Ramanisblog

Day: November 4, 2016

  • Sanatana Dharma Tamil Coexisted in Indus Valley Tamil Towns

    The relationship between Tamil and Sanatana Dharma is intriguing.

    Their relationship is one of cordiality , mutual respect and admiration for each other.

    The Tamil Kings are spoken of highly in the Vedas and Puranas.

    They were invited to the Swayamvara of. Damayanthi, who predates Lord Rama, Rama Sita marriage, Draupadi Swayamvara and Yudhistra’s Rajasuya Yaga.

    Tamil King Udiyan Cherallathan provided food for both the Pandava and Kaurava armies during the Mahabharata War.

    Sananat Dharma spread around he world
    Vedic India

    Madurai Meenakshi’s father Malayathdwaja participated in the Mahabharata war fighting along side the Pandavas.

    Lord Krishna was invited to Tamil Poets ‘Conclave at Madurai(probably the Thenmadurai, now sunk) and he participated in it.

    Krishna and Arjuna married Pandyan Princesses;Krishna had a daughter and had her married to a Pandyan Prince, while Arjuna had a son.

    Krishna’s elder brother Balarama visited south and worshiped Lord Subrahmanya.

    And of course Parashurama, who established the present Kerala.

    Sage Viswamitra’s descendant  Apasthamba wrote the Veda Sutra called Apasthama Sutra by integrating Tamil practices like Thaali, Mangalya, which is not found in the Vedas.

    Brahmins in the south of India follow Apasthamba sutra even today.

    Rama’ ancestor Vaivaswatha Manu migrated from the south to Ayodhya to found Ikshvaku Dynasty.

    Manu migrated to Ayodhya because of a Tsunami recorded in Tamil Classic, Sangam Literature.

    So there should have been no presence of any dynasty in the north if we go by this hypothesis .

    However there was a Chola king, who ruled from North, much before the great Flood.

    He was King Sibi and Cholas call themselves the descendants of Kashyapa.

    This Sibi is mentioned in Tamil Literature  and in Puranas a belonging to Suryavansh.

    He built a temple near Srirangam in Tamil Nadu for Lord Vishnu.

    It is the Thiruvellarai Pundareekakshar temple, about 20km from Srirangam

    Sibi is reported to have fought an army of Asuras here.

    Asuras mean powerful, yet evil intentioned.

    King Sibi ruled from Pakistan?

    And we have a a site of about a Million years in Chennai which belongs to advanced Tamil civilization.

    Another one is at Adhichanallur which dates back to 11000 years.

    Thee site  refer to Sanatana Dharma.

    And Sanatana Dharma refer Tamils!

    Tamil Brahmi is found in Harappa.

    Tamil Sangam period Towns,harbor names are found in Indus Valley Civilization.

    Thee names are.

    Vanji, capital of Chera Kingdom,

    Gorkai, in Afghanistan

    a Pandya harbor, Matrai(Madurai), Urai(Uraiyur capital of Cholas), Koodal kat(kodal, name for Madurai),in Pakistan,

    ‘சிந்துவெளி மற்றும் அரப்பாவில் ”கொற்கை, வஞ்சி, தொண்டி வளாகம்”
    சிந்துவெளியில் சங்கத் தமிழரின் துறைமுகங்கள், தலைநகரங்கள் மற்றும் ஊர்களின் பெயர்கள்
    பாகிஸ்தானிலுள்ள கொற்கை (Gorkai. Gorkhai), வஞ்சி (Vanji), தொண்டி(Tondi), மத்ரை (Matrai), உறை (Urai), கூடல் கட் (Kudal Garh) மற்றும் கோளி (Koli); ஆப்கானிஸ்தானிலுள்ள கொற்கை (Korkay. Gorkay). பூம்பகார் (Pumbakar) ஆகிய ஊர்ப் பெயர்கள் சங்க இலக்கியங்களில் குறிப்பிடப்பட்டுள்ள தலைநகரங்கள் மற்றும் துறைமுக நகரங்களின் பெயர்களான கொற்கை. வஞ்சி. தொண்டி. மதுரை. உறையூர். கூடல். கோழி. பூம்புகார் ஆகியவற்றை நினைவுபடுத்துகின்றன.

    Lord Rama, whose name is found in the  Sumerian King List as a King of Sumer,along with Dasaratha and Bharata, fought a war against Atlantis people to help Horus , on of Osiris,.

    ‘

    Leading Osiris’s Egyptian armies was Osiris’ eldest son Horus. After Osiris’ unfortunate ‘death’, Horus succeeded his father as king of the Libyan/Egyptian Empire. Intuitively, Horus knew what would happen when they landed in Libya. He completely distrusted his uncle. Horus persistently warned his father about Seth’s stubbornness and treachery. Osiris, believing in the goodness of the human heart, initially ignored his son’s advice. Subsequently, Osiris landed in Libya and after Seth’s abdication became Emperor’

    After the demise of Osiris, his son Horus entered into a pact with Rama Empire(Emperor Zata’ar’s eldest son, Prince Rama.) to defeat Seth, the usurper.’

    The Atlantis army met with Rama’s Army in Rishi City, now in Pakistan…..

    There were four ancient empires.

    Rama’s Empire,

    Atlantis Empire,

    Uighur Empire and

    Lemurian Empire.

    Of these Uighur was not very advanced and Lemuria which had been on the wane was trying to recoup.

    They were suppressed by the Atlantis people.

    In the Atlantis, Osiris’ son Horus entered into an alliance with Rama to defeat Seth who was trying to become independent in the Sumerian valley.

    ‘

    Rama Dropped Atom Bomb Mohenjo daro

    This means that Mohenjo Daro was a flourishing civilization before the Rama War with Atlantis people.

    Yet there was a  Chola King much before the advent of Rama.

    ‘

    The contention of Dr Parpola and the Dravidian politicians of Tamilnadu is that Tamils have descended form the IVC locations of North India. The verse by poet Kapilar in fact traces the origins of the King IrungoveL to Dwaraka. He says that he belonged to the 49th generation of the king who was born of the Sacrificial Fire conducted by the sage of the North. This king ruled Dwaraka, so says the poet. Reserving the other details of this verse for a future post, I am now concentrating on another description in that song.

    ( There is another interpretation on the interpretatiion of  the term Sacrificial fire

    Kapilar describes Dwaraka as being surrounded by walls made of copper.

    நீயே, வடபால் முனிவன் தடவினுள் தோன்றிச்,
    செம்பு புனைந்து இயற்றிய சேண்நெடும் புரிசை,
    உவரா ஈகைத், துவரை ஆண்டு,
    நாற்பத்து ஒன்பது வழிமுறை வந்த
    வேளிருள் வேளே!
    This means “O king IrungoveL! you were the 49th king in the lineage of the king, who was born of the sacrificial fire conducted by the sage and ruled Dwarka which was surrounded by long / tall walls of copper.”

    From the commentary that Dr U.Ve.Sa found out form the palm leaf manuscripts :-
    “நீ தான் வட பக்கத்து முனிவனுடைய ஓம குண்டத்தின் கண் தோன்றிச் செம்பால் புனைத்து செய்தாலொத்த சேய்மையை உடைத்தாகிய நெடிய மதிலை உடைய துவராவதி என்னும் படை வீட்டை ஆண்டு, வெறுப்பில்லாத கொடையினை உடையராய் நாற்பத்தொன்பது தலைமுறை தொன்றுபட்டு வந்த வேள்களுள் வைத்து வேளாய்உள்ளாய்!”..

     ‘This king was not in Dwaraka when Kapilar met him and sang this verse. He was ruling some part of the western ghats in present day’s Karnataka. This Vel’s kingdom was different from the Tamil lands of the 3 kings (Chera, Chola and Pandya). The next verse was on the same king sung by Kapilar in which he describes his land in the hills.
    This king’s palace was not surrounded by walls of copper. Copper walls were there in the kingdom of his ancestors in Dwaraka.Assuming that 3 kings lived per century, we can say that 1600 years have passed by the time this 49th king had come into being. The period of this king is not exactly known, but can be deciphered from Kapilar’s other connections. Kapilar was a close friend of another VeL king, Paari who was killed by the 3 Tamil kings. Kapilar took care of Parri’s orphaned daughters and approached another Vel king, IrungoveL to request him to marry the two daughters of Paari. This verse contains that request.

    https://ramanisblog.in/2016/01/28/irungovel-tamil-king-and-hoysalas-founder-the-same/

     So there seems to be a Dynasty belonging to Suryavansh in the North and it declined or swallowed by Tsunami from the Arabian Sea, this could have  either the second or the  first Great flood mentioned in the Tamil Classics.

    And we have references to Sage Agastya, settling the people from the sinking Dwaraka  in Tamil Nadu and the present Karnataka.

    Considering all this I proposed that there could have been two Tamil Empires.

    As t whether Tamils came from the Sanatana Dharma people or vice versa, it is difficult t postulate.

    I am providing an abstract from one theory on this.

    ‘

    Abstract

    Can Sankam corpus, the ancient extant Dravidian literature, be a source to identify the language of the Indus script; a collateral evidence to estimate the ethno-linguistic composition of Indus Civilization? I seek to answer this question in affirmative.

    I have located a group of place names in the Indus –Harappan geographies (modern Pakistan and adjoining regions), which I choose to call as “Korkay, Vanji, Tondi Complex.” This ‘complex’ contains perfect parallels to “Korkai-Vanji-Tondi” and many other geographical names and anthroponyms attested in Sankam Tamil texts.

    I propose that these identical name-heritage complexes of the north-western geographies and the extreme south provide reliable markers for the probable migration of Dravidians following the collapse of Indus Valley Civilization. I call in the evidence of “bone-eating camel” described in Akananooru as a testimony for the earlier presence of Dravidians in the north-western geographies (particularly Gujarat).

    And, I conclude that the Sankam corpus in part represents the ‘carried forward memories’ of a remote past, the coordinates of which can be traced back to the Indus Valley Civilization and late Harappan cultures and relevant geographies.’

    http://new.modernrationalist.com/2013/07/tamil-indus-korkayvanjitondiin-the-north-west-and-a-bone-eating-camel-in-the-cankam-text/

    My view is that there were two cultures, Tamil and Sanatana Dharma coexisting , thugh slightly different in their approach to Life.

    That these two acknowledge their differences yet respected each other i a great lesson for us.

    References and citations.

    https://tamilvaralaru.wordpress.com/2014/12/03/%E0%AE%9A%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%A8%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%A4%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%B5%E0%AF%86%E0%AE%B3%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B2%E0%AF%8D-%E0%AE%8A%E0%AE%B0%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%B3%E0%AF%8D-%E0%AE%A4/

    http://new.modernrationalist.com/2013/07/tamil-indus-korkayvanjitondiin-the-north-west-and-a-bone-eating-camel-in-the-cankam-text/

    https://ramanisblog.in/2016/10/27/two-tamil-empires-in-india-northwest-south-india-missing-history/

     

  • Angirasa Founder Pre Sumerian Civilization Akkadian Empire?

    I have written on the presence of artifacts in the middle east, areas surrounding it in Europe which indicate the presence of  Sanatana Dharma and Tamil in the culture of Mesopotamia  and Sumeria.

    Akkadian Civilization remains
    Akkadian Relgious artifact.Trishul or Subrahmanya’s Spear?

    Kings' List, Akkadian Empire
    Akkadian King List. Note the similarities to Sanskrit Names.

    ‘

    1.Lord Rama’s Chapel was found in UR, Iraq.*

    2.A burial ground called as Nagar is fond in Syria. It is called Tel Brak now.

    3.Idols of Rama,Sita and Lakshmana are found.*

    4.Ancestors of the Syrians were the Halaf and Ubaid.

    They date back to 6100 BC.

    They had connection with the Tamils and this is reflected in the ruins of  Nagar.*

    These people traded with the Tamils.

    ”Naram-Sin traded with Meluhha (almost certainly corresponding to the Indus Valley civilization), and controlled a large portion of land along the Persian Gulf. He expanded his empire by defeating the King of Magan at the southern end of the Persian Gulf, and conquering the hill tribes to the north in the Taurus Mountains.

    5.Akkadian’s( Forefathers of the Sumerians) Moon God was Naram Sin, Narasimha.*

    6.There are repeated references in the Sumerian/Akkadian language to Meluuha.

    7.Ancient Tamil Brahmi Scripts were found in Oman and Egypt.

    These facts establish that,

    The Tamils were an advanced civilisation by 2200 BC(Akkadian Empire)

    The Hindu Gods and Goddesses were worshiped in Sumeria,

    Names of Lord Rama and Bharata were found in the Kings List of Sumeria.’

    ‘A Tamil-Brahmi script inscribed on a potsherd, which was found at the Khor Rori area in Oman, has come to light now. The script reads “nantai kiran” and it can be dated to first century CE, that is, 1900 years before the present. The discovery in the ancient city of Sumhuram has opened a new chapter in understanding the maritime trade of the Indian Ocean countries, according to specialists in history.

    Tamil city in Sumeria  2200 BC

    OM in Sumerian Prayer 2600 BC

    Haran Shiva In Turkey

    Please read the related posts of the above as well.

    Who are Akkadians?

    ‘

    The Akkadian Empire /əˈkeɪdiən/ was the first ancient Semitic-speaking empire of Mesopotamia, centered in the city of Akkad/ˈækæd/ and its surrounding region, also called Akkad in ancient Mesopotamia. The empire united all the Akkadian and Sumerian speakers for the first time under one rule. The Akkadian Empire controlled Mesopotamia (modern Iraq, Kuwait, northeast Syria and southeast Turkey), the Levant (modern Syria and Lebanon), and eastern and southern parts of Anatolia(modern Turkey) and Iran, sending military expeditions as far south as Dilmun and Meluhha (modern Bahrain and Oman) in the Arabian Peninsula.

    During the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism. Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as a spoken language somewhere between the 3rd and the 2nd millennia BC (the exact dating being a matter of debate).

    The Akkadian Empire reached its political peak between the 24th and 22nd centuries BC, following the conquests by its founder Sargon of Akkad (2334–2279 BC). Under Sargon and his successors, the Akkadian language was briefly imposed on neighboring conquered states such as Elam and Gutium. Akkad is sometimes regarded as the first empire in history, though there are earlier Sumerian claimants.

    Elam was an Empire of Tamils which exited before the great Flood probably in  Lemuria.

    And there was one more Tamil Empire in the North west of India.

    Please read my article Two Tamil Empires?

    After the fall of the Akkadian Empire, the people of Mesopotamia eventually coalesced into two major Akkadian-speaking nations: Assyria in the north, and, a few centuries later, Babylonia in the south.”

    Now there is a theory that Rishi Angirasa was worshiped/funded the Akkadian Empire

    There seven Seers of Hinduism, who, at the beginning of every time cycle formulate the code of conduct, texts to follow.

    These are called Saptha(7) Rishis.

    They are.,

    Atri,

    Bhrigu,

    Kutsa,

    Vasishta,

    Gautama,

    Kasyapa and

    Angirasa.

    Now. the theory states that.

    ‘The supreme deity of the Sumerian pantheon is AN, or Anu. In the first two letters of the Sanskrit word An-gir-as, AN could refer to Anu. GIR might relate to the Akkadian fire-god— fire as in rocket propulsion. DinGIR in the cuneiform writing meant sky or heaven, and also a god or goddess. The masters of the sky were perceived as deities by the earthbound. This reminds of Angiras and his descendants, the Angirasas, as a group of higher beings who traversed the realms between gods and men — an inter-stellar and inter-dimensional elite…

    The Angirasas and the Bhrigus families “…represent the pre-Rig Vedic past: they go so far back into the past that not only are they eponymous founders of these families (Angiras and Bhrigu respectively), but even certain other ancient Rishis belonging to these families (Brihaspati, Atharvan, Ushana) are already remote mythical persons in the Rigveda; and the names of the two families are already names for mythical and ritual classes: the Angirasas are deified as ‘a race of higher beings between Gods and men’ …the Bhrigus and the Atharvans are synonymous with fire-priests in general. …the names of these two families are also found in the Iranian and Greek texts…” [Shrikant G. Talageri]..

    No one can compare the Avestan poetry with the Indian [Rigvedic] poetry in its content, in its style of expression, and in its entire coloring, without coming to the conclusion, on account of their agreement in small details which force themselves on us at every step, that both the literatures point not only to a common origin of these two peoples and their religions, but also to a community of Indo-Iranian religious poetry, developed in well-established forms.
    [Hermann Oldenberg]

    “The name Anu or Ânava for the Iranians appears to have survived even in later times: the country and the people in the very heart of Avesta land, to the immediate north of Hâmûn-i Hilmand, were known as late as Greek times as the Anauon or Anauoi. The names of Anu tribes in the Rigveda and the Puranas can be clearly identified with the names of the most prominent tribes among latter-day Iranians.”   [Shrikant G. Talageri]..

    ….Malati J. Shendge says “Sanskrit is derived from Akkadian and Sumerian…Sanskrit is not a language of the Aryas…It is essentially a lineal descendent of the languages of the Asuras.” She states that the Rig Veda does not belong to the Aryas and in fact in her view this was “purely an assumption without any firm basis.” And she states “…it is possible to find parallels in the Akkadian sources to many clans and personal names of the poets of Rig Vedic compositions, and of the Asuras, the enemies of Indra.” She believes that the language of the Rig Veda — [meaning the older Vedic Sanskrit which is very different from the latter classical Sanskrit] — is a form of Akkadian and “that the Akkadian in the process of evolution has become what we know today as Sanskrit….

    References and citations.

    Prolegomena on Metre and Textual History of the Rigveda, by Hermann Oldenberg, Berlin 1888; translated into English by V.G. Paranjape and M.A. Mehendale; Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Ltd., Delhi, 2005.

    The Rig Veda and the History of India, by David Frawley; Aditya Prakashan, New Delhi, 2001, 2003.

    The RIGVEDA, A Historical Analysis, by Shrikant G. Talageri; Aditya Prakashan, New Delhi, 2000, 2004.

    The Civilized Demons: The Harappans in Rigveda, by Malati J. Shendge; Abhinav Publications, New Delhi, 1977.

    The Language of the Harappans: From Akkadian to Sanskrit, by Malati J. Shendge; Abhinav Publications, New Delhi, 1997.

    http://metaphysicalmusing.com/articles/rigveda2015/AnuPart1.htm

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akkadian_Empire

    Images credit.

    http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Akkadian_Empire

  • Medical Corps Military Academy Chola Army Details

    Ancient Kings of India, though adhered to Dharma, were quite adept in maintaining a well oiled Military force, always ready.

    These forces, during peace time were engaged in building of water tanks and other social welfare activities.

    Military might of Cholas
    Chola Military. Image source.http://www.slideshare.net/Harshgurawaliya/chola-empire-their-rule-timeline-the-rulers

    Apart from the four or defined classes of forces, they had special forces like Velakkarapadai, Apaththudavi padai, which are loyal only to the King and performed the duties of a private army of the king much like the special protection detail of the US President.

    They allo had a reserve Navy, especially the  Cholas and Cheras while Pandyan had a Naval Army based on the exigencies.

    ‘

    Chaturangabala for organisation and Sadangabala for Administration, the fourfold force and sixfold control. In its shortened form it is called RathaGajaTuraPadai. In it, Ratha is the Chariot, Gajais the Elephant, Tura is the Horses And finally Padai is the Infantry. It is said that an army with a growing proportionate of the said forces y is a balanced and well composed one.
    In Addition to the Divisions, there were other attached units in the Chola Army. Those are Nadapu – The Commissariat and Payanam – The Admiralty & Logistics. The addition of these new bureaucratic organisation inside the Army is What revolutionised the Chola Army resulting in victories of such a huge scale.

    The regiments of the Chola Army had a corporate life of its own and was free to endow benefactions and build temples in its own name. To some of these regiments, the management of certain minor shrines of the temple was entrusted and they were expected to provide for the requirements of the shrine. Others among them took money from the temple on interest, which they agreed to pay in cash. We are not, however, told to what productive purpose they applied this money. At any rate all these transactions show that the king created in them an interest in the temples he built….

    In the organisational structure of the army, they had Medical corps and the Cholas maintained a Military Training Academy…

    The ‘Standing’ Army was organised into multiple Senais. The composition of each senai depended on its deployment/Stationed location and role.

    Normally, A Chola Senai is the largest Organisational unit. At various times in its existence the army had between 1 and 3 Senais.

    Thalam

    Commanding Officer’s Rank : Thalapathi – (this rank is the equivalent of the Naval Rank of Kalapathi)
    Modern equivalent Rank  : General
    The Senai is divided into various Thalams. A Thalam is a self-sustaining army formation with its own Material resources and inventory. A Thalam Usually contains

    • 3 Yanaipadai – Elephant Corps, each with 300-500 elephants,
    • 3 Kudhiraipadai – Cavalry Corps, each with 500-1000 Horses,
    • 6 Kaalaatpadai – Infantry Corps, Each with 2000-3000 Men,
    • 2 Thalpadai – Auxiliary- A mix of Infantry & Cavalry, Each with 1000–2000 Men and 500-1000 Horses. (they Can be used as Rear-Guard Units as well as a guerilla force in time of withdrawal.
    • 2 Marathuvarani – Medical Corps – About 200–300 doctors with horse-drawn carriages and medical provisions.
    • 1 or 2 Oosipadai – Strike Corps

    Ani

    Commanding Officer’s Rank’ : Anipathi – Meaning Lord of Group
    Modern equivalent Rank  : Colonel
    A Thalam is subdivided into various Anis, from a purely numerical point of view an Ani is 1/3 of a Thalam, with

    • 1 Yanaipadai
    • 1 Kudhiraipadai
    • 2 Kaalatpadai
    • 1 Thalpadai

    Military Academy.

    The presence of military cantonments called Kadagam in Sangam Tamil indicates that there were regular training and military practice as a part of the Tamil martial tradition which were all forcefully banned and taken away by the British. The Palayam system was based on a feudal class structure of warriors, farmers, artisans and merchants where the distinctions between the caste statuses of the constituent classes were strictly enforced. To symbolize this society, the Tamil warriors wore swords in everyday life because the system was maintained by their military prowess. Martial tradition and practice were systematically outlawed by the British. The modern Indian army has a Madras regiment which being the only one unit for the whole of South India.

    There were military colonies known as nilai puram. A nilaipuram contained a number of forts. In Keralasinga Valanadu of the North Pandya country, there were five nilaipurams. These were named after the five coronational names of the Pandyas, namely, Sundara, Kulasekhara, Vikrama, Vira, and Parakrama Pandya.

    Reference and citations.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chola_military

     

     

  • Democratic Temple Administration By Cholas

    I have written about the Democratic process  followed by the Chola Kings to elect ,members for administering villages.

    Though a Monarchy Tamil Kings of ancient times followed the principles of democracy by having elected representatives t run day to day administration of the country.

    The Minster were appointed by the king.

    Tanjore Big Temple.image.jpg
    Thanjavur Big Temple

    This council  looked after the executive aspects, including  security , finance and foreign affairs.

    To advise this group, a Committee was in place.

    It was called Enperaayam, that is a council of Eight, who were learned men nominated y the King.

    This council also served as a sort of sounding board and at time a an Appellate Court in dispensing with Justice..

    The Village formed the core of administration.,

    Village council was democratically elected  ballot.

    Please read my article on this.

    Each village had a member assigned with a specific task, like digging Canals(Karai Velalar, a  sub caste of Velalar, velalar means one who manages water resources), maintaining the Tank bund,Local finance man(Grama Dhanadhikari).

    This micro management was  replicated at  the center at the capital , with corresponding officers for the functions.

    For the management of temples, the Village had three committees.

    1. Committee consisting of Brahmins.

    2.Velalars and others.

    3.Traders.

    Decisions about the temple management were taken either by a group or all the groups in consultation with the others.

    There were three officials for the running of the temple administration.

    1.Sree Karyam, general administration with special responsibility to Finance.

    2.Devakanmigal.for ensuring the pooja details and festivals are conducted properly.

    3.Maakeswaras for carrying out all the other works.

    These officials formed a part of the administrative group mentioned at the beginning of the article.

    The meetings of the councils were conducted in Temple premises or the Theatre for performing Arts.

    These details are available in Epigraph of Tamil Nadu temples.

    The people of the village also participated in the meetings.

    Epigraph at Thiruvidaimaruthur Temple, near Kumbakonam, details this process.

    Dates on which these meeting were held are also found in the epigraph.

    ‘

    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

    Bureaucracy.

    The Chola bureaucracy did not differ much from its contemporaries. However, what distinguished it was its highly organised nature. A careful balance between central control and local independence was maintained and non-interference in local government was sacrosanct.

    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.

    One of the important such officers were the Revenue officials responsible for the receipts and expenditures of the government.

    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 Cholawhich 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 enquiried and accurate surveys, and were kept up-to-date by regular surveys.

    The duties of revenue officials included many other spheres of responsibilities. They also regulated receipts and expenditures of temples. They were also seen to purchase land on behalf of village assemblies. They attested and certified important documents drawn up by local government agencies such as village councils. They were also shown to act as magistrates.

    Besides the tax collected by the central government, several local bodies enjoyed the privilege of collecting tolls and other imposts.

    Justice

    Justice was mostly a local matter in the Chola Empire, where minor disputes were settled at the village level. The punishments for minor crimes were in the form of fines or a direction for the offender to donate to some charitable endowment. Even crimes such as manslaughter or murder were punished by fines. Crimes of the state such as treason were heard and decided by the king himself and the typical punishment in such cases was either execution or confiscation of property. The people had to agree to the king in these situations, no matter what.

    Village assemblies exercised large powers in deciding local disputes. Small committees called Nyayattar heard matters that did not come under the jurisdiction of the voluntary village committees. The punishments in most cases were in the form of donations to the temples or other endowments. The convicted person would remit their fines at a place called Darmaasana. There is not much information available on the judicial procedures or court records.

    There was no distinction between civil and criminal offences. Sometimes civil disputes were allowed to drag on until time offered the solution. Crimes such as theft, adultery and forgery were considered serious offences. In most cases the punishment was in the order of the offender having to maintain a perpetual lamp at a temple. Even murder was punished with a fine. In one instance a man had stabbed an army commander. Rajendra Chola II ordered the culprit to endow 96 sheep for a lamp at a neighbouring temple.

    Capital punishment was uncommon even in the cases of first-degree murder. Only one solitary instance of capital punishment is found in all the records available so far.

    Reference and citations.

    http://www.varalaaru.com/design/article.aspx?ArticleID=1262

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chola_government#Council_of_Ministers