prepare a note comparing the village autonomy of the colas with that of the local self government of present kerala?
Answers
Answer:
Explanation:
Between 980 CE, and c. 1150 CE, the Chola Empire comprised the entire south Indian peninsula extending east to west between sea to sea, and bounded in the north by an irregular line along the river Tungabhadra and the Vengi frontier. Although Vengi had a separate political existence, it was so closely connected to the Chola Empire, for all practical purposes, the Chola dominion extended up to the banks of the Godavari river. The main conquests took place between the accession of Sundara Chola and of Rajendra Chola I. The bulk of the conquests occurred during Rajaraja, and in his reign the Chola kingdom ceased to be a small state and the character of the Empire took true imperial proportions. The king was referred to as Chakravartigal (Emperor) and the lord of the three worlds (Tribhuvanachakravarti). The crown prince began to take part in active administration from the time of Rajaraja and minor princes were appointed as regional governors.
he king was the supreme commander and a benevolent dictator. His share in the administration consisted of issuing oral commands to responsible officers when representations were made to him. Such orders were recorded in great detail in the inscriptions, usually on the walls of temples. A special type of official, names Tirumandira Olai Nayagam , who recorded the oral orders immediately on palm leaf manuscripts were responsible of the accurate records of them.
Council of Ministers
There is no definite evidence of the existence of a council to ministers or of other officers connected to the central government, though the names of individual ministers are found in the inscriptions. A powerful bureaucracy assisted the king in the tasks of administration and in executing his orders. Due to the lack of a legislature or a legislative system in the modern sense, the fairness of king’s orders dependent on the goodness of the man and in his belief in Dharma – sense of fairness and justice. The ancient society did not expect anything more than general security from the government. Even matters of disputes went to the officers of the court only as the last resort.
Bureaucracy
There was a definite hierarchy of the bureaucracy and the tenure of the officials simply dependent on the 'Crown’s pleasure'. The officials held various titles such as Marayan and Adigarigal . Seniority between the same cadre was indicated by qualifying title such as Perundanam and Sirutanam.
Administrative divisions
Every village was a self-governing unit. A number of such villages constituted a Korram (கொற்றம்) or nadu (நாடு) or Kottam (கோட்டம்) in different parts of the country. Taniyur (தனியூர்) was a large village big enough to be a Kurram by itself. A number of Kurrams constituted a Valanadu (வளநாடு). Several Valanadus made up one Mandalam, a province. At the height of the Chola empire there were eight or nine of these provinces including Sri Lanka.These divisions and names underwent constant changes throughout the Chola period.
An inscription of the eighth century CE at Uttaramerur temple describes the constitution of the local council, eligibility and disqualifications for the candidates, the method selection, their duties and delimits their power. It appears that the administration of a common village Ur(ஊர்) or Oor was different from that of a village given to Brahmins.
Audits
The activities of the officials of the bureaucracy were under constant audit and scrutiny. We have an example of such reports in an inscription from the reign of Uttama Chola which gives us the details of the remissness and neglect of some officials in the delay of recording a particular grant. As a result a dispute arose between contending parties as to who should benefit from the grant. The officials involved were punished.
As the head of the civil administration, the king himself occasionally toured the country and carried out inquests into the local administration.
Revenue administration
An extensive resurvey was done around 1089 CE by the Chola king Kulottunga, recording the extents of lands and their assessment, boundaries of villages and the common rights inside the village, including the communal pastures.
Revenue officials were responsible for the tax collection. The Chola government was very mindful of the need for the fair and accurate collection of tax to run the state machinery. The revenue records were not manuals of extortion, but a carefully maintained records of land rights, based on complete enquiries and accurate surveys, and were kept up-to-date by regular surveys.