is the sale recorded in the Uḍaiyārguḍi inscription⁵⁵ of the properties of persons involved in the murder of Āditya II. The *peruvilai* of the kings was the sale of the lands of cultivators in the processes of revenue-collection when other means of collection had failed. The Caṇḍēśvara-peruvilai was the sale of land by Śiva temples, Caṇḍēśvara representing Śiva as his *ādi-dāsa*, first devotee, in such transactions. The corresponding term, if any, for describing sales by Viṣṇu temples was *sēnāpati-vilai*. The *sabhai-* or *ūr-vilai* was, as the name implies, the sale of land from the common land of the commune effected by the local assembly of the village. A careful study of the prices mentioned in these different classes of sales points to the conclusion that they were often governed by extra-economic considerations, and this may be the reason why the nature of the sale was specifically mentioned in each such case. The rates specified had apparently little or no relation to the market value of land in the neighbourhood. It is probable that in the *peruvilai* (lit. great sale) something like a public auction was the method of sale followed, the usual procedure being to cry out the upset price in a public place at a time fixed in advance, and await the response of those present at the sale. It is doubtful if it was a real auction where bidding against one another on the part of the buyers was allowed; the formula in the inscriptions suggests only the announcement of a fixed price together with the other terms, if any, on which the property was offered, and the acceptance by the buyer.⁵⁶