In the context of the history of India, consider the following pairs:
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| 1. Eripatti | Land, revenue from which was set apart for the maintenance of the village tank. |
| 2. Taniyurs | Villages donated to a single Brahmin or a group of Brahmins. |
| 3. Ghatikas | Colleges generally attached to the temples. |
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
Correct Answer :
1 and 3 only
Solution :
The correct answer is 1 and 3 only.
This question tests knowledge of specific administrative, land-revenue, and educational terms used in medieval South Indian history, particularly during the Chola period. Let us examine each pair carefully to understand which are correctly matched and which are not.
Pair 1 — Eripatti: Land, revenue from which was set apart for the maintenance of the village tank.
This pair is correctly matched. In the Chola administrative system, villages maintained elaborate irrigation infrastructure, and tanks (known as eri in Tamil) were central to agricultural life. Eripatti literally means "tank land" — it referred to a specific category of land whose revenue was earmarked exclusively for the upkeep, repair, and maintenance of the local village tank. This was a remarkable example of dedicated fiscal provisioning at the village level. Inscriptional evidence from Tamil Nadu confirms this practice, showing how the Chola local self-government (the sabhas and ur assemblies) carefully managed such assigned lands. So Pair 1 is correctly matched.
Pair 2 — Taniyurs: Villages donated to a single Brahmin or a group of Brahmins.
This pair is incorrectly matched. The correct term for villages (or land grants) donated to a single Brahmin or a group of Brahmins was Brahmadeya. These were tax-free land grants made to Brahmin individuals or Brahmin settlements. Taniyurs, on the other hand, were a different administrative category entirely — they referred to independent or single large villages that were big enough to be treated as a separate revenue and administrative unit on their own, without being grouped under a larger nadu (a cluster of villages). Taniyurs were thus an administrative designation based on size and revenue importance, not a type of religious donation. This makes Pair 2 incorrectly matched.
Pair 3 — Ghatikas: Colleges generally attached to the temples.
This pair is correctly matched. Ghatikas (also spelled Ghatika) were institutions of higher learning in early medieval South India. These were educational establishments — essentially colleges or centres of advanced scholarship — that were typically attached to prominent temples. They served as venues for the study of the Vedas, Sanskrit grammar, philosophy, and other classical subjects. The famous Ghatika at Kanchipuram, for example, attracted scholars from across the subcontinent. Epigraphic evidence, including copper plate inscriptions, references the existence and functioning of these temple-attached educational institutions. So Pair 3 is correctly matched.
Summary:
— Pair 1 (Eripatti) ✔ Correctly matched — tank-maintenance land.
— Pair 2 (Taniyurs) ✘ Incorrectly matched — these were large independent villages, not Brahmin donation villages (that term is Brahmadeya).
— Pair 3 (Ghatikas) ✔ Correctly matched — temple-attached colleges of higher learning.
Since only Pairs 1 and 3 are correctly matched, the answer is 1 and 3 only.
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