The unique feature of whose administrative system was the development of village autonomy?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — B, Chola. The Cholas developed the most elaborate system of local self-government in early medieval South India: villages ran their own affairs through assemblies — the ur (general village assembly) and sabha/mahasabha (assembly of a Brahmadeya/agrahara village) — which managed irrigation tanks, temple endowments, and local justice through specialised committees (variyams). The Uttaramerur inscriptions, from Parantaka I's reign, record a detailed procedure for electing these committee members.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) The Chera administrative system is comparatively less documented for this kind of detailed, inscribed village self-government.  (c) A contemporaneous Tamil dynasty with its own local assemblies, but the celebrated, richly-inscribed model of village autonomy belongs to the Cholas, not the Pandyas.  (d) The Pallavas preceded the Cholas in the Tamil region and pioneered early Brahmadeya land grants, but the fully-developed village self-governance system is remembered as a Chola-era hallmark.

Concept: Chola village administration operated at multiple levels — ur (assembly of an ordinary village), sabha (assembly of a Brahmadeya/agrahara village), and nagaram (assembly of merchants in a trade town) — each running local affairs (irrigation, temple management, taxation, justice) through elected committees called variyams.

State PCS 2021 Q98 — History PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2021 Q98 — History PYQ with Answer