Visiting the Extraordinary Village Administrative Universe of Ukkal - Sandeep Balakrishna

AFTER ABOUT A HALF HOUR OF TRAVELLING southwards from Kanchipuram towards Vandavasi, we reach Koolamandal, one of those typical nondescript villages. Once a flourishing hub of piety and prosperity sustained by a vibrant Sanatana society. Now unknown, uncared for…remembered only during elections.

Koolamandal (its earlier name: Kulambandal) was one of the cynosures of the grand Chola Empire. Its formerly magnificent — and now restored Gangaikondacholeesvarar Temple was built by the formidable Rajendra Chola I in 983 CE under the guidance of his spiritual Guru, Ishana-Shiva Pandita.

A mile-long eastward journey from Koolamandal leads us to another site of civilisational amnesia and cultural apathy. This is the Ukkal village. You would look at me strangely if I told you that for about three unbroken centuries, Ukkal reigned as one of the exemplars of village administration that had touched the summit of perfection.

Even this glorious heritage would have been lost to us but for the diligence of Sri K.V. Subrahmanya Iyer who in 1893 discovered seventeen inscriptions in the ruins of an ancient Vishnu temple. Of these, only fourteen were reasonably well-preserved. Of these fourteen, only twelve give us precise details of how the aforementioned village administration functioned.

Sri Iyer sketches a brief portrait of the heartbreaking condition of that temple: “Of the shrine itself, only the lower portions remain standing, and the mandapa in front of the shrine threatens to collapse at any moment.” After much tedious searching, I could identify the present name of this temple as the Arulmigu Bhuvana Mangala Perumal Temple.

The inscriptions cover the period from the eighth to the eleventh century spread over the suzerainties of the late Pallavas, the Rashtrakutas and the Cholas. They inform us that this Vishnu Temple was originally called Puvanimanikka (i.e., Bhuvanamanikya) Vishnugriham. Rajaraja I referred to its deity as the Tiruvaymolidevar (i.e., the Deity of the Tiruvaymoli), a direct reference to the Nalayiraprabandham composed by Nammalvar.

At various points in its long history, Ukkal was also known as Utkar, Utkal, Sivachulamanimangalam, Vikramabharana-chaturvedimangalam and Aparajita-chaturvedimangalam (a reference to the Pallava King, Aparajita).

An Unbroken Inheritance of Sanatana Statecraft

WITHOUT EXCEPTION, EVERY HINDU EMPIRE faithfully adhered to the ancient dictum of Santana statecraft that the lowest unit of administration must have the maximum autonomy. Interference from the central government was kept at the barest minimum as we have seen in this ennobling story of the Yogic village of Sorade. We notice the same feature in Ukkal as well.

In fact, a close study of these fourteen inscriptions opens up highly illuminative insights regarding the setup, constitution and functioning of village administration in South India. Its contents attracted the attention of no less a stalwart than R.C. Majumdar who wrote quite extensively about their value…sitting far away in Calcutta.

Ukkal was governed by an assembly known as the Sabha or Mahasabha, an unbroken administrative inheritance from the Sabhas and Samitis of the Vedic Era. The village assembly was subdivided into various committees tasked with specific functions. Committee members, technically known as Perumakkal (Distinguished Men), were elected each year. Transactions of the assembly were scrupulously recorded in registers and ledgers and other official books by an officer known as the Madhyastha (Arbitrator). Its accounts were maintained by the village accountant known as the €™Karanattan (its Telugu variant is Karanam, a familiar surname in south India). Sometimes, the Madhyastha also performed the duty of the Karanattan.

Here is the list of Committees constituted for Ukkal:

1. Distinguished men elected for the overall village assembly

2. Distinguished men elected for charities

3. Distinguished men elected for the village tank

4. Distinguished men elected for gardens

5. Distinguished men who manage the miscellaneous affairs of the village

If this sounds similar to the more renowned Uthiramerur inscription, it is because it is similar. The difference is only in the details. In other words, the constitution of such village assemblies differed in different localities and at different periods in history. Specific aspects of administration in each village were periodically upgraded or modified based on changed conditions or needs.

The Ukkal Inscriptions: A Summary

LET’S HEAR IT DIRECTLY from the horse’s mouth. The following short summary of twelve inscriptions discovered at Ukkal, offer firsthand evidence of the specifics of village administration. The numbers indicate the inscription number.

1. The Assembly of the village received a deposit of an amount of gold from one of the commissioners ruling over another village on the condition of feeding twelve Brahmanas and doing other useful works from the interest on this sum.

2. A certain person donated a plot of land to the great Assembly on the condition that its produce should be utilised for supplying the God with a stipulated quantity of rice. The inscription concludes as follows: “Having been present in the Assembly and having heard their order, I, the Madhyastha wrote this.”

3. A certain person had purchased a plot of land from the Assembly and assigned it to the villagers for the maintenance of a flower garden.

4. On receipt of a plot of land, the Assembly undertook to supply paddy to various persons engaged in connection with a cistern which the donor had constructed to supply water to the public.

5. The Assembly undertook to supply an amount of paddy per year by way of interest of a quantity of paddy deposited with them. The Perumakkal elected for the year would cause the paddy to be supplied.

6. A meeting of the Assembly, including the Perumakkal were elected for the management of charities and the commissioners in charge of the temple of Sattan in the village. The Assembly assigned a daily supply of rice and oil to a temple. The Perumakkal elected for the supervision of the village tank shall be entitled to levy a fine of (one) kalanju of gold in favour of the tank fund from those betel-leaf sellers in this village, who sell betel-leaves elsewhere but at the temple of Pidari.

7. The Assembly accepted the gift of an amount of paddy on the condition of feeding two Brahmanas daily out of the interest on this amount.

8. The Assembly has received a royal order authorising the village to sell lands on which tax has not been paid for two full years. Accordingly, these lands have become the property of the village.

9. This is the record of a sale of a plot of land by the village Assembly, which was their common property, plus a sale of five water levers, to a servant of the king who had assigned this land for the maintenance of two boats plying on the village tank.

10. The great Assembly — including the Perumakkal who were elected for the year and the Perumakkal elected for the supervision of the tank — being assembled, assigned, at the request of the manager of a temple, a plot of land in the fresh clearing for various specified purposes connected with the temple.

11. The village Assembly grants a village to a temple, including the flower garden, for the requirements of worship there. The terms of grant include the following: “We shall not be entitled to levy any kind of tax from this village. We, the Perumakkal elected for the year, we, the Perumakkal elected for the supervision of the tank, and we, the Perumakkal elected for the supervision of gardens, shall not be entitled to claim forced labour from the inhabitants settled in this village. This is confirmed at the order of the Assembly. If a crime or sin becomes public, the God (i.e., the temple authorities) alone shall punish the inhabitants of this village. Having agreed thus, we, the Assembly, have engraved this on stone.”

12. The son of a cultivator in the village assigned a plot of land in the neighbourhood. From the proceeds of this land, water and firepans had to be supplied to a mandapa frequented by Brahmanas. Further, a water lever was constructed in front of the cistern at the mandapa. The Perumakkal who manage the affairs of the village in each year shall supervise this charity.

Lessons and Insights

CLEARLY, THE UKKAL INSCRIPTIONS give us a rather comprehensive and unambiguous idea of the powers and functions of the village Assembly, and the perfection they had reached in administration. Nothing was left to chance or individual whim. Annual elections prevented monopolies and concentration of power. Every transaction was written down to the last detail and publicly ratified.

The macro dimension of Hindu statecraft and administration also reveals the fact that village assemblies were regarded as inextricable parts of the constitution of the country. As we mentioned earlier, they were entrusted with the entire management of the village in a truly autonomous fashion. Sabhas and Mahasabhas were absolute proprietors of village lands and they had full authority to create fresh clearings. They owned corporate property which they could sell for public purposes such as supplying the necessities of temples, digging wells and growing gardens. In essence, the village assembly exercised all the powers of a state within its own sphere of activity. In return, it had to deposit annual revenues to the imperial treasury and maintain peace and order and prevent rebellious or anarchist feelings.

In some cases, the Mahasabha of one village exercised jurisdiction over other villages. Inscription 11 cited above presents one such example. It shows that the Ukkal Assembly owned another village situated about three miles away. This village was given as a tax-free grant in order to provide for the necessities of a temple in Ukkal itself. This is how the inscription reads:

We, the assembly of Sivachulamanimangalam, alias Sri-Vikramabharana-chaturvedimangalam [Ukkal] ordered as follows: “To the god of the Puvanimanikka-Vishnugriham in our village shall belong, as a divine gift (deva-bhoga), the village called Sodiyambakkam, a hamlet (pidagai) to the north of our village, including the great flower-garden which belonged to this (temple) previously. The site of the village, the tank, the wet land, and dry land, and everything within its limits, on which the iguana runs and the tortoise crawls, for the worshippers of the god of his Puvanimanikka-Vishnugriham, for the requirements of the worship, for oblations (Tiruvamridu) at the three times of the day, for two perpetual lamps, for rows of lamps at twilight, for festivals, for the bathing of the idol at solstices, equinoxes and eclipses, for offerings (sribali), for supplies to the store-room of the temple, and for all other purposes. We shall not be entitled to levy any kind of tax from this village… If we utter the untruth that this not as stated above, in order to injure the charity, we shall incur all the sins committed between the Ganga and Kumari. We, the assembly, agree to pay a fine of one hundred and eight kanam per day, if we fail in this charity through indifference.

To round off this essay on a depressing note, the following photographs show the present condition of Ukkal.

Postscript

Clearly, the Ukkal inscriptions showcase a high degree of administrative sophistication and perfection both in theory and practice, attained in an era sans technology, where primacy was placed on the human element.

Courtesy: https://www.dharmadispatch.in/history/visiting-the-extraordinary-village-administrative-universe-of-ukkal

The Pragmatism and Compassion of the Kautilyan Taxation System - Sandeep Balakrishna

 Taxation

Taxation is another major area where we see Chanakya’s invisible hand throughout the Hindu civilizational history. The second Adhikarana (Chapter) of the Arthasastra, has a rather compassionate and grounded exposition of the Kautilyan taxation system. In verses six through eight, Chanakya mentions how the king should show Anugraha (favour) to farmers by supplying them seed, cattle, and money for farming, and that they should return it in instalments after reaping harvest. The king should also give them tax breaks in such a way that it “swells the treasury eventually.”

We see an exact replica of this policy in the Vijayanagara Empire. In 1379, Harihara II passed the following order: “by this order, the State has exempted from tax this land which has been brought under cultivation. Further, by making provision for irrigation and by digging canals, [this] village has made many improvements. Rice fields and gardens have been irrigated. In order to continue these improvements, the Emperor gave the people lands which are irrigated by this water tax-free for nine years so that the revenue amounts to 20,000 Pagodas.”

The consequence was, as Kautilya had anticipated so long ago, that the royal treasury “swelled.” Agricultural production touched an all-time high and the tax incentive enabled farmers to produce more.

This compassionate side of the Kautilyan taxation system was also informed with his innate understanding of a simple, verifiable truth: preserving culture preserved and improved the economy. However, this cultural impetus was born from the fact that Kautilya was himself a brilliant exponent of Sanatana Dharma. In the realm of taxation, this translated into the exemption of certain Shulkas (tolls):

1. Items taken by a new bride from her parents’ house to her husband’s house.

2. Items carried by anyone for facilitating the delivery of a woman.

3. Items taken for Puja, Yatra, Yagna, Vrata, etc

4. Items taken for ceremonies like Chaula (tonsuring), Namakarana (naming ceremony), Upanayana (Sacred Thread ceremony), Godana (donating cows), etc.

We see the practical application of this exemption-rule throughout the history of Hindu Empires.

Under the Cholas, an entire village would be exempt from tolls if its members went travelled for attending an out-of-town marriage, Yatra, festival etc.

Next, we have a great story where an Antyaja (people known today as Dalits) was returning to his village from a pilgrimage. He was harassed by the toll-keeper of the Araga region (Malnad). The harasser did not relent even after repeated pleading and the poor Antyaja had to cough up money. Eventually, he made an official complaint. In no time, the local chieftain severely punished the toll-keeper by stripping him of his job and levying a huge penalty.

Next, Kautilya also systematized the practice of making grants of entire villages, lands, etc., in some special cases and exempting them from tax. We see his legacy in this area throughout the history of most Hindu Empires. We have definitive inscriptions and grants right from the Gupta period up to the Marathas, and the Wodeyars, which give us detailed records of this practice. In the Wodeyar rule, this was variously known as Parihara, Maanya, Inaam, etc. However, the term Parihara, which was in vogue for several centuries, was used in the sense of compensation, exemption, grant, etc.

The other area of taxation that can be traced back to Kautilya is what is today known as origin of income. In Kautilya’s period and later as well, this meant identifying the place of origin of an item to be taxed. For example, it would be ridiculous to levy wool tax in a desert region. In fact, just by looking at the list of items he taxes by identifying their geographical origin, we are spellbound by his minute knowledge of Bharatavarsha’s geography and production of commercial goods. Thus, it is unsurprising that the Arthasastra became a pan-Indian work and has exerted such an enormous influence in our history.

Military

Now we can briefly trace Kautilya’s lasting influence on the most important organ of any nation: military strength. In Kautilya’s time, military strength was variously known as bala or danda. He divides troops into six major categories:

1. Maula: hereditary warriors, i.e., people with a lineage of military service.

2. Bhrta or Bhrtaka: hired troops

3. Shreni: troops maintained by guilds and business corporations.

4. Mitra: troops of allies

5. Amitra: troops formerly belonging to the enemy

6. Atavika: hunter-warriors

We see this exact division in the very first sloka of a Sixth Century grant given by Dhruvasena I of the Maitraka dynasty of Valabhi (ruling from the Saurashtra region). The verse says how this mighty king acquired his kingdom with the help of Maula-Bhrata-Mitra-Shreni.

From Valabhi, we can travel to Karnataka. Here, we see the Chalukya emperor Someshwara III writing in detail about the division of the military in his encyclopedic classic, Manasollasa. We notice that he is directly inspired by Chanakya when he says that other divisions of troops are always preferable to Atavikas and Amitras who cannot be fully trusted.

Thus, the more we seek, the deeper we dig, the more examples we find of Kautilya’s eternal imprint on Bharatavarsha’s fortunes and destiny.

In passing, we can also look at another important Kautilyan prescription in Chapter Seven of the Arthasastra:

The acquisition of land is better than that of gold and friend, and the acquisition of gold is better than the acquisition of a friend.

On the surface, this sounds heartless but politics and statecraft is not for the faint-hearted. We must remember the fact that Chanakya’s target audience is the King, and not the proverbial common citizen. But even if we set aside this target audience for a while and examine another historical truth, the lasting significance of this dictum becomes clear: such policies were what precisely kept the Maurya Empire flourishing for nearly 250 years. And these policies are exactly what preserved the Vijayanagara Empire amidst such dangerous and bigoted enemies: the Asuric Bahamani sultans who were the permanent source of danger in the North.

We can examine this pragmatic Kautilyan wisdom using the same Vijayanagara example.

Among all great Hindu Empires, Vijayanagara stands tallest in following this Kautilyan dictum in letter and spirit. From its very founding days, the Vijayanagara monarchs made it their state policy to amass enormous amounts of wealth, which itself was a great source of protection and stability. This wealth allowed them to constantly expand their boundaries, it bought them the loyalties of their vassals, and where dirty tricks were called for, the Vijayanagara kings used dirty tricks.

The stability, peace and prosperity that the Vijayanagara Empire enjoyed for about 250 years, was based on the twin foundations of a large and ferocious military and unrivalled economic might. It did not come by following phony Gandhian appeals to the “innate goodness in the heart of the enemy” and other such pious nonsense. In fact, the last de facto ruler, Aliya Rama Raya tried a version of this Gandhian model to his own peril. He adopted the Bahamani princeling as his son, lavished enormous gifts and honours on him only to be repaid by having his head chopped off.

Courtesy: https://www.dharmadispatch.in/history/the-pragmatism-and-compassion-of-the-kautilyan-taxation-system

The Unknown Story of the Valour of the Yogic Village of Sorade - Sandeep Balakrishna

THE TRANQUILITY OF MALENADU is undoubtedly a blessing but it is also a cloak that conceals thousands of profound stories of history. The curious seeker will be left with wanting more if he as much as parts the bearded lushness of its deceptive shrubs. The dedicated historian will realize the sorry reality of his own mortality the moment he prises open the past of just one precinct, one temple, or one Agrahara. The profound interconnections are delicately bound to one another in a mirror-like fashion of its flora and fauna. The pleasure-seeking traveller, the most unfortunate of all species, will merely marvel at the fuliginous mornings of Malenadu from the illusory luxury of his resort room.

Malenadu has a thousand gates to enter and embrace it. One of the slogans of Hassan is the boast that it is the gateway to Malenadu. It is a well-founded boast but it is also borrowed glory. Like Hassan, other places skirting Malenadu, can claim the same boast. By the mere virtue of proximity, these geographies are indeed fortunate.

But when we push the geography farther away by three hundred kilometres and begin our journey from Bangalore, we arrive at Shivamogga, one of the nerve-centres of Malenadu. And when we travel twenty-seven kilometres westwards from Shivamogga along a crooked line, we arrive at an enchanting forest-pocket named Choradi. 

Choradi is the location of our story.

Today, it is a large village populated by about 2600 people. Its profound history is now as obscure and as inaccessible as the thousands of Malenadu valleys which no one knows about simply because they don’t care.

Its journey roughly begins sometime in the fourth century CE, during the rule of the Kadamba dynasty of Banavasi. Its original name was Soraḍe (ಸೊರಡೆ).

But a slight detour is essential before we narrate the full story.

In 1920-21, the Mysore Archeological Department, visited Choradi and found several valuable stone and other inscriptions in its vicinity. As part of this expedition, they came across the deserted house of a Nadiga (town or village chief or officer) in a village east of Choradi. In its compound, they sighted a key that unlocked a glowing but now-faded gem of history: a stone inscription lying on the ground, battered by eons of natural onslaughts. Its size was modest: 3.3/2.6 feet.

Good things come in small sizes.

The inscription, written in Haḷagannaḍa (Old Kannada) opened a new world.

An Independent, Self-Governing Village Republic

The immediate fact that it revealed was stunning: Soraḍe was an independent village republic. Although the entire region was under the control of the Kadambas, Soraḍe did not owe allegiance to any king. In contemporary verbiage, this village, an Agrahara, was a flourishing and early model of what is today known as self-governing village community. Soraḍe was regulated by the Village Assembly, a ubiquitous feature in the history, structure and functioning of the Hindu administrative system from untold antiquity. The story of Soraḍe brilliantly reveals the historical fact that even the king largely left these villages untouched. The villagers paid no taxes to anyone and managed their affairs with extraordinary competence and justice.

External control and regulation become unnecessary when internal discipline is perfected.

This shows that by all standards, Soraḍe was tightly-knit, prosperous and sizably populous. But more importantly, its people were made of a different material. This is how they describe themselves and the justified pride they take in their village.

"All the inhabitants of the ancient Agrahara of Soraḍe are devoted to the observance of Pranayama and other Yoga practices, and are fully in control of their sense organs."

But the event that occasioned this inscription is the real story.

Once, a bunch of power-drunk officers of the Kadamba ruler Tailapa (II or III) launch an unprovoked raid against Soraḍe in order to steal their cows. They were in for a rude shock. The doughty village police chief, Cīladalāra bōpadalāra met the marauders head on and gave them a thrashing they would never forget. He saved the cows but died a hero in the battle.

Soraḍe sung praises of his undaunted valour, mourned his martyrdom and were convinced that through his meritorious service, he had attained Suraloka, or Svarga or the celestial abode (…bōpadalāra Kādi suralōka prāptan ādaḍe…). The villagers also reserved harsh words for Tailapa himself, branding his officers as “royal cow-lifters”: Kadambara tailapan…Gōva koḷḷ ahitaraṁ.

And then, in a characteristic act of nobility, Mācōja, an important officer of the Village Assembly, ratified the unanimous decision of the village to honour the martyred warrior. This was the decision in official language:

All the inhabitants of the ancient Agrahara of Sorade, devoted to the observance of Pranayama and other Yoga practices, all of them assembled in thousands, made a gift of a wetland and a dry field together with the remission of house-tax and family-tax to Cīladalāra bōpadalāra in appreciation of the victory he won against royal cow lifters on their way to make a raid of cows of the village. WHOEVER TAKES AWAY THIS GIFT WILL BE CAST OUT OF THE COUNTRY.

The last line is an extraordinary reflection of and an unabashed declaration of the fierce and confident spirit of independence of the people of Soraḍe. This is also Yoga. If they could pulverize the royal thieves, they could also safeguard their gift to their beloved martyr. This is the real deal of Sanatana political, social and community history that has been suppressed.

A scene of Bōpadalāra’s battle with the enemies has been engraved on the Soraḍe inscription along with the text. This inscription is just an infinitesimal example of our historical treasure-chest that yields such real-life demonstrations of the innate Hindu nobility shaped by eons of living the Dharmic life, of adhering to the Purushartha ideal and of placing Sanatana values above individualism.

Who knows, you might find a Choradi or Soraḍe in your vicinity.

Courtesy: https://www.dharmadispatch.in/history/the-unknown-story-of-the-valour-of-the-yogic-village-of-sorade