A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c10.6

c10.6

The legendary account given by Megasthenes of the rule of the Pāndyan kingdom by Pandaia, a daughter of Herakles, has been noticed already; it must be understood as recounting the origin of the kingdom rather than as describing contemporary conditions. Megasthenes says that each day one village brought its due tribute to the royal treasury, this tribute being, perhaps, a payment in kind calculated to ensure a regular supply of provisions for the daily consumption of the royal household. There is a similar statement in the Śilappadikāram (c. A.D. 600) that on a particular day a certain cowherd family in a suburb of Madura took its turn to supply ghee to the royal palace.