Tamil Nadu   

“Village protection concept reflected socio-political instability of Cholas”

Noboru Karashima

CHENNAI: Prevalence of ‘Padikaval,’ the idea of village or locality protection in the 12th century AD, reflected the socio-political instability of the Chola state in its last phase, according to Noboru Karashima, Professor Emeritus, University of Tokyo and President, International Association for Tamil Research.

In an e-mail interview with The Hindu, Prof. Karashima, referring to the Chola and later Pandya inscriptions, said the concept of ‘Padikaval’ also denoted the right to impose tax on villages or localities for the protection given. The power rested with chiefs under whose control the villages came, such as Sambuvaraya in the erstwhile North Arcot district, Kadava and Malayaman in the former South Arcot district, Vanako in the two districts and Yadava in Chittor district. He said though the idea might have been old and there were a few inscriptions referring to “nadu kaval” and “kaval sevakam”, the protection system expressed by the term “padikaval” emerged only in the 12th century. There were no references to this in Pallava and early Pandya inscriptions. [For 10 years, Prof. Karashima has been studying social changes that took place during the 12th century to 15th century. In his previous studies, he focussed on the emergence of big landholders towards the end of the Chola rule. Recently, he delivered lectures at Chennai and New Delhi on medieval commercial activities in the Indian Ocean as revealed from Chinese ceramic shreds and south Indian and Sri Lankan inscriptions].

The historian said the chiefs maintained social order during the last phase of the Chola rule. The Cholas depended on them to defend the state from the attack of Kakatiyas from the north and Pandyas from the south. However, some chiefs became rebellious. Of them, Kadavas and Sambuvarayas were ex-hill tribes who served the Cholas as soldiers. “They were antagonistic to Brahmins and Vellalas and against the Brahminical ideology based on the vertically-formulated caste system. Re-organisation of jatis into two horizontally divided groups such as idangai and valangai seems to have been their aspiration towards the egalitarian society,” Prof. Karashima stated.

The chiefs were suppressed under the Nayaka rule in and after 15th century and the Brahminical order continued to function as the main ideology, he added.

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