Uttaramerur Inscriptions

Uttaramerur Inscriptions
 

News: Recently, the Prime Minister of India referred to the Uttaramerur inscription in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, while discussing India’s democratic history.
 

About Uttaramerur Inscriptions:

→ The famous inscription from Parantaka I’s reign is found on the walls of the Vaikunda Perumal Temple.

→ The inscription gives details of the functioning of the local sabha, i.e. the village assembly. A sabha was an assembly exclusively of brahmans and had specialised committees tasked with different things.

→ The Uttaramerur inscription details how members were selected, the required qualifications, their roles and responsibilities, and even the circumstances in which they could be removed.
 

How were representatives appointed to the Sabha?

→ There will be 30 wards. Everyone living in these 30 wards would assemble and select one representative for the village assembly.”

→ It then goes on to describe what the qualifications for such a representative must be. These include ownership of a certain amount of land, having a house, being between the age of 35 and 70 and “knowing mantras and Brahmanas” (from the Vedic corpus).

→ An exception can be made on land ownership if the person has learnt at least “one Veda and four Bhashyas”. One must also be “well-versed in business” and “virtuous”.
 

What factors were laid for disqualification of members?

→ The inscription emphasises upon the keeping of accounts – any discrepancy can also disqualify members of the sabha.

→ Committing any of the first four of the five ‘great sins’ (killing a brahman, drinking alcohol, theft and adultery), being associated with outcastes, and eating ‘forbidden’ dishes.