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No. 34.]
THE LARGER LEIDEN PLATES OF RAJARAJA 1.
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enshrined within it and melting the same utilised the amount in building walls and other structures in the Ranganathe temple at Srirangam. If there is any truth in this, it would show that long prior to the construction of the Chūlāmapivarma-vihāra, s.e., before the beginning of the 9th century, Negapatam was renowned as a Buddhist centre and had in it & Bauddha monument. We do not know if the vihāra that was erected in the days of Räjarāja I., was a now one or was only the renewal of the old monument.
The order of the king granting the village of Apaimangalam was addressed to the nättär (the Divisional Assembly), the brahmadēya-kilavar (i.e., the head men of the brahmadēyas), the ürgalilar (i.e., the body of ur) of dēvadānas, palsichchandas, kanimurrüfft and vettippēru and to the nagaras. It will be shown below that in carrying out this order, men of several brahmadēyat and the urär of several villages, dēvadanas and vettippēru actually took part. It is to be noted that this order, though addressed to all these bodies of men, was in the first instance received by the nätfär only and was executed by all as required. The nätfär appear to have had a better standing than the rest and the others were all subject to their administrative control. Here are four distinct asemblies, viz., (1) the assembly of the division (nādu), (2) the assembly of the ür, (8) the assembly relating to the brahmad yas, i.e., the sabhās, and (4) the nagara by which is perhaps meant the body of merchants. What is meant by a brahmad@ya, devadäna, or pallichchanda is generally well known. They refer respectively to villages or lands granted to Brāhmaṇas, Hindu temples, and Jaina or Buddhist shrines. The significance of kani-murrütfu is not so plain. The word kani is used in ancient Tami) works to denote the person or persons that announce to the king the time of day or night. They are also called nāfigaikkanakkar or kadigaiyart. It is not unlikely that their services were paid for by grants of lands or villages as other services were Murrüftu may be taken to mean " complete yield". This sense of the word is obtained from its usage in reference to a piece of land granted to a temple in the text of an inscription from Kilappaluvürt where we find the phrase " i-nnilam ufudu payir-ērri murrüffum konduvandhu tirumurrattu aļappadagavum ". The use of the word murrüffu after the group dēvadana pallichchanda-kani seems to indicate that in the case of lands of villages granted to temples, Buddhist or Jaina shrines, and to the announcers of time to the king, the entire produce without any incidental deductions should be made over to the respective donees. It is not unlikely that we meet with phrases like devadāna-murrüffu, pallichchanda-murrüffu, and kani-murrüffu. The separation of brahmaděyas from the group is perhaps due to the fact that they had assemblies of their own called sabhas, different, of course, from the assembly of the ür, as we see it in this very inscription. That a particular village might have had more than one assembly according to its constitution could also be gathered from the circumstance that Kadambanür had both the sabha and the ürür and one person on behalf of each of these assemblies signed the deed in respect of that village.
The transactions of the nadu, the sabha and the ur are usually recorded by the command of those bodies, by persons who bore the official designatione Madhyastha, Karanattan and the like. The functions of these individuals were perhaps similar to those of the secretaries of regularly constituted associations. Sometimes, we find that the order to these individuals is given by a single member instead of by the body collectively. This member is designated by the term Tiruvadigaļ. In all likelihood Tiruvadigal meant the President of the assembly. In this connection it is particularly worthy of note that he is stated to be one of the members constituting the body. This is made evident from the wording of an inscription of Rājarāja 1.), viz., sabhaiyullirundu sabhai-t Tiruvadi panippa efudin an ivvür madhyasthan Mantrikulóttaman magan Karppagap
1 Soo Jivakachintamani, v. 2733, and Sulappadipuram, Indirao 1. 49. * No. 678 of 8. I. I., Vol. V. .No. 34 of 8. I. I., Vol. VII.
