Local Government in Ancient India c13.27

c13.27

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).