A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c13.52

c13.52

Provincial offices were often held by princes of the royal family. This was an advantage when there was unity in the family but when differences arose it easily led to civil war and disruption, as for instance in the Chālukya empire of Bādāmi during the interval between the death of Pulakeśin II and the accession of Vikramāditya I. There were groups of officers charged with the maintenance of the peace and securing the safety of life and property who went by different names in different kingdoms. Local policing was to some extent done by village officials. There were also bailiffs (*śāsana sañcārin*) who went about the country enforcing the execution of the orders of government and the decrees of law-courts, and they were aided in the discharge of their duties by a constabulary (*bhaṭas*). We hear also of a superintendent of the treasury (*kośādhyaksha*) and officers engaged in the survey and assessment of cultivated lands (*nilakkaḷattār* and *adhikāri*). Lastly there were the *vāyil kēṭpār*, i.e., hearers of oral orders issued by the king, also called *rahasyādhikrita*. They were the secretaries who attended on the king, listened to his orders, and subsequently wrote them out in proper form and had them communicated to the officials concerned for proper action. Such orders were called *rājaśrāvitam* under the Chālukyas and the Rāshṭrakūṭas. Besides village courts and caste and guild *panchāyats* for the settlement of disputes, there were law-courts called *adhikaraṇas* or *dharmāsanas* maintained by the central government for the administration of justice. They were presided over by state officials assisted by advisers learned in the law (*dharmāsanabhaṭṭas*). A scene in the farce *Mattavilāsa* by King Mahendravarman suggests that the courts were not altogether free from corruption. In the absence of other evidence ordeals (*divya*) were resorted to for proof.