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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
(VOL. XXII.
particularly the changes from -enum to -enral in l. 4 and to enrum in 1.6. The form javasthai for vyavasthai, and the use of the verb pokkaruttal in the sense of answer for ' are noteworthy.
The object of the inscription is to record a decision (vyavastha) of the Mahasabhā of Uttiramēruchaturvēdimangalam, the best known of the village sabhās of the Chõļa period on account of the celebrated inscriptions of the reign of Parāntaka I. regulating its constitutional arrangements. The decision of the sabhā relates to the responsibility for the payment of fines (dandam) imposed on the members of different groups by different agencies. The groups liable to fines are enumerated thus : Brāhmaṇas, Sivabrāhmaṇas, Accountants, Merchants, Vellalar and any other castes (jātigal) (II. 4-6). The agencies that could levy fines were : the King's court (rājadvāram), the court of justice (danmāsanam), the revenue department (vars), and others (marruttanum). The decision is that for all fines levied only the particular caste or group to which the individual or individuals fined belonged should be held accountable for their proper payment.
The occasion for this decision is not explicitly stated. But it seems proper to assume that the Mahasabhā was responsible for securing the timely payments of fines by the villagers, that somehow the sanctions required to secure this began to fail them, and that consequently, they reached a method that made a powerful appeal to group-loyalty and enlisted the co-operation of the groups with the Mahāsabhā in the discharge of its responsibility. It will be noticed that the enumeration of the authorities levying the fine (dandam) and of the classes of persons liable to it, is illustrative and not exhaustive; 80 that even fines, if any, levied by the Mahasabhā itself would fall under the operation of this new vyavastha.
The mention of accountante, merchants and Vellalar among the groupe raises an interesting issue. Were these classes members of the Mahasabhā and did they take part in its deliberations? I think the answer to this question must be in the affirmative for two reasons. First, the meeting of the general assembly of the village is described as comprising everybody, young and old (ābālavriddharamaiya epperppatadum)', and there is no indication that it was an exclusively Brāhman assembly. Secondly, the various Chāla inscriptions which lay down special qualifications of property and education relate to the executive of the assembly indicated by such words as Vāriyam, Sabhämārrafijolludal, Kütam,' etc. The vyavastha recorded in our inscription must thus have had the approval of all the classes affected by it.
The Mäqür inscription of Māçanjadaiyan. (A. D. 800), it must be noted, lays down a high qualification in property and education not only for the vāriyam but for a person taking part in the general assembly, manrādutal, as well. And the Tiruchchendur inscription of Varaguna II shows that the system of village government that prevailed in the Pandya country in the ninth century was much the same as we find it in the Chola kingdom of the tenth century and later. We may assume either that the Mānür rule was an exception, or what seems more probable, that in course of time the exclusiveness of the sabhas broke down in part.
TEXT. 1 Svasti sri [l*] Kov-Irājardjakidaripaņmarkku yanda 9 nap 188 Utti2 ramēru-chchatuvvēditnangalattu Mahasabhaiyom Tulāvāra-brikāyil 8 mukamandapattē pagalk-kudiyirupdu Mabasabhaiyom seyda javasthaiyi-kvadu r[a]4 jadvāratt-ēpum danmāsanattenral Variyill-e-oral marruttāpum nammūril bra
R.y., 62 of 1898. * Above, p. 5. * Expressed by a symbol.
A tadbhava oi varastha.
* Studies in Chola History and Administration, pp. 82-84. • Abovo, Vol. XXI, p. 101. .Read-chaturvedi.
