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Local Government in Ancient India c13: Chapter VII. Constitution and Administration

Local Government in Ancient India c13

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Contents

Chapter VII. Constitution and Administration

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MACHINERY

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With regard to the actual administrative machinery evolved or adopted by these local bodies we have to depend upon the evidence of the later Smṛtis such as those of Bṛhaspati, Nārada, and Yājñavalkya. According to Bṛhaspati they are to be governed by a board of from two to five persons selected from the best men of the community. Says he: ‘Honest persons, acquainted with the Vedas and with duty, able, self-controlled, sprung from noble families, and skilled in every business, shall be appointed as heads of an association’ (XVII. 9).¹ Again, ‘Two, three, or five persons shall be appointed to look after the welfare of the association’ (XVII. 10).² These executive officers were called *samūha-hita-vādinaḥ* and *kārya-cintakāḥ*. According to Yājñavalkya these governors should be well-grounded in religion (as embodied in the Śrutis and Smṛtis), pure in body and mind, and free from avarice (II. 191).¹ They were entitled to the obedience of the members of the corporation. The king was required to enforce their authority by penalty, and the disobedient member was fined by the first amercement. But their authority thus binding on the assembly was also respected by the king himself. As Bṛhaspati states, ‘Whatever is done by those (heads of an association) ... must be approved by the king as well, for they are declared to be the appointed managers of affairs’ (XVII. 18).² This is certainly an advance upon the earlier law on the subject. In the case of disputes, however, between these heads and their associations it is ruled that the king shall act as the umpire between them and bring them back to their duty (XVII. 20).³ Lastly, the heads of associations themselves were also authorized to mete out punishment to all offenders in the guild, whom they could censure, reprimand, and ultimately forsake (XVII. 17).¹ It should also be noted that, as the appointment of these officers vested with the public bodies, so also did the power of punishing them. Their decisions regarding them were formally notified to the king who enforced them, if they could not.

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¹ शुचयो वेदधर्मज्ञा दक्षा दान्ताः कुलोद्भवाः । सर्वकार्य्यं प्रवीणाश्च कर्तव्याश्च महोत्तमाः ॥

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² द्वौ त्रयः पञ्च वा कार्याः समूहहितवादिनः ।

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¹ धर्मज्ञाः शुचयोऽलुब्धा भवेयुः कार्यचिन्तकाः । कर्तव्यं वचनं तेषां समूहहितवादिनाम् ॥

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² तैः कृतं यत्स्वधर्मेण निग्रहानुग्रहं नृणाम् । तद्राज्ञाप्यनुमन्तव्यं निस्सृष्टार्था हि ते स्मृताः ॥

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³ मुख्यैः सह समूहानां विसंवादो यदा भवेत् । तदा विचारयेद्राजा स्वधर्मे स्थापयेच्च तान् ॥

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¹ कुलश्रेणीगणाध्यक्षाः पुरदुर्गनिवासिनः । वाग्धिग्दमं परित्यागं प्रकुर्युः पापकर्मणाम् ॥

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Sir Henry Maine stated that ‘in the almost inconceivable case of disobedience to the award of the village council the sole punishment or the sole certain punishment would appear to be universal disapprobation’ (*Village Communities in the East and West*, p. 68). But we have seen from the above evidence that the authority of the local bodies was ultimately not merely maintained by the moral sanction of the public opinion of the community, but was also enforced by the legal sanction of punishment inflicted by the king. This is clear from the evidence of certain South Indian inscriptions, in one of which, of about A. D. 1230, a village assembly decides that any one going against the interests of the village ‘should suffer as the *grāma-drohins* do’ (*Madras Epigraphy*, *Annual Report*, 1910–11, p. 75). This means that injuring the interests of the community is treated as treason against the commonweal and punishable like treason against the king (*rāja-drohin*). The same significance is borne by the term *grāma-kaṇṭaka* (‘a village pest’) in the Uttaramallūr inscription (*Arch. Surv. of India*, 1904–5, p. 144).

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As regards the composition of these administrative boards we have some interesting evidence in some of the Smṛtis. Thus Manu states: ‘Whatever an assembly, consisting either of at least ten, or of at least three persons who follow their prescribed occupations, declares to be law, the legal (force of) that one must not dispute’ (XII. 110).¹ Again: ‘Three persons who each know one of the three principal Vedas, a logician, a Mīmāṃsaka, one who knows the Nirukta, one who recites (the Institutes of) the sacred law, and three men belonging to the first three orders shall constitute an assembly consisting of at least ten members’ (XII. 111).²

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¹ दशावरा वा परिषद् यं धर्मं परिकल्पयेत् । त्र्यवरा वापि वृत्तस्था तं धर्मं न विचालयेत् ॥

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² त्रैविद्यो हेतुकस्तर्की नैरुक्तो धर्मपाठकः । त्रयश्चाश्रमिणः पूर्वे परिषत्स्याद्दशावरा ॥

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Gautama also makes the same statement: ‘They declare that an assembly (*pariṣad*, shall consist) at least (of) the ten following (members, viz.) four men who have completely studied the four Vedas, three men belonging to the (three) orders enumerated first, (and) three men who know (three) different (Institutes) of law’ (XXVIII. 49).³ Similarly, Baudhāyana: 'Four men who each know one of the four Vedas, a Mīmāṁsaka, one who knows the Aṅgas, one who recites (the works on) the sacred law, and three Brāhmaṇas belonging to three different orders constitute an assembly consisting of at least ten members' (I. 1, 1, 8).¹ The three different orders in the above passages mean those of the student, the householder, and the hermit, or according to some commentators, the ascetic, because hermits (*vānaprasthas*) cannot serve as members of *pariṣads*, as they live in the forest, while professed students are included because 'they are declared to be particularly holy in the *Dharmaskandha-brāhmaṇa*' (Bühler, *S. B. E.*, vol. XIV, p. 144 n.). Secondly, it is to be noted that all the three twice-born castes, the Brāhmaṇas, Kṣatriyas and Vaiśyas, were represented on these assemblies, but the representatives must be such as 'follow the prescribed occupations' for the caste they belong to, as laid down by Manu. It would, therefore, be a mistake to suppose that the Hindu law-givers made the assemblies exclusively Brāhmaṇa in their composition. If there is any doubt on the point the following passages from Āpastamba will serve to clear it up. He says: 'It is difficult to learn the sacred law from (the letter of)

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³ चत्वारश्चतुर्णां पारगा वेदानां प्रागुत्तमास्त्रय आश्रमिणः पृथग्धर्मविदस्त्रय एतान्दशावरान्परिषदित्याचक्षते ॥

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¹ चातुर्वैद्यं विकल्पी च अङ्गविद्धर्मपाठकः । आश्रमस्थास्त्रयो विप्रा पर्षदेषा दशावरा ॥

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the Vedas only) : but by following the indications it is easily accomplished. The indications for these are: ‘He shall regulate his course of action according to the conduct which is unanimously recognized in all countries by men of the three twice-born castes who have been properly obedient (to their teachers), who are aged, of subdued senses, neither given to avarice nor hypocrites’ (II. 11, 29, 13–14).¹ Thirdly, the number of the assembly varies from ten to three according to Manu (XII. 110 and 112).²

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¹ क्रूरा धर्मसमाप्तिस्समाम्नानेन । लक्षणकर्मणा तु समाप्यते । तत्र लक्षणम् । सर्वजनपदेष्वेकान्तसमाहितमार्याणां वृत्तँ सम्बग्विaction नीतानां वृद्धानामात्मवतामलोलुपानामदाम्भिकानां वृत्तसादृश्यं भजेत । एवमुभौ लोकावभिजयति ॥

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² दशावरा वा परिषद्यं धर्मं परिकल्पयेत् । त्र्यवरा वापि वृत्तस्था तं धर्मं न विचालयेत् ॥ ऋग्वेदविद्यजुर्विच्च सामवेदविदेव च । त्र्यवरा परिषज्ज्ञेया धर्मसंशयनिर्णये ॥

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The evidence of the Smṛtis is confirmed by that of some inscriptions in South India. These mention assemblies which appear to have consisted of ‘all the residents of a village including cultivators, professionals, and merchants’ (*Madras Epigraphy Report*, 1912–13, p. 98).

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Some of the Smṛtis refer to assemblies of Brāhmans, but these were created by the king (*rājakṛta*) and not by the public bodies (*samūhakṛta*). It was the practice of the king in early times to establish in every city with gifts of free quarters and rent-free lands, a body of learned Brāhmans with a prescribed course of duties, mainly religious.¹ The Brāhman assembly thus constituted had primarily to attend to the moral and spiritual welfare of the people, besides observing their own duties (*svadharmaḥ pālyatām*), to assist them in the discharge of their daily, occasional, and optional religious duties, to officiate at ceremonies undertaken with a view to averting providential visitations and ensuring public peace and prosperity, and to give authoritative decisions on doubtful points.² @H Bṛhaspati. But the assembly was also entrusted with certain other secular duties embracing some of the important interests of communal life, such as protection of grazing grounds and water courses, looking after temples and places of public worship and the like. @H *Vīramitrodaya.* A passage in the *Vīramitrodaya* adds the further duty of feeding people found in a helpless condition in the city, and of preventing the export to foreign countries of such goods as may endanger the interests of the community.¹

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¹ राजा कृत्वा पुरे स्थानं ब्राह्मणांन्यस्य तत्र तु । त्रैविद्यं वृत्तिमत् ब्रूयात् स्वधर्मः पाल्यतामिति ॥ (Yājñavalkya) वेदविद्याविदो विप्रान् श्रोत्रियानग्निहोत्रिणः । सत्कृत्य स्थापयेत् तत्र तेषां वृत्तिं प्रकल्पयेत् ॥ अनाच्छेद्यकरांस्तेषां प्रदद्यात् गृहभूमिकाः । मुक्तभाव्यञ्च नृपतिर्लेखयित्वा स्वशासने ॥—(Bṛhaspati)

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² नित्यं नैमित्तकं काम्यं शान्तिकं पौष्टिकं तथा । पौराणां कर्म कुर्युस्ते सन्दिग्धेऽर्थे च निर्णयम् ॥—(Bṛhaspati)

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¹ > **निजधर्माविरोधेन यस्तु सामयिको भवेत् ।** **सोऽपि यत्नेन संरक्ष्यो धर्मो राजकृतश्च यः ॥** (*Yājñavalkya*, II. 186). The *Vīramitrodaya* thus explains: “**गोप्रचारोदकरक्षणदेवगृहपालनादिरूपः**” And again: “**यावत्पथिकं भोजनं देयं अस्मदरातिमण्डले तुरगादयो न स्थापनीया इत्येवं रूपः ॥**”

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The Sabhās or assemblies of the South Indian inscriptions were also generally to be found in *Brahmadeya* (that is, Brāhman) villages and were almost entirely constituted by Brāhmans. The rules laid down in the famous Uttaramallūr inscriptions of the time of Parāntaka I (*Arch. Surv. of India*, 1904–5, pp. 131–45) for membership on village committees—rules to which we shall refer below—appear to apply purely to such Brahmanical Sabhās.

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It has already been made clear that the evidence derived from South Indian inscriptions is far more copious and elaborate than that from the northern. The evidence of the south brings out the fact that the village assemblies of ancient India had developed a considerable differentiation of functions and also different organs for the exercise of each function. As has been already pointed out, it is not quite clear from the northern testimony of both literature and inscriptions how far the same assembly exercised a multiplicity of functions, administrative, judicial, municipal, and the like, or whether there were developed differently constituted and composed bodies to administer the different interests of communal life. So far as the purely judicial functions were concerned, the evidence of the Smṛtis set forth above probably points to the growth of independent institutions for the purpose, but no such definite opinion can be pronounced in respect of the other functions. The gaps and deficiencies of the northern evidence are, however, supplied and made good by the southern, which is remarkably rich in details such as enable us to form a clear idea of the structure of the local government, its organs and functions, the character of the administrative machinery devised as a whole, as also of its different parts.

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The evidence dates from the ninth century A. D. The group of 'Ukkal inscriptions' first supplies definite details on the subject. The village of Ukkal was governed by an assembly sometimes called Sabhā and sometimes Mahāsabhā. The Sabhā is mentioned for instance in inscriptions nos. 85, 110, 111, 146 and the like in *South Indian Inscriptions*, vol. I. The Mahāsabhā is mentioned in no. 42 (ibid.). The main or central assembly was subdivided into several committees, the total number and designations of which have to be gathered from various inscriptions of different times. An inscription of the Gaṅga-Pallava king Kampavarman (ninth century A. D.), for instance, registers an endowment accepted by the assembly who appoint 'the great men elected for the year' (i. e. of the annual committee) as trustees of the endowment (no. 5, ibid.). The same committee is referred to in inscription no. 7 and also in nos. 11, 12, 13. No. 14 states: 'The great men who manage the affairs of the village in each year shall supervise this charity', viz. the grant of land by a cultivator named Śenai from the proceeds of which water and fire-pans had to be supplied to a *maṇḍapa* frequented by Brāhmaṇas. The next committee mentioned is that of 'the great men in charge of the tank'. No. 6 in recording the grant of an assembly of a daily supply of rice and oil to a temple states that 'the great men elected for (the supervision of) the tank shall be entitled to levy a fine of (one) *kalañju* of gold in favour of the tank-fund from those betel-leaf sellers in this village who sell (betel-leaves) elsewhere than at the temple of Pidāri.' The tank committee is also mentioned in nos. 11 and 12. No. 13 mentions 'the great Bhaṭṭas elected for the tank'. The third committee mentioned is that formed by those in charge of the gardens in no. 12. The Ukkal inscriptions also show that the transactions of the assembly were put in writing by an officer who had the title 'arbitrator', *madhyastha*, mentioned in nos. 2, 3, 6, 10, and 12, and who is once called 'an accountant', *karaṇattān* (no. 10).

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But the most considerable clear light on the system of rural administration in ancient times is thrown by the two famous inscriptions in the Vaikuṇṭha-Perumāl temple at Uttaramallūr, assigned to the tenth century A.D. In the first place, they speak of a number of committees, to each of which they apply a different designation to indicate roughly the sphere of work allotted to it. Secondly, they indicate the method of selection of committee members. Thirdly, they lay down the qualifications determining the eligibility for selection as a committee member. Fourthly, they enumerate the classes of disqualified persons. Fifthly, they lay down the conditions for the appointment of the accountants.

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The number and names of the various committees are thus given:

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(1) *Annual Committee* (*saṁvatsara-vāriyam*): this seems to have been the most important, influential, and dignified of all the committees. This is evident from the fact that the election of this committee precedes that of all other committees, and also from the characterization of its personnel. Only 'those who had (previously) been on the "garden committee" and on the "tank committee", those who are advanced in learning, and those who are advanced in age shall be chosen for the "annual committee".' Thus the annual committee was constituted by the cream of the community, men of ripe old age, mature wisdom, experience in administration, and possessing culture and learning. The number of the committee was fixed at twelve. There are other inscriptions which also give the same number, e. g. no. 263 of 1912. The committee is also called the committee in charge of the 'annual village work' (*saṁvatsara-grāma-kāryam*) in nos. 467, 472 and 475 of 1912, a designation which also points to its superior status among the other committees.

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(2) *Garden Committee*: the number of this committee was likewise fixed at twelve.

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(3) *Tank Committee*: the number of members was six. The duties of this committee are apparent from the name. They are indicated in detail in numerous inscriptions, some of which have been already cited. The committee were entrusted by the general assembly with all endowments made in favour of tanks in the shape of grants of land, and they had to invest money endowments in the best possible way [see *infra*, § 2]. They utilized the deposits of money in reclaiming waste land and cultivating it in order to pay out of the produce the interest on the deposit. They had also apparently to look after the cultivation of lands granted to tanks. The income from both these sources was applied to meet the expenses of the annual or occasional operation of the removal of the silt of tanks and of other necessary repairs to breaches of bunds and to boats employed on the tanks. They had to levy the fines which were to be credited to the tank-fund. Endowments for watering sheds to supply drinking water to thirsty wayfarers were apparently entrusted to them (see no. 75 of 1898). Sometimes we find the tank committee being appointed to look after the gifts of lamps to temples (as in no. 685 of 1904). One inscription even makes only Bhaṭṭas or learned Brāhmans members of the tank committee (No. 13 of *S.I.I.*, Vol. III., pt. 1).

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(4) *Gold Committee*: the number of members was fixed at six. This committee probably regulated the currency.

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(5) *Pañca-vāra Committee*: the number of this also was six. The following note by Venkayya (with slight verbal changes) will explain its character and function: ‘Professor Kielhorn translates *pañcavāra* by “committee of five” [*Ep. Ind.*, vol. V, p. 138, note 7]. But, as the number of members of this committee is fixed at six, this translation cannot be accepted. Perhaps it supervised the five committees (*pañca-vāra*) of the village. It is possible that originally there were only five committees in a village, and that the work of these was supervised by the *pañca-vāra* committee. In the Telugu country it appears to have been a special honour to be placed on this committee, and this honour was probably due to its supervising the work of the other committees. Later on, the number of village committees seems to have been increased, and there appear to have been more than five committees. Even after this alteration the original name *pañca-vāra-vāriyam*, given to the supervising committee, probably was retained unaltered’ (*Arch. Surv. Report*, 1904–5, p. 145).

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The above interpretation of Mr. Venkayya may need to be reconsidered in the light of inscription no. 131 of 1912, which includes the *pañca-vāra* among various kinds of taxes or dues payable on land by the tenants who cultivated them, so that *pañca-vāra-vāriyam* may have been the committee appointed to collect the *pañca-vāra* dues of the village payable in kind.

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(6) *Committee for the supervision of justice*: the duty of this committee seems to have been, as its name indicates, to ‘supervise the justice’ or fairness of the annual elections of the various committees. The inscription (Uttaramallūr, B. in *Arch. Surv. Report*, 1904–5, p. 144) states: ‘For appointing the committees after these have retired the members of the “committee for supervision of justice” in the twelve streets (of Uttaramallūr) shall convene an assembly (*kuri*) with the help of the arbitrator.' Thus this committee convened the annual meeting of the assembly and conducted the elections of the various committees whenever they were necessitated by vacancies caused in them by removal of members 'found guilty of offence'. No rules are laid down for the constitution of this committee as a separate body. Probably it was part of some other committee. In view of the qualifications for membership of the annual committee such as seniority and learning, it may be inferred that the magistrates and judges of Uttaramallūr were probably recruited from this committee.

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Next, as to the method of selection of members for the various committees. The village with its twelve streets was divided for purposes of the selection into thirty wards or electoral units. There was a meeting of each ward at which the residents were to assemble, and each of them was required to write down on a ticket the name of the person he voted for after consideration of his eligibility for membership of the committee as defined by the regulations framed by the assembly. The tickets were then to be arranged in separate packets corresponding to the thirty wards. Each packet bore the name of the ward it represented on its 'covering ticket'. The packets were put into a pot. Then the pot was placed before 'a full meeting of the great assembly, including the young and old (members), as also all the temple priests who happened to be in the village on the day “without any exception whatever” in the inner hall (where) the great assembly (meets).’ ‘In the midst of the temple priests, one of them who happens to be the eldest shall stand up and lift that pot, looking upwards so as to be seen by all people.’ One of the young boys who did not know what was inside was then called to pick out one of the packets. The tickets in this packet were then ‘transferred to another (empty) pot and shaken’, i. e. shuffled thoroughly. The boy then drew one ticket out of the pot and made it over to the arbitrator (*madhyastha*). ‘While taking charge of the ticket thus given (to him), the arbitrator shall receive it on the palm of his hand with the five fingers open. He shall read out (the name on) the ticket thus received. The ticket read (by him) shall also be read out by all the priests present in the inner hall. The name thus read out shall be put down (and accepted).’ Thirty names were thus to be chosen, representing each of the wards.

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It will appear from the above description of the procedure of the election that the people of the whole village regarded themselves as vitally interested in its purity and success, on which depended so largely their common welfare. The weak point in the system, however, was that the method of selection was simply the mechanical one of casting lots instead of voting by ballot, and the consequent process of elimination of names according to the number of votes secured by each. There was universal suffrage, but the democratic principle was not followed up in its complete consequence. Probably the conformity to the conditions of eligibility for membership produced for all practical purposes approximate uniformity of competence and capacity in the persons named on the voting papers or tickets, so that there was not much to choose between them. On the other hand, the method of casting lots would give no scope to canvassing and other electioneering methods of doubtful utility and ethical value. The conditions of eligibility were a sufficient safeguard against the return of a really undesirable person, and the necessary eliminations they involved would leave but very little chance of any undesirable result. It is significant that the priesthood occupied a dignified position in the meeting of the general assembly, and that their oldest member was chosen as the president of the meeting. The part given to the young is also interesting. The union of God-fearing age with unsophisticated youth must have been naturally productive of the happiest results and preventive of all foul play.

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The inscription goes on to say: 'Of the thirty men thus chosen those who had (previously) been on the garden committee and on the tank committee, those who are advanced in learning, and those who are advanced in age shall be chosen for the annual committee. Of the rest, twelve shall be taken for the garden committee, and the remaining six shall form the tank committee. These (last) two committees shall be chosen by “showing the *karai*” (i. e. apparently an oral expression of opinion or “selection by acclamation”,’ as is done even in modern meetings when there is no ground for any special objection to the names suggested). The tenure of office of these elected members of the three committees was ‘for full 360 days’, after which they had to retire. During the period of his incumbency, if any one who is on the committees is found guilty of any offence, he shall be removed at once.

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The meeting for the annual election of these committees was to be convened, as has been already stated, by the committee for the supervision of justice with the help of the arbitrator.

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The annual retirement and fresh election of the annual committee is also mentioned in no. 92 of 1914 (a Cola epigraph). Another Cola epigraph, no. 262 of 1912, refers to the further rule that this annual election was to be held in the Tulā month when the official year of the village may be thus supposed to end.

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For elections to the *pañca-vāra* and gold committees a similar process was gone through for the selection of thirty names for each of the wards. ‘From these thirty twelve men shall be elected. Six out of twelve thus chosen shall form the gold committee, and the remaining six the *pañca-vāra* committee.’ Since the selection by drawing lots of only twelve men out of thirty would inevitably result in the elimination of eighteen wards from representation on those important committees, it was enacted that in future elections ‘the wards which have been already represented on these committees shall be excluded and the selection made from the remaining wards by “drawing the *karai*”.’

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Thirdly, as to the qualifications for membership. The following qualifications are to be possessed by a member to be eligible for nomination by his ward, viz.

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(1) He must own more than a quarter (*vēli*) of tax-paying land. [*Vēli* = 5 acres (Winslow).]

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(2) He must live in a house built on his own site.

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(3) His age must be below 70 and above 35.

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(4) He must know the *Mantra-Brāhmaṇa*,¹ i.e. he must know (the Veda) ‘by teaching’; or, according to Venkayya, ‘both the *Mantras* and the *Brāhmaṇas*’.

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¹ Prof. A. Berriedale Keith in a letter to me states that ‘the term is sometimes applied to the Chāndogya work, the main body of which is the Chāndogya Upaniṣad.’

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(5) If he owns only one-eighth of land, he must be proficient in one Veda and one of the four *bhāṣyas* by explaining (it to others).

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(6) He must be conversant with business.

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(7) He must be virtuous, and his earnings must be honest.

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(8) He must not have been on any of the committees for three previous years. This rule, as has been already stated, does not apply to the election to the annual committee, for which the previous membership of the garden and tank committees with the necessary administrative experience it implied, was regarded as a qualifying requisite.

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Fourthly, as regards disqualified persons. These comprised the following descriptions of persons:

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(*a*) Defaulting committee members (i.e. those who have not submitted accounts) and their relations, however remote, who are thus specified, viz. (1) the sons of the younger and elder sisters of his mother; (2) the sons of his paternal aunt and maternal uncle; (3) the uterine brother of his mother; (4) the uterine brother of his father; (5) his uterine brother; (6) his father-in-law; (7) the uterine brother of his wife; (8) the husband of his uterine sister; (9) the sons of his uterine sister; (10) the son-in-law who has married his daughter; (11) his father; (12) his son.

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(*b*) Incorrigible sinners and their relations, however remote. These sinners comprise those against whom are recorded ‘the first four of the five great sins’, viz. (1) killing a Brāhmaṇa; (2) drinking intoxicating liquors; (3) theft; (4) adultery with the wife of one’s spiritual teacher: and (5) associating with any one guilty of these crimes (*Manu*, XI. 55). The relations comprise those enumerated above.

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(*c*) Outcasts until they perform the necessary expiatory ceremonies, provided the cause of the outcasting consists only in association with low people, and not in any serious moral lapse.

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(*d*) Those who are mentally or morally disqualified.

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(*e*) Those who are themselves disqualified but do not transmit their disqualification to their relatives. This class includes those who have (1) taken forbidden food of any kind [which is equivalent to drinking intoxicating liquor according to Manu (XI. 57)]; (2) committed sins [notably those specified in (*b*) above]; (3) become village pests; and (4) committed incest; and even though they may, by the proper performance of the necessary expiatory ceremonies, prevent the transmission of their own disabilities to their relatives, they will themselves remain disqualified. Expiatory ceremonies might remove religious but not civic and political disabilities of persons guilty of grave offences, social, political, and moral.

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With regard to the *pañca-vāra* and gold committees, which perhaps were not annually appointed, two additional disqualifying circumstances are introduced, viz. (*a*) riding on an ass [which was a common punishment for offences against chastity, and hence implied a conviction disqualifying the candidate; Manu (XI. 202) holds driving in a waggon drawn by an ass as a sin]; (*b*) committing forgery, which was no doubt a special disqualification in regard to membership of a currency committee.

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In the above description of the qualifications for membership the age restriction, the educational and property qualifications laid down and the principle of membership by rotation are noteworthy items acceptable even to modern administrators.

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Strict qualifications are also laid down for the post of the village-accountant: ‘Arbitrators and those who have earned their wealth by honest means shall write the accounts (of the village). One who has been writing the accounts shall not be appointed to that office again until he submits his accounts (for the period during which he was in office) to the great men of the big committee (in charge) of the accounts and is declared to have been honest. The accounts which one has been writing he shall submit himself, and other accountants shall not be brought to close his accounts.’

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The earlier of the two Uttaramallūr inscriptions shows certain interesting points of difference from the later one. These are:

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(1) The age limit of membership is between thirty and sixty. Probably the age limit was raised in the later inscription to secure a higher level of efficiency and sense of responsibility in the committees. It may be remembered that these elaborate regulations for rural administration were, according to the inscriptions, laid down in order that 'wicked men might perish, while good men might prosper.' This object could be realized only by imposing strict limitations upon the eligibility of membership of the committees. Youth and wickedness might easily go together. The age limit was also an antidote to youthful recklessness and extremism affecting administrative work.

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(2) The exemption, granted in clause (5) in favour of learned men, from the operation of the rule as regards property qualification in clause (1) of the qualifications, is omitted in the later record.

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(3) As regards disqualifications, the earlier record has only the following:—

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‘Those who are not near relatives of members who have just retired from these committees shall be appointed.’ The wording of this rule makes it too sweeping in its operation. It was probably due to the fact that the administration was brought into disrepute by the out-going committee members, and accordingly those who were associated with them were also barred out. The operation of this rule, combined with that of clause (8) of the qualifications, must have had the effect of limiting so much the area of eligible membership that it would be difficult to exclude some of the wicked men themselves from the committees. Hence this rule was omitted in the later inscription.

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(4) The later record excludes such near relatives of members as have been found guilty, and also specifies the relatives.

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(5) The earlier record does not also specify the delinquencies which mark out 'wicked men'.

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(6) The following clause finds no place in the later inscription: 'For committees other than that of annual supervision no one shall be appointed who was once a member.'

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The rule that members comprising the committees should change every year is very sound in principle and wholesome in its effects. After the expiry of three years since he last held office, a person might have 'his name written on the pot-ticket and put into the pot'. If he was, however, selected, he would not be allowed to serve on the committee of which he was previously a member, but would be transferred to some other committee. The annual change of office-bearers opens out opportunities to every qualified man in the village of being associated with its administration and acquainted with all its details and facts. Thus in the course of time the general assembly of the village would be practically made up of these ex-administrators, and be consequently competent to exercise a very wholesome supervision over its several committees for executive work, the efficiency of which was already secured by rules that would exclude incompetent, ignorant, irresponsible, dishonest and wicked men.

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We have now considered the evidence of important groups of epigraphic records which give details about the number, composition, and constitution of the various committees through which the assembly administered local affairs. But it should be noted that the number of committees of such village assemblies does not seem to have been the same everywhere. The number seems to have varied with local conditions. No. 688 of 1904 furnishes the names of the following committees, viz. (1) the great men of the wards committee, (2) the great men of the fields committee, (3) the great men (numbering) two hundred, (4) the great men of the village committee, and (5) the great men of the *udāsīna* committee. These together with the learned and other distinguished men of the village are to constitute the village assembly. No. 393 of 1905 mentions the annual garden and tank committees; no. 395 mentions the wards and tank committees; the tank committee (*eri-vāriyam*) is again mentioned in no. 396. Again no. 262 of 1913 mentions another committee in each village, the land-survey committee, which had to classify lands according to their yielding capacity, and also to measure them. This committee was useful in connexion with the survey of land by government, as carried out, for instance, in the seventeenth year of Rājarāja I (*Mad. Ep. Rep.*, 1912–13, p. 96) and in the sixteenth of Kulottuṅga I (no. 317 of 1913 in *Report* for 1913–14, p. 37). The extent, ownership, assessment, classification of land (no. 262, ibid., stating eight classes of land), &c., were to be noted in the village and temple registers by specially appointed clerks, and both such registration and possession were deemed essential to establish ownership. No. 269 of 1912, as well as no. 38 of 1911, similarly mentions a committee to supervise cultivation and collect the produce called *ūrvāriyam*, while no. 257 of 1912 mentions *amṛtagaṇattār* and *gaṇapperumakkal*, as names of assemblies forming probably the executive committee of the village assembly (*Ep. Ind.*, vol. XI, p. 224), which is again referred to in nos. 302, 308, 312, and 315 of 1914. A committee of justice is mentioned in no. 268 of 1910 and also in 259 of 1909 in which it is called *nyāyattār*, with a lady as one of its members.

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A large number of Coḷa epigraphs reviewed in the *Madras Epigraphy Report* for 1915–16, p. 115, gives additional interesting details regarding the working of the village assemblies. The village of Brahmadeśam in a *taluk* of North Arcot district in which these epigraphs were found was an *agrahāra* with an organized village assembly, called *gaṇa-pperumakkal*, or *Gaṇavāriyapperumakkal*, with many committees working under its control. One of them was a committee to manage the affairs of the village (*grāma-kārya*), and another to manage those of the temple. The latter committee had an accountant entitled *Trairājyaghaṭikā-madhyastha*, ‘the arbitrator of the college (*ghaṭikā*) (named) *Trairājya*’ (see no. 194 of 1915 B, ibid., p. 18). The grants recorded in nos. 192 and 194 are stated to have been entrusted by the Mahāsabhā to the great people of the Gaṇavāriya doing duty in that year (‘the members of the Saṃvatsara-vāriya who looked after the *grāma-kārya*’) (according to no. 192), and if they failed in their duty it was stipulated that the *śraddhā-mantas* (i. e. those who interested themselves in the charity) should collect a fine from each member of that committee on behalf of the king. The assembly also evidently had under its control a body of *madhyasthas* or arbitrators (no. 226 of 1915), who wrote the tank accounts and received for maintenance a fixed quantity of paddy, a pair of cloths, and some gold. ‘In presenting accounts for audit by the assembly each of these was required to undergo the ordeal of holding the red-hot iron in his hand. If he came out safe and hence also pure, he would be presented with a bonus of one quarter of the surplus. If, on the other hand, he burnt his hand, and hence was in default, he would be fined 10 *kalañju*, without of course further bodily punishment inflicted upon him’ (*Mad. Ep. Rep.*, 1915–16, p. 116). No. 178 of 1915, ibid., p. 16, mentions the accountant of the Samvatsara-vāriya committee, who was one of the signatories to an agreement into which the Mahāsabhā entered. ‘The Committee of the Assembly’ is referred to in an inscription at Ambāsamudram of Varaguṇa-Mahārāja, who reigned probably at the beginning of the ninth century A. D. (*Ep. Ind.*, vol. IX, p. 86). The committees called *pañcavārī* and *vāragoṣṭhi* (i.e. committee-assembly) are mentioned in an Eastern Cālukya copper-plate grant of the first half of the tenth century A.D., which speaks of ‘youths eloquent at committee-assemblies, honoured by the chief people who have made them serve on the committee of five’ (*Ep. Ind.*, vol. V, p. 138).

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As may be already understood from the foregoing evidence, the inscriptions give a variety of names to indicate the village assembly. We meet for instance with such names as *perumakkal*, ‘the big children’, *peruṅguri-perumakkal*, ‘the big children of the big assembly’, *paruḍai*, pariṣat (in a Travancore epigraph of 992 a. d.), *mūlaparuḍai sabhā* (no. 85 of 1896), *piramadeyakkilavar*, ‘the old men of the Brahmadeya’, and the like.

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The executive committee of the assembly are also given several names, e. g., *nirvāha-sabhā* (no. 449 of 1906); *aluṅgaṇattār*, ‘managers of the village Sabhā’ (no. 257 of 1912), or ‘the *gaṇa* members ruling the village’, *gaṇapperumakkal*, ‘the big children or managers of the Gaṇa’, the committee for *saṃvatsara-grāma-kārya* (annual work of the village) (nos. 92 of 1919, 195 and 196 of 1908, &c.).

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In the famous Bhattiprolu inscriptions, we have some references to the committees and their officers. The committee is called *goṭhi*. In no. 1333 of Kielhorn's list we have mention of the ascetic of the committee (*goṭhi-samaṇa*) who is named Kuba (*kumbha*) and of the treasurer (*hiraṇakāra*) whose name is Buba, son of the Gāmaṇī (the Vedic word Grāmaṇī) No. 1335 mentions the *goṭhi* of the inhabitants of the hamlet (*nigama-puta*) headed by Kuberaka. No. 1338 mentions another *goṭhi*.

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It should be noted that committee members were expected to take an active part in the discussion of questions before the meetings. We have already seen how in an inscription from the Telugu country (see *ante*, p. 184) eloquence at committee assemblies is extolled as a special merit. The rules of debate are indicated in an inscription of the ninth century A. D., discovered in Tinnevelly, which forbids the persistent obstruction of the proceedings of the assembly by members saying ‘nay, nay’, to every proposal brought up before the assembly, and contains the further provision ‘that those who do this, together with their supporters, will pay a fine of five *kāśu* on each item in which they have so behaved’ (no. 423 of 1906).

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The summoning of members to the meetings of the assembly was made by the blowing of a trumpet which did duty for the issuing of written notices. A special post of the herald was created by the assembly which fixed its daily salary to be 2 *soru* (no. 156, Appendix C, of 1919, of A. D. 1001). As will be shown below, this method of convening public meetings is also laid down in the Smṛtis which thus remarkably confirm the southern and epigraphic evidence.

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Nos. 180 and 186 (ibid.) furnish the further interesting information that the assembly, like the British Parliament, held its sittings even during night, though it was the more usual practice to hold the meetings in the daytime.

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We should note in this connexion the total number of members expected to form a meeting of the assembly. The number should be at least that of all the various sub-committees put together, which will thus come up to forty-two. I have found but one inscription (no. 466 of 1912, in *Report* for 1912–13) which incidentally indicates the number by mentioning a deed of gift signed by about fifty persons, evidently the members of the assembly. It may however be reasonably assumed that the assembly was numerically a much larger body than any of its committees. There is not unfortunately much available evidence regarding the average strength of these Sabhās or Mahāsabhās. I have found but a few inscriptions out of several thousand to throw light on the subject. No. 509 of 1913 represents the meeting of an assembly of 1000 members to make a grant of land. In no. 12 of 1907, the Sabhā of Tiraimūr is said to consist of 300 men. As regards the strength of the committee, there is another inscription, no. 1332 of Kielhorn's list of southern inscriptions, which mentions a committee of 36 persons who are named. No. 525 of 1914 mentions an assembly of ‘120 great men’ making a grant of land. No. 62 of 1914 mentions an assembly of 80 persons. No. 429 of 1917 mentions an assembly of as many as 512 members. No. 688 of 1904 mentions a committee numbering 200.

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It is interesting to note that the rules of attendance at such public meetings and the rules of debate are also indicated in some of the Smṛtis. The rules of attendance are considered by Nārada (X. 3) to be as essential to the guild as its religious and secular laws which are to be respected by the king. The *Vīramitrodaya* (cited by Jolly) explains these rules as 'the duty of attending in a temple or other public hall for the affairs of the community (*samūhakāryārtham*) when the sound of a drum or other instrument (*mṛdaṅgādi*) is heard.' Thus these sounding instruments did duty for a 'whip' in these olden times. Kātyāyana (quoted in the *Vivādaratnākara*, p. 179, Bib. Ind. ed.) gives some further rules which supplement those of the South Indian inscription cited above. While, according to the latter, the obstructionist at a public meeting is fined, according to Kātyāyana, the unfair obstructions to speakers are also to be fined, as also unfair speeches. Speeches embodying 'fair comments' seem to have been considered as privileged, for the authorities taking action on them against the speakers are themselves to be fined.

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It may be pertinent to refer in this connexion to other available evidence regarding the conduct of the meetings of assemblies. The most interesting and important evidence is set forth in some of the Pāli works regarding the proceedings of the meetings of the Buddhist religious assembly of the *saṅgha*.¹

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¹ A very good account of the evidence is given in the brilliant essay entitled ‘An Introduction to Hindu Polity’ contributed to the *Modern Review* (Calcutta), by Mr. K. P. Jayaswal, M.A. (Oxon.), Barrister-at-law, Tagore Professor of Law for 1917 in the Calcutta University. Among other notable recent contributions dealing with the democratic elements of Hindu polity may be mentioned the articles on ‘Forms and types of State in Ancient India’ in the *Modern Review* by Narendranath Law, M.A., B.L., on ‘Democratic Ideals and Republican Institutions in India’ and allied topics in the *American Political Science Review*, vol. XII, from the brilliant pen of Prof. Benoykumar Sarkar, M.A., and the books *Corporate life in Ancient India* (published since the first edition of the present work was in type) by Ramesachandra Mazumdar, M.A., Ph.D., and *Carmichael Lectures* by Prof. D. R. Bhandarkar, M.A. The South Indian evidence on the subject is dealt with by Prof. S. Krishnaswami Aiyengar in his *Ancient India* and in an article in the Bhandarkar Commemoration Volume from the authoritative pen of Mr. H. Krishna Sastry, the Madras Epigraphist.

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When Bhikkhus assembled in chapter became violent, quarrelsome, disputatious, and kept on wounding one another with sharp words, the dispute was to be settled by the vote of the majority.¹

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¹ In the original we have ‘*yebhuyyasikāya*’ = Sans. *yad-bhūyas-ikā*. ‘It means putting to the vote and deciding by a majority; this is done by drawing tickets (*salākā*): a good orthodox priest must be selected as *salākāgāhāpaka*, or ticket-issuer, who should be careful to have the votes taken when there is a majority of the orthodox (*dhamma-vādī*).’ [Vijesinha Mudliar, quoted by Childers.]

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The votes were to be signified by tickets (as in the South Indian epigraphic evidence).

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A ‘taker of the voting tickets’ was to be appointed. He should have the following five qualifications, viz. freedom from partiality, malice, folly, and fear, as well as knowledge of what votes have been taken and what have not been taken. 'Some able and discreet Bhikkhu' was to bring forward a motion (*ñatti*) that the Bhikkhu 'of such and such a name' should be appointed as taker of the voting tickets. The consent of the Bhikkhu proposed as the person to undertake the office was of course previously obtained. The motion was then placed before the house for its opinion. Those who approved of it were to keep silence. Those who were against it were to speak.

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The 'taking of votes' (*salākāgāha*) was necessary in the case of a division. It was regarded as invalid in the following ten cases, viz.

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(1) When the matter in dispute is trivial;

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(2) When the case has not run its course (i.e. when the necessary preliminaries of submission to arbitration have not been carried out);

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(3) When regarding the matter in dispute the Bhikkhus have not formally remembered, or been formally called upon to remember, the offence;

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(4) When the taker of votes knows that those whose opinions are not in accordance with the law will be in the majority, or

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(5) Probably may be in the majority;

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(6) When he knows that the voting will result in a schism in the *saṅgha*;

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(7) When he is in doubt whether the voting will result in a schism in the *saṅgha*;

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(8) When the votes are irregularly given;
(9) When all do not vote equally;
(10) When they do not vote in accordance with the view they really hold.

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The above conditions, showing the solicitude felt for the purity, fairness, frankness, and freedom of the debate, are well worthy of observance at modern political and other meetings. The voting was not rushed, but a full opportunity was given to the house to understand the question at issue. Care was also taken that the voting represented the actual opinion of the voter, whose independence and conscientiousness were not allowed to be affected by any undue influence or considerations of partisanship. The only limitation upon the freedom of discussion and decision by the majority of votes was that imposed by certain fundamental religious considerations which formed the very basis of the brotherhood, and violations of which would imply the dissolution of the *saṅgha* or order itself. On such serious questions no voting was allowed, and the principle of the equality of votes of all members was not recognized, simply because a difference of opinion on them would destroy that unity of the church which it was the aim by such free and frank discussions in meetings to strengthen and develop.

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There was also the practice of appointing special committees to deal with difficult or intricate cases which were unfit to be dealt with by the general *saṅgha*. Such a committee or jury or commission was to consist of Bhikkhus ‘possessed of ten qualities’, mental and moral, including proficiency in the tradition and rules of the church as well as capacity to deal with legal questions. An instance of this proceeding is also recorded where ‘the venerable Revata laid a resolution before the *saṅgha* at Vesālī: “Let the venerable *saṅgha* hear me. Whilst we are discussing this legal question, there is both much pointless speaking, and no sense is clear in any single speech. If it seem meet to the *saṅgha*, let the *saṅgha* settle this legal question by referring it to a jury.”¹ Again: “If it seem meet to the *saṅgha*, let the *saṅgha* delegate four Bhikkhus of the east and four Bhikkhus of the west (all named) to settle this question by reference. This is the resolution.” Again: “Let the venerable *saṅgha* hear me. During the inquiry into this matter there has been much pointless talk among us, and the sense in any single utterance is not clear. The *saṅgha* delegates four Bhikkhus of the east and four Bhikkhus of the west to settle this question by reference. Whosoever of the venerable ones approves thereof, let him keep silence. The delegation is made accordingly. The *saṅgha* approves thereof. Therefore it is silent. Thus do I understand."' The *saṅgha* then appointed a Bhikkhu of ten years' standing as seat regulator to the Thera Bhikkhus (the eight referees) who were to take their seats in the order of their seniority. The duty of the seat-regulator (*āsana-praññāpaka*, आसनप्रज्ञापक) was to see that they were provided with the seats they required (usually mats or rugs) in the hall or grove where they met. In the present instance the sub-committee repaired to the Valīka Ārāma, 'a pleasant place, quiet and undisturbed', to 'settle the matter there'.

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¹ *Yadi saṅghassa pattakallam* (i. e. is ready, *prāptakālam*), *saṅgho imam adhikaraṇam ubbāhikāya vūpasameyya*. *Ubbāhikāya* is to be derived from *ud*+*vah*, meaning ‘reference’; see *S. B. E.*, vol. XX, p. 50.

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There also seem to have been some well-understood conditions required in order to make a meeting of the *saṅgha* itself valid. There must be present in the meeting 'as many Bhikkhus as are capable of taking part in the proceeding. The formal consent must be produced of those who are in a fit state to convey their consent. Those who are present must have lodged no objection (against any one of them taking part in the proceeding or perhaps against the proceedings which are being carried out.)'¹

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