Describe the administration of chola empire
Answers
The Chola Empire was mainly divided into three major administrative units namely Central Government, Provincial government and Local government. It was headed by the King. According to Chola tradition, the eldest son succeeded the King to the Chola throne. The heir was known as Yuvaraja. The Royal emblem of Chola kings was Tiger. The king was adviced in his work by a council of ministers. The lower officials were known as Siruntaram while higher officials were called Peruntaram.
The empire had been divided into nine provinces known as Mandalams which was again divided into number of Kottams or Valanadus and further sub-divided into Nadu.Each nadu was headed by a Nattar while the council of nadu was named Nattava.
Each Nadu was further divided into villages referred as Urs. Each province was headed by a Viceroy who was under direct orders from the King.
Chola government depended primarily on land revenue as the main source of income. 1/6 of the produce was collected as tax. Besides land revenue other tax included customs and tolls .Apart from these, taxes on ports, forests and mines too helped in swelling up the kitty of the treasure of the king.
They possessed an efficient Army and Navy. The Army comprised of 70 regiments. Chola kings brought efficient Arabian horses at a very huge price.
The Chola king even acted as the chief justice, as the trial in major cases were conducted by the king himself. The minor disputes were settled at the village level which was heard by the village assembly.
The responsibility of the village administration was entrusted to the village assembly called Grama Sabha, the lowest unit of the Chola administration. It was involved in the maintenance of roads, tanks, temples and public ponds. The village assembly was also in charge of payment of taxes due from the villages to the King’s treasure.
The village administration was looked upon by by Variyams who used to be the male members of the society. There were few types of variams. For instance the justice was administered by Niyaya variyam while temples were looked after by the Dharma variyan. The control of the finance was given to the pon variyam.