History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c12.9

v1.c12.9

Let us next try to understand village life and administration from inscriptions as also from the Harsha-Charita. The grants of villages were addressed either to the villagers or to government officers; thus the grants at page 193 and 195 Corp. Ins. Vol. III are addressed to the villagers ( प्रतिवासिनः कुटुम्बिनः समाज्ञापयति ) who are ordered to pay the taxes to the grantees. The villagers are said to belong to all castes among whom the Brahmins were the foremost (see Corp. Ins. Vol. III p. 216 प्रतिवासिनश्च ब्राह्मणोत्तराः). Where grants are addressed to government officers, the latter are asked not to interfere with the enjoyment of the villages by the grantees. The grantees in their turn were required to be of good behaviour. The following expressions in the Chammak grant ( Corp. Ins. Vol. III page 239 ) are very interesting. अद्रोहप्रवृत्तानां अब्राह्मणचौरपारदारिकराजापथ्यकारिप्रभृतीनां असं- ग्रामं कुर्वतां अन्यग्रामेष्वनपराधानामानचन्द्रार्ककालीयः which has been translated as follows:-“The grant will last with the moon and the sun provided that the grantees commit no treason against the state, that they are not slayers of Brahmins, thieves, adulterers, poisoners of kings, that they do not wage war or commit offences in other villages, otherwise the grants were revocable.” This condition not only proves the moral and ordered life in the villages but also shows the circumspect nature of the administration.