Studies in Cola History and Administration c9.34

c9.34

included, as its name may be taken to imply, Brahmans representing each of the four Vedas; *caturvēdi* must, it seems, be taken to be the Sanskrit form of *nāṉmaraiyōṉ* meaning simply a Brahman. And to the form *caturvēdimangalam* was usually prefixed the name of some king, queen or other distinguished person whose benefaction led to the establishment of the *agrahāra*, or a part of it; and in Cōḻa times these names were undergoing frequent changes. We have apparently no information in the inscriptions about some important aspects of the working of this particular *Sabhā*. We do not know whether it functioned through standing committees and whether, if it did, there were any special qualifications governing service on such committees. In the absence of information to the contrary, it is only natural to assume that all the Brahmans of the village were members of the *Sabhā* and that the entire *Sabhā* attended to all the business that came before it.