The Colas c9.13

c9.13

Sometimes years elapsed between the date when a royal order was issued or some transaction took place, and the time when it was engraved on stone. In a record²³ of a money-endowment which was made in the thirtieth year of Parāntaka I, for instance, we are told that part of this money was invested in the thirty-fifth year with the assembly of a neighbouring village. Some important inscriptions give a full account of the different stages that intervened between the issue of a royal order, especially in revenue matters, and its actual execution. A careful study of them throws much welcome light on the administrative machinery and practice of the time. They also tell us a great deal about the numerous taxes, tolls and dues of various kinds in terms not always readily understood, and about the numberless changes in place-names that formed such a marked feature of the Cōḷa period. We also learn much of society, religion, arts and crafts from the inscriptions.