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State and Government in Ancient India c17.s4: Sub-Divisional Administration

State and Government in Ancient India c17.s4

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Sub-Divisional Administration

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Between the district and the village there were some administrative divisions, whose nature and dimensions varied widely from age to age. Manu recommends⁶ that ten villages should form one administrative unit, and ten of the latter should constitute a bigger one, consisting of 100 villages, which would roughly correspond to the modern Tehsil or Taluka. The district, which according to Manu was to consist of a thousand villages, would include ten Tehsils. The *Mahābhārata* suggests some variation in this decimal system of administrative units and recommends intermediate groups of twenty and thrity villages.¹ A glance at the epigraphical data shows that if not this exact system, its underlying principle was followed in several provinces. During the 8th and 9th centuries there were divisions of Vavullāla and Ruiddha 10 villages, Sihari and Sārakachchha 12 villages and Sebli 30 villages in the districts of Paithan (in Bombay state), Karpaṭavāṇijya, Vaṭapadraka (in Gujarat) and Purigeri (in Karnātak)² respectively. Pravareśvara was the headquarter of an administrative group of 26 villages in the Vākāṭaka kingdom in the 5th century.³ Tanukūpa, Ghaḍahaḍika and Khattadūā were the headquarters of a group of 12 villages in Rajputana, Gujarat and Bundelkhand respectively during the 11th and 12th centuries ;⁴ Nyāyapadraka group contained 17, Makkāla 42 and Varakheṭaka 63 villages⁵ in Mālwa during the same period. Divisions containing 84 and 126 villages are also known.⁶ These units seem to have been known after the name of the important towns situated in them.

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⁶ VII. 115; see also *Vishṇu*, Chap. III. Kauṭilya however refers to group of five villages as the smallest administrative division. Its officer was called *Panchagrāmi*.

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¹ XII. 87. 3 ff

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² *Rāshṭrakūṭas*, p. 138

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³ *E. I.*, XXIV. p. 264

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⁴ *E. I.*, II. p. 109 ; *I. A.*, VI. pp. 193-4; *E. I.*, IV. p. 157

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⁵ *E. I.*, XVIII. p. 322 ; *E. I.*, III. p. 48

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⁶ *I. A.*, XIX. p. 350; *E. I.*, I. p. 317

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A number of these village groups constituted something like modern Tehsil or Taluka, which was known as *pāthaka*, *peṭā*, *sthalī* or *bhukti* in the different provinces. *Kharvaṭaka* and *droṇamukha* consisting of 200 and 400 villages⁷ respectively were also sub-divisions of *vishayas* corresponding to modern Tehsils. An official like Tehsildar or Mamlatdar must have been in charge of its administration, appointed by the Central Government. He must have wielded powers similar to those of the *vishayapati*, but of course on a smaller scale.

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⁷ *Arthaśāstra*, Bk. II. Chap

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The Tehsildars of the Central Government carried on the administration of their areas with the help of hereditary revenue officers, at least in the Deccan. They were known as *nāḍgāvuṇḍas* in Karnātak and *deśagrāmakūṭas* in Mahārāshtra.¹ Deshapandes, Sardeshpandes and Deshmukhs of the Maratha period were their descendants. Whether there existed similar hereditary Tehsil officers in northern India is not known at present.

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¹ *Rāshṭrakūṭas*, pp. 178-80

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Whether the sub-divisional officers in charge of the *pāthakas*, *peṭhas* and *bhuktis* were helped and guided in administration by popular councils is the next point to be considered. There were such councils to help the district administration as shown already ; they formed a salient feature of the village administration, as will be shown in the next chapter. There is therefore nothing improbable in similar councils having functioned for the sub-divisions or Talukas also. We, however, get evidence of their existence only in Tamil country during the Chola period. How they were constituted is not yet fully known ; the Leyden grant of Animaṅgalam, however, suggestes that they included the representatives of the villages included in the *nāḍu*. The *nāḍu* assembly took active part in the periodical assessment of the land revenue as well as in the classification of land ; we find even chieftains requesting the future *nāḍus* to respect the revenue assignments made by them.² It also took suitable steps to secure relief in land tax when there was a case to justify it.³

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² *S. I. E. R.*, No. 356 of 1924

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³ *Ibid*, No. 556 of 1919

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Like the village councils, the *nāḍu* councils gave donations of their own and administered charitable endowments given by others. Numerous cases are on record of the *nāḍu* assemblies deciding cases of accidental homicides not amounting to murder, usually requiring the culprits to endow a perpetual lamp in a local temple, no doubt for the spiritual benefit of the innocent men accidentally killed by them.¹

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¹ *S. I. E. R.*, No. 217 of 1926 ; No. 411 of 1912

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The last and most important link in the administration was the village. As the problems connected with it are numerous and important, we shall deal with the topic in a separate chapter to follow. We shall conclude this chapter with an account of the town administration, which yet remains to be surveyed.

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