State and Government in Ancient India c18.s1.50

c18.s1.50

As observed already, the Primary Village Assembly of the Tamil country consisted of all the village residents. Its meeting was usually summoned by the beating of drum.² One of the most important work of the Assembly was to elect the village executive ; it was chosen after obtaining the consent of all the villagers assembled at the *ur* ;³ but how exactly this was done we do not know. The consent was probably given in an informal manner by the villagers expressing their approval of the proposals made by the influential members of the village community. The executive body was known as *āḷuṅgaṇam*, the ruling group, but its numercial strength is not known.