State and Government in Ancient India c18.s1.70

c18.s1.70

The division of the village council into sub-committees, which prevailed in Tamil country, was unknown to Karṇāṭak. Numerous inscriptions from this province show that the Great Men of the village (*mahājanas*) used to manage schools, construct tanks, build resthouses, raise subscriptions for public purposes and act as trustees and bankers, guaranteeing for all time to come the proper utilisation of the trust funds entrusted to their care. One naturally expects that the Great Men should have appointed sub-committees to supervise these different activities, but the inscriptions never refer to thein.³ It would appear that the village *mahājanas* of Karṇāṭak used to make only informal arrangements for the discharge of these various duties and responsibilities through their executive council, which is seen to consist sometimes of three and sometimes of five members.⁴ The members of the council may have taken the help of other influential citizens of the village community according to the needs of the situation.