Pallava Dynasty - Governance in Kanchipuram

Governance in Kanchipuram

Pallava power was well established at the time when Sivaskanda-varman is styled " supreme king of great kings," a title which implies paramount authority over other rulers subject to him ; and the circumstance of his having offered the horse-sacrifice, which indicates his own personal appreciation of his great power. His predecessor, immediate or otherwise, King Bappa, was wealthy enough to make donations to Brahmans of a 100,000 Ox ploughs, whatever the multiple of exaggeration may be, and many millions of gold coin.

Tho Pallava king was assisted in his government by 'ministers" of state and "privy councillors"; and his throne was surrounded by "royal princes." As can be ascertained from the terms of Professor Buhler's translation, they embraced "countries" governed by "prefects" distributed into "provinces" administered by their "lords," and subdivided into "districts" under the superintendence of their "rulers". Their fiscal arrangements included "custom houses" and "officers" of customs, and "spies" or itinerant superintendents of revenue. They had also some kind of forest department with its staff of "foresters." They maintained a standing army, the brigades of which were commanded by "generals," and its minor groups of rank and file had their non-commissioned officers or "naicks".

Their village lands were occupied by ryots who paid "eighteen kinds" of contributions to the crown, partly in kind and partly in money ("taxes"). Amongst those which were paid in kind were "sweet and sour milk", "grass and wood" and "vegetables and flowers". They had to plough the crown (state) lands by turns with their "oxen in succession," and it was a part of their obligation to keep the roads and irrigation works in repair by a system of "forced labour". Salt and sugar were royal monopolies; and these not infrequently involved the ryots in "troubles".

The crown had the power to confer grants of land for religious uses, for "the increase of the merit, longevity, power, and fame of his own family and race," and to exempt the grantees and their grant-lands from the payment of the customary taxes. When such land-grants were made, the agricultural "labourers," and the "kolikas" or village staff, were transferred with the land. These "labourers" received for their remuneration "half the produce," according to the system of varam.