Hindu Administrative Institutions c12.s5.34

c12.s5.34

A village was generally divided into shares, and these were made by different standards of measure.⁶ Different kinds of these were in vogue during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. One such was known as the *bhakti*.¹ There is evidence to indicate a wide and elaborate survey and measurement of land though different for the different parts of the country. The earlier Gupta inscriptions mention lands being surveyed, measured, and divided into various holdings known as *pratyayas*.² The measurements were *pādāvarta*³ equal to a square foot.⁴ These holdings had different measurements. Each of them was definitely marked by boundary limits.⁵ These boundaries were fixed by special officials who were called *sīmakarmakāras* or *sīmapradāta*.⁶ The surveyor was *pramātha*, and the judicial officers and adjudicators who decided such cases of dispute were *nyāya-karmikas*. There were proper records maintained in the villages by the accountant.⁷ Next in rank was the headman. These records showed the size of different holdings with the respective proprietors besides every detail of the settlement. The official who collected the royal share of the produce in grain was named *dhruvādikaraṇika* or *dhruva*.⁸