Studies in Cola History and Administration c10.22

c10.22

The relations between the two bodies in Uttaramerūr are seen, though only in a rather hazy manner, from our records, all of which belong to the period after Uttaramerūr became a *caturvēdimaṅgalam*.¹ Almost all of them are engraved in the name of the *Sabhā*; there does not seem to have been at Uttaramerūr a single instance in which the *Ūr* made an independent record of its transactions. This feature together with the fact that the *Ūr* almost ceases to be heard of early in the period of our study—we have apparently no reference to it from the time of Rājarāja I—may raise the presumption that the *Ūr* and the *Sabhā* were partners in an unequal combination which in the long run worked to the disadvantage of the weaker side. That the *Ūr*, however, had in the beginning some distinct rights and privileges of its own and that it continued to exercise them actively, though in collaboration with if not under the supervision of the *Sabhā* and its committees, till at least the end of the tenth century A. D., is amply borne out by the epigraphs. In the fifteenth year of Parāntaka I (A. D. 922), for instance, the *Ūr* sold some lands * to two temples for lamps and offerings and was, by special sanction of the *Sabhā*, allowed to perform some duties, which normally attached to the *samvatsaravāriyam* of the *Sabhā*. Again, it took charge of a gold endowment for a lamp,† and agreed to submit to the supervision of the *samvatsaravāriyam* in this matter. More significant of the extent of the powers exercised by the *Ūr* is its assignment* of taxes and dues to be paid by the entire hamlet of Uḷḷiyūr for the benefit of the *Īśvara* temple in that locality—an assignment coupled with the specific exemption of the people of Uḷḷiyūr from all external interference in their management of the affairs of their temple. We have also instances† in which the *Sabhā* required the *Ūr* not to collect any dues (*irai*) from certain lands which had been made tax-free, and gave away lands from among those that, owing to default in payment of the dues (*irai*), had become the property of the *Ūr*; in one of these cases the *Ūr* gave its consent and agreed not to make any collections, and in the other, it was apparently reimbursed for the loss of revenue. Lastly, the *Ūr* had an executive committee of its own which was called the "ruling group," (*āḷuṅgaṇattar*).‡ We learn nothing, however, as to the method by which its members were chosen, or the period of their office.