The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c11.t10: 1. Centralization in Tamil India

The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c11.t10

Language: English

1. Centralization in Tamil India

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Each of the provinces of the Chola Empire in Southern India was under a viceroy, who was either a scion of the dispossessed royal families or a prince of the blood. As a rule, it was the near kinsmen such as uncles, brothers or sons that obtained the voceroyalty.)

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Even previous to Râjarâja the Great (984—1018), royal records were preserved on palmyra leaves in the office buildings at the capital. And orders promulgated from the imperial headquarters were registered in a book of documents³ by the *mahâ-sabhâs* (central *panchâyats*) of the rural districts.

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³ Aiyangar, 175.

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We have a few facts about the working of the Chola bureaucracy. The inscriptions point to a good deal of intervention on the part of the civil service in the affairs of the local bodies, especially in rural finance. Two imperial officials, the *adhikârin* (the magistrate) and the *senâpati* (the commandant) appear to have regularly inspected the accounts of the village assemblies. It was according to their directions that the different taxes realized by the communes were scheduled and the appropriations regulated.¹ These officers used to go out on tour of inspection through their circle, examine the rural funds, and audit the accounts. They also made allotments out of the public revenues, although of course the *panchâyats* themselves had to make the appropriations for the special purposes. On one occasion the supervisors had reasons to suspect a reduction in the expenses. The officials of the local soviet were therefore asked to "state the revenue and expenditure" "in accordance with the royal order and the royal letter". The vigilance of imperialism in the Tamil states must evidently have robbed the village *sabhâs* of fiscal autonomy.

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¹ *Ibid*, 165.

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Very rarely does the Hindu civil service seem to have been paid in money. The officials of Chola-mandala were renumerated by gifts of land or assignments of revenue.² Hiuen Thsang also noticed that the governors, magistrates, ministers and other officers of the Vardhana Empire (seventh century) had portions of land consigned to them for personal support.³ For Gupta India Fa Hien (fifth century) mentions only that the royal officials did not have to fleece the people but were maintained by the state with regular salaries.⁴