Administration and Social Life under Vijayanagar c11.43

c11.43

The nāḍu was a larger political unit than a village. It had also an assembly which went by the name of nāḍu, the members of which were called the nāṭṭavar. The nāḍu enjoyed similar powers as the village assembly but its jurisdiction extended over a wider area. For instance the nāṭṭavar of the Kāṉanāḍu alias Virudarājabhayaṅkara vaḷanāḍu sold a piece of land to Tirumēṉi Alagiyār alias Nayiṉār Viśaiyālayadēva of Śūraikkuḍi.³² According to a record at Peṇṇāḍam in the South Arcot district the nāṭṭār and Tantrimār of Karippōkkunāḍu made a sarvamānya gift of land.³³ Similarly the nāṭṭavar of Karigayanāḍu made a grant of six *poṉ* which was the income from a particular village. Again the residents of Teṅkaraināḍu in Jayaśiṅakulakālavaḷanāḍu made a gift of land to the temple of Tirukkōkaṇṇamuḍaiya Nāyaṉār.³⁴ Thus the nāḍu and the sabhā were quasi-independent republics in the local areas managing local affairs, and bearing the responsibility for the carrying on of certain branches of the administration in the local areas.