State and Government in Ancient India c18.s1.126

c18.s1.126

Numerous inscriptions from northern and southern India, giving king’s orders issued to the village headman and the Village Council, show that the Central Government used to have a general power of supervision and control over the village government. This control was exercised by the occasional summoning of the village headman to the district headquarters to explain and clarify matters, as also by the periodical despatch of inspection officers to villages to supervise their accounts and general administration. Periodical auditing of the village accounts by the inscpecting staff of the Central Government is frequently referred to in Chola records, and it must have been done in all other administration as well. Members of the council were removed for misconduct by the Assembly itself; but sometimes they were also fined by the Central Government.¹ If there was a dispute between two Village Assemblies, the case must have been normally referred to the Central Government; we have, however, an instance on record when such a case was referred to the arbitration of a third Village Assembly.²