Page:The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago.djvu/131

Rh in the palace to cry out the end of each Ni tikai which was reckoned by hour-glasses.

A portion of the palace was always set apart for the use of the queen and her attendants. She did not wear a crown unless she had inherited the monarchy in her own right. On all public occasions, she took her seat on the throne along with the king; but her apartments in the palace were not accessible to males. Dwarfs and hunch-backs and eunuchs besides a number of noble maidens waited upon her. The attendants of the Chera queen Venmâl who accompanied her, when she came to meet her husband Chenkkudduvan, on her palace terrace, on a moon-light night, are described as follows in the Chillap-athikâram :—

“Some of the maids came singing sweetly, sounding the drum or the lute: dwarfs and hunch-backs carried musk and sandal ointments: eunuchs clothed in women’s dress, brought fragrant pastes and powders: some held in their hands scents and incense, garlands of flowers and soft cushions: some carried mirrors, garments and jewels : while other maids, who wore bracelets which glittered in the light of the lamps they bore, shouted ‘long live the queen’!”

The principal officers of State were the high priest, the chief astrologer, the ministers and the commanders of the army. There were special officers appointed to perform the duties of Judges and Magistrates: but the king was the supreme and final arbiter in all civil and criminal cases. The presiding Judge in each Court wore a peculiar headgear by which he was distinguished from other officers of the Court. Justice was administered free of charge to the suitors; but the punishments were very severe and hence crimes were rare. A thief arrested with the stolen property in his possession was beheaded. A man caught in the act of adultery was killed. One who had trespassed into another’s dwelling with the intention of committing adultery, had