Author: Dr. R. Nagaswamy
Publication: The Hindu
Date: October 10, 2003
URL: http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/fr/2003/10/10/stories/2003101001421200.htm
The inscriptions on the walls of the Sundaravarada
temple in Uttiramerur, near Kanchipuram, show how democracy was practised
1,000 years ago. DR. R. NAGASWAMY elaborates.
THE KUMBABHISHEKAM on June 8 last of the Sundaravarada
temple of Uttiramerur, Kanchipuram district, was the culmination of a great
renovation work.
This temple was built around 750 A.D. during
the Pallava rule, but underwent a second great renovation in the hands of
Rajendra Chola in 1013 A.D., and again in the reign of the great Vijayanagar
Emperor, Krishnadevaraya in 1520 A.D.
The village is known for its historic inscription
of a written constitution that deals with elections to the village assembly,
qualifications required of candidates contesting in elections, circumstances
under which a candidate may be disqualified, mode of election, tenure of the
elected candidates and the right of the public to recall the elected members
when they failed to discharge their duties properly and so on.
It is interesting how in every aspect of life
the highest standard of democracy was enforced in Uttiramerur.
Fines for wrongdoers
A 10th Century record deals with how to administer
fines imposed on wrong doers in the village. Those who were fined for misdeeds
are classified into criminals ("dushtargal"), fined by the great
village assembly and the serving elected members of the village assembly who
were fined.
The great assembly met and decided that the
fines imposed should be settled by the administrators of the village, through
the Village Assembly, within the same financial year, failing which the Village
Assembly itself would get the matter settled. This suggests that as the Village
Assembly also had a judicial function, it could impose further fines and get
the same realised. Regarding the second category it was decided that the elected
members of the subcommittees, their servants, the village scribes and the
village guards, who were punished for default, the cases should be settled
by the village administrators (under the supervision of the Village Assembly),
failing which the Village Assembly itself should collect the fine, within
the same year.
The village administrators would be individually
fined one "kaanam" (money) for their failure to discharge their
duty. The record makes it clear that the elected members of the Village Assembly
could not escape punishment by virtue of their elected memberships. The defaulting
administrators were also dealt with severely.
Testing gold quality
Another record dated 921 A.D. was a regulation
passed by the Village Assembly. As gold was in circulation for commercial
transactions it was found necessary that the gold offered should be tested
for its fineness to the satisfaction of the community.
A committee was elected by the villagers to
test the gold by rubbing it against a touchstone. Four members were elected
by the pot ticket method by the merchant community of the village, two members
by the military garrison and two by the oil mongers.
Those who stood for this election had to be
skilled in testing gold and for their upright conduct. They had to be neither
too old nor too young. They should be taxpayers. Non-tax paying men were considered
unsuitable for the work. All together 10 members were elected for a stipulated
period.
The Gold Testing Committee, called "Pon
Vaariyam", was strictly prohibited from using rough stones, which would
lead to greater loss of gold while rubbing. They were also expected to recover
the gold dust from the touchstone, at the end of each day and deposit it with
the village assembly. Once in three months, they were obliged to go before
the village assembly and swear that they had not committed any fraud in the
testing. Also people were so proud of their oaths and sworn statements that
they would sacrifice their life rather than break their own sworn statements.
Appointment of Professors
Another interesting record deals with an establishment
of a higher institution of learning and the qualifications prescribed for
the professor, the method of appointment and the duration of his service.
As this was related to a Vedic college, the qualifications required mastery
of the Vedas. For instance, the incumbent could not be a native of that village
but one who came from other regions. It was believed that the teacher from
the same village might take things easy and not do full justice to his profession.
The second clause states that the teacher
should have mastered one Veda completely in addition to mastery of grammar,
"Mimamsa", and the two religious systems, "darsanas".
Alternately he should have mastered one of the Vedas, in addition to grammar
with commentary ("Vyakarana" with "bhashya") and Logic
with commentary and classical notes ("nyaaya" with "bashya"
and "tika") and etymological science ("nirukta") with
commentary.
Those who are conversant with ancient Indian
learning know that these are very high standards compared to this age, where
a professor of Ancient History, for example, need not have even basic understanding
of Sanskrit or epigraphy to interpret the original sources of ancient Indian
culture.
The Ancient Educationists on the other hand
insisted on multi-dimensional understanding of the relevant subjects as the
best system of education. The record states that the teacher is appointed
for a period of only three years at the end of which one has to take an examination
for another term of appointment. The endowment with all the stipulations was
created by a gentleman of the village in association with the Members of the
Village Assembly, which would monitor the functioning. Here one finds that
local democracy played a vibrant role in keeping the standard of education
high.
Protection of village tanks
The maintenance of the village tank received
top priority. The work was looked after by the Tank Supervising Committee
whose members were elected from among the non-serving members of the Village
Assembly. Their tenure was also limited to three years. In this way a great
number of people were involved in managing the affairs of the village. The
duty of the Tank Supervisory Committee was maintenance of tanks, irrigation,
levying of tank taxes and utilising the funds so collected for the same purpose.
The work of this committee was so inspiring that many people, including women,
came forward and endowed money for tank maintenance.
The committee also had to de-silt the village
tanks once in three months and strengthen the tank bunds by widening and raising
its height. The sluices and overflow channels were to be maintained properly.
Uttiramerur shows the best example by providing a large number of records
dealing with this type of secular transactions of the village Assemblies of
Ancient India.
There is an example of road maintenance. A
road, continuously used by the villagers and cattle, became unfit for use.
The village assembly acquired lands from owners who had cultivable lands adjacent
to the road. The long road was about 48 feet wide. The assembly purchased
land 14 feet wide from all the owners, who were willing to part with the land
for a common cause and the road was re-laid.
Efficient election system
It would be appropriate to close this account
by referring to the election system that was in vogue. The record is a clause-by-clause
document of high efficiency and those who drafted it could be considered constitutional
experts.
The salient features were that a person should
have a minimum educational qualification, should be above 35 years of age
and below 70, should own a minimum of landed property, should have a residence
built in his own land and finally, should be a tax payer. Only such men, who
felt it was their responsibility to contribute to the governance, were allowed
to contest. It was obligatory that a legislator should understand at least
what he is legislating, as these acts affect the life of the people. In disqualifying
a candidate, primary importance was given to elimination of corruption. Not
only corrupt persons but those who abetted corruption and the near relatives,
were debarred from contesting an election for seven generations.
Those elected could be recalled any time if
they were found not discharging their duty properly. With all these rigid
rules if one got elected he could not contest the next three consecutive elections.
And one could contest only for three terms throughout his lifetime and should
make way for other members and families to get elected. Uttiramerur definitely
shows the way in democratic participation extended to a larger section of
society, exerting at the same time constant vigil and scrupulous enforcement
of the Law, without favours or prejudices.
In place were several committees such as the
Annual Administrative Committee, Tank Committee, Gold Committee, Field Committee,
Garden Committee, etc. which were all democratically elected under the overall
supervision of the Annual Committee.
Each serving member is debarred from standing
for any other committee within three terms. Many of the evils prevalent today
were anticipated 1,000 years ago and this made the Constitution framers, men
of great vision, who deserve to be at least remembered. Uttiramerur, in this
context, has a message to be acknowledged.
- (The author was Director of Archaeology,
Tamil Nadu).