Page:The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago.djvu/132

Rh his legs cut off. Superstitious fears sometimes led the kings to commit acts of great cruelty in the name of justice. The orders of the king which concerned the people were proclaimed throughout his capital city with beat of drums, by officers riding on elephants.

Customs, tolls and land-tax formed the chief sources of revenue. Customs were levied at all the sea-ports, where the goods landed were impressed with a seal bearing the royal emblem, and were removed to the merchant’s warehouses after payment of duty. Tolls were collected on the trunk-roads used by caravans and at the frontier of each kingdom. The land-tax was paid in money or in kind at the option of the farmer. The tribute paid by vassal chiefs and princes, the booty gained in border expeditions, and the profits of royal demesnes, such as the pearl fishery, wild elephants and forest produce, also formed a considerable portion of the king’s income. One-sixth of the produce on land was the legitimate share of the king: and for water supplied by the state a water cess was levied from the farmers.

The king was the head of society as well as of the Government. He freely mixed with the people, though surrounded as usual by his bodyguards and other attendants. He took the lead in every festivity in his capital; and in times of famine or pestilence he was foremost to perform penances or sacrifices. He shared the joys and sorrows of the people, or at least, the etiquette of the Court compelled him to do so. The people were so much attached to some of their sovereigns, that there were instances of the population of whole villages forsaking their homes and fields, and settling within the territory of their own king, when an invader had taken possession of their villages. On every festive occasion, whether in the public temples or in private dwellings, prayers were offered by the people for victory and long life to their king. “ May (our king) Athan live for ever! may (our King) Avini live for ever! So prayed my mother,” says a maiden to her companion, on her return from the temple,