Nayaka Rule in the Tamil Country During the Vijayanagar Period*
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■ 論 文 ■ Nayaka Rule in the Tamil Country during the Vijayanagar Period* ● Noboru Karashima Introduction The first thing we notice when reading Vijayanagar Tamil inscriptions of the 16th century is the frequent appearance of the nayakas in relation to the tax remission and grants of villages to temples. Although the nayakas do appear in 15th century inscriptions, local administration in the Tamil country during and before the 15th century seems to have been carried out by high ranking officers such as mahamandaresvaras,pradhanis or their subordinates, adhikaris, as they appear more frequently in the ear- lier inscriptions)) If we count the number of tax remissions or imposi- tions made by the administrative authorities for all the period of the Vi- jayanagar rule, this point will become clearer.2) During the 14th and 15th centuries, tax remissions or impositions were made mostly by the king, pradhanis, and other high ranking officers, while the same work was predominantly undertaken by nayakas during the 16th century and after. The second thing is the distressed conditions of the people troubled by the misbehaviour of adhikaris in their local administration during the 14th and 15th centuries. While collecting taxes working under the mahamandaresvaras, dandanayakas or pradhanis, the adhikaris seem to have oppressed the people by over-assessment and harsh collection of taxes or by taking over the land on many pretexts or even coercively. Such tyran- nical rule by the invading Vijayanagar armies during the 14th century resulted in an open revolt by the direct producers in the agrarian society * This is a slightly revised version of the paper presented at the seminar on the state in pre-colonial South India held at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 28th-30th March 1989. 60 against the Vijayanagar government in the second quarter of the 15th cen- tury.3) Quite contrary to this, nayakas during the 16th century, who were granted some specific territory (nayakkattanam) by the king for their own management, controlled the people better once they established their own power base in the locality.4) The third thing is the development of handicraft industries such as weaving and oil-pressing, and the consequent increase of power by the artisans and merchants during the Vijayanagar period, particularly in the 16th century. Nayakas encouraged them by granting them tax remis- sions and protections. The last thing is the sharp decrease in the appearance of nattavars in 16th century inscriptions. The same tendency is also found in the ap- pearance of the taxes related to them such as nattu-viniyogam and nattu- kanikkai. This indicates a decline in the power which nattavars had retained until the 15th century as the corporate body of leading land- holders.5) From the above points, we are able to suggest that some change took place in the Vijayanagar rule of the Tamil country towards the end of the 15th century in preparation for the emergence of a new socio-economic setup under nayaka rule. The purpose of this paper is to throw light on the historical significance of this nayaka rule by clarifying the change outlined above and also by comparing nayaka rule with that of the Cola kings. 1. Maladministration by adhikaris during the 14th and 15th cen- turies The inscriptions of Tiruchirappalli and Thanjavur Districts show that three Vijayanagar governors ruled Colamandalam during the first half of the 15th century. They were Periya Sirupparasar, Chaudappa and Siru- parasara Vitthana in chronological order.6) Siruparasara Vitthana had the title of mantri (minister). As to the period of their rule, the inscrip- tions indicate that Periya Sirupparasar held office in 1426, Siruparasara Vitthana in 1447 and Chaudappa in between. Judging from the above dates, these governors seem to have been transferred frequently, as their respective governorship in Colamandalam was rather short.7) As to their deeds recorded in inscriptions, Periya Sirupparasar seems to have taken measures to save the people of Tiruvarur-uchavadi from the op- 61 pression of adhikaris. Chaudappa was ordered by the king to grant a village and some lands in another village to a sthanika of the Srirangam temple, exempting them from all taxes. Siruparasara Vitthana remitted the taxes of four villages in Tiruvarur- and Tiruchirappalli-uchavadis to make food offerings to the deity of the Srirangam temple in the name of several important personages including one of his predecessors and himself. Considering the deeds of these three governors and also the fact that they were transferred rather frequently, we can conclude that they served the state as important administrators.8) The Tevur inscription,9) which refers to Periya Sirupparasar, affords us the best example of the distressed conditions of the people oppressed by the adhikaris who came to Tamil country and served as tax-collectors under the governors or ministers. According to this incomplete inscrip- tion, adhikaris imposed a poll tax on the people of Tiruvarur-uchavadi and farmed out the region to some local magnates for the collection of this tax. This farming out increased the quantum of the tax by competitive bidding and the amount increased from 200 to 2000 panams within the space of a year. The anxiety wrought on the local populace by the farming or leasing out of villages or estates is also clear from many other inscriptions of the same period. There are six inscriptions dating to 1427 or 1428 from Chingleput, North Arcot, South Arcot and Tiruchirappalli Districts, which record the distressed conditions of the cultivators (kudigal) of some temple lands and the measures taken by the king to save them. It is stated in the inscriptions that cultivators and others of the temple land were distressed greatly by the imposition of many taxes by adhikaris and also by their taking over the temple land as kuttagai (lease). In response to the appeal made by some temple representatives, the king assured them that no more trouble should be caused by adhikaris and other government officers.10) Although the king tried to improve this situation of maladministration by the officers of his government, an open revolt by the distressed people against the government broke out in 1429, shortly after the six inscriptions and Tevur inscription mentioned above. The revolts in South Arcot, Tiruchirappalli and Thanjavur Districts are recorded in nine inscriptions in the places where they occurred.11) It was direct producers such as 62 cultivators and artisans who rose in revolt. They came from the lower section of the agrarian society and had organized themselves into two supra-caste groups called Valangai and Idangai. They resolved not to submit themselves to the oppression of the irajagarattar and kaniyalar, but to defend the rights they had been enjoying. Irajagarattar referred to ministers (pradhani) and other invading Vijayanagar officers, and kani- yalar, Brahmana and Vellala landholders. The tyrannical rule of Vijayanagar officers is clear from these inscrip- tions, but more significance should be given to the mention of the Brah- mana and Vellala kaniyalars in these inscriptions. They also are stated to have colluded with the Vijayanagar officers in oppressing the people. This clearly indicates the antagonism existing between the cultivators and landholders. However, as the landholders were also oppressed by the Vijayanagar officers, Valangai and Idangai groups succeeded in persuading the landholders to take their side against the government in the later stage of the revolts. But for the tyranny of the Vijayanagar invaders, the antag- onism between the landholders and cultivators would not have become as acute as seen in this incident, but the existence of the class antagonism itself cannot be denied. The precarious position of the landholders placed in between the govern- ment and cultivators is also seen in the role and activities of the nattavars, into which the landholders had organized themselves. The Tevur inscrip- tion mentioned above records the order of Periya Sirupparasar given to the nattavars of Tiruvarur-uchavadi that measures should be taken to save the Valangai and Idangai people from the trouble given by adhikaris. Nat- tavars of the 15th century often appear as protectors of the interests of the local populace including cultivators and artisans. There are several inscriptions in the upper valley of the Veller river, which record the as- surance of the nayakas to the nattavars of Magadai-mandalam that the burden of the heavy taxation on the people should be removed.'2) These inscriptions indicate that the nattavars took a firm stance in defending local interests against governmental oppression. During the 15th century nayakas seem to have concerned themselves more with restoration of the order which had been disturbed by the maladministration of adikharis. In the middle valley of the Vellar river, nattavars in their local admin- istration collaborated with the Tandirimars, a militant community led by the Tamil chiefs called Kachchirayar, during the 15th century.13) The 63 Tandirimar also seem to have oppressed the cultivators and artisans in collusion with the Vijayanagar officers. 2. Nayakas' management of their own territory during the 16th century In contrast to the three governors of Colamandalam in the 15th century, who ruled only for short periods, we have for the 16th century evidence of a family whose members ruled the same area for three generations so far as we know. They were the members of a Brahmana family coming from Karnataka and appearing in Srirangam inscriptions and others.14) One inscription gives us their genealogy consisting of 18 members who belong to five generations. Eight of them belonging to three generations appear in inscriptions as the chief figure in the matter recorded there, mostly the donation of land or remission of taxes. Many of them have the title maharaja and three of them that of mahamandalesvara.