Epigraphia Indica Vol 09

SR No.: 032563
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: E Hultzsch, Sten Konow
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India
Publication Year: 1907
Total Pages: 498
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 28 MB

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No. 49.) NARAYANPAL STONE INSCRIPTION OF GUNDA MAHADEVI.
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dalal whose lanchhana was dhanur-vyághra (bow and tiger) and whose dhuaja was kamalakadali, or lotus flower and plantain leaf. The Halavara branch of the Banvâsi tract had the vydghra-mriga-lánchhana, or crest of a tiger and a deer, and the niladhuaja, or blue banner, To judge from their titles Parametvara Paramabhattáraka Maharaja, the Bastar branch appears to have been more independent than the other branches of this dynasty. But more light is likely to be thrown on the history of the family when all the inscriptions found in Bastar have been deciphered. It would therefore be premature to disowas the subjeot here.
There is one phrase in this inscription, which to my mind appears so interesting that it should not be allowed to pass unnoticed. It is incidentally mentioned in line 32 where the land is said to be given gråma-nilaya-nada-sarva-oddhd-pariharê na, which apparently means " free from the interference of the dwelling-group and territorial Assemblies, and all other molestations." This throws a sidelight on the village communities of those days. With regard to nada, Mr. Baden-Powell says, “ All over the south of India we have traces of the nádu, which was often & sort of county, and in some places there is a clearly surviving tradition of the parpose of this division. Thus in part of Madras known anciently as the Tondaima dalam, we find first a number of kuttam-the name probably indicating the fort which was the seat of the territorial chief; each of these primitive territories was afterwards reorganised into nádu and each nadu contained a number of villages (called nattam, i.e. the village site). The chief of the nadu was called ndthan. In Malabar we have evidence of how these nddu divisions were governed by the ndda-kuffam or assembly of representative elders out of the family groups of tara, of the ruling class, in each nadu." It appears from our inscription that this nada system was prevalent in Bastar and the word nilaya apparently stands for tara, the original local term for the family aggregate of dwellings, consisting of the houses oooupied by the members with a few hambler abodes for servants and artizans." Tara is said to mean street or bamlet. The gráma or village was also recognised, but apparently had no fiscal significance, beyond being a physical aggregate of clan areas with an exotic popalation. It will be noticed that Narayanapura is desoribed as fall of outsiders, who had come from different countries. These apparently contributed nothing to the income of the village, and in the business portion of the charter (11. 25 to 33) we therefore find no mention of the village, but only of the land given. The names of the owners of plots occapied by the family groups have been duly enumerated, and it is they who have been enjoined to pay the rents to the temple. The transaction has been ratified by eight persons, which was probably considered a requisite number for such basiness. These probably formed the executive committee of the nada-kuttam or territorial assembly. As would appear from the inscription, it consisted of the pregadd or minister, the karana-kutfiam or Secretary of the assembly, the bhandari or treagarer, the sidhu or priest, and four ndyakas, who, as has been already showa, ware chiefs of nadas. One of those ndyakas is styled bhatfandyaka, perhaps a superior title to that of ordinary ndyakas. The mention of his name immediately after that of the minister indicates his superior position.
Our inscription mentions only one territorial name, vis, the Narayanapura village, which is certainly the present Narayanpål, where the inscription has been found, and where the temple of Narayana, to which the village was dedicated, still exists. The tank Kharjuribandha, which was apparently named after the kharjári or wild date trees on its banks, is difficult to locate at this distance of time, as these trees live for about fifty yeary7 only.
1 Soe above, pp. 174 and if.
• Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. I., Part II., p. 577. • The Indian Village Community, p. 281.
• Also máyaka; see ibid., p. 167. Baden-Powell, Land Systems of British India, Vol. III., p. 148. • See above, p. 168 10.
1 Dr. Watt in his Economic Dictionary, Vol. VI., Part I., p. 911, way." The age of a tree (wild date) can of course be at once counted by enumerating the notches and adding six or soven, the number of years paused before the Arst year's notch. I have counted more than 40 notches on a tree, but one rarely sees them so old as that."
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