Local Government in Ancient India c13.145

c13.145

The discharge of these various functions implied the existence of a village secretariat, and the organization of an office for the keeping of records, books, and accounts, and of a regular public service. Accounts of land transfers and revenue receipts were kept by a special department called *Tiṇaikkalam* (no. 88, in *S. I. I.*, vol. II, part IV). The accountant of the office of rents, rates, and taxes was called *Tiṇaikkaṇakkan*. Records of grants of land made tax free by donations were kept in a separate register called *varippottagam* (No. 22, ibid. part I, *pottagam* and *kanakku*, and no. 73, ibid., vol. III, part II, *vari*). In the case of lands granted to the temple with rights to collect the royal dues, the particulars were duly entered in the books (no. 21, ibid.). Cash accounts were posted in a separate book called the treasury book (*baṇḍāra-ppottagam*) (see H. Krishna Sastry’s article on Cola administration in Bhandarkar Commemoration Volume, p. 234). The most important of the village officers were the accountant (Karaṇattān) and the arbitrator (Madhyastha) frequently referred to in the inscriptions. The Madhyastha signed the orders passed by the Sabhā (cf. no. 20 of 1893). The defalcation of the accountant was severely punished. No. 583 of 1904 shows that the punishment was not merely the dismissal of the incumbent but also the permanent disqualification for that office of his descendants and relatives. In another record (no. 164 of 1906) we read of two absconding accountants whose properties were forfeited and sold by the assembly. The method of presenting the accounts by the accountant by the ordeal of red hot iron to be held by him has been already referred to.