Millennium inscriptions shed light on polling system of Tamils

Discover the ancient Tamil system of elections and governance in Uthiramerur, with inscriptions dating back to 920 AD.

Over a thousand years ago, Tamils had in place a properly documented system for elections and a 30-member ‘sabha’ for a village.

The town of Uthiramerur, south of Chennai, has several inscriptions from the time of Parantaka Chola in 920 AD that talk about how a pot was used to collect the names of eligible candidates for the sabha, comprising representatives from 30 wards in a village. These inscriptions at the Sri Vaikuntha Perumal Temple still remain significant, especially at a time when the country is going to elect members to Parliament, say locals.

“The inscriptions were mentioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Mann ki baat speech. Leaders, including Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and [MNM founder] Kamal Haasan, had visited this temple to understand how democracy worked back then.Steps must be taken to prevent the temple from getting flooded during rain,” said C. Premkumar, a resident.

Archaeologist and historian R. Nagaswamy in his book Uttaramerur talks about how the village was first established by Pallava ruler Nandivarman around 750 AD. It was gifted to 12,00 Vedic Brahmins of the Sri Vaishnava tradition, and was called Uttaramerur Caturvedimangalam. It was also called by various other names, including Vadameru Mangai, Uttaramerur, Pandavavana and Rajendrachola Caturvedimangalam.

To represent the sabha, one had to be aged between 35-70, possess half veli of tax-paying land, and a house built on a legally owned land. Disqualifications, too, have been prescribed in this “constitution”, which had earlier only been a sabha. Among the disqualifications, the one relating to management of public accounts tops the list. The term of office was for 360 days and one had to wait for three years for re-election. 

Mr. Nagaswamy further explains how a royal order was issued in 922 AD on the 16th day of the 14th ruling year of King Parakesarivarman, who conquered Madurai (Parantaka Chola I). An annual committee, a garden committee and tank committee were chosen using the system of Kudaolai. When the ‘olai’ (palm leaves) bearing the names of representatives had to be chosen, a full meeting of the assembly was convened. The olai had to be picked by a young boy and handed over to the Madhyastha. The names were then read out and committees formed.

Temple historian and author Pradeep Chakravathy said while the inscriptions from the time of King Parantaka Chola I (907-955 CE) were the most detailed, there were some others that predate them from the period of Pallava King Dantivarman (795-846 CE) and his successor Nandivarman III (846-869 CE). These inscriptions mention the existence of two village assemblies, the sabha (consisting of the priestly class) and the Ur (comprising the agricultural and other village communities).