CASTE OPPRESSION IN THANJAVUR 59 major disputes and issues concerning either the entire village or sections of the village would be decided by the village assembly. In such a village organization, the recognition of landownership by castes other than Brahmins must be considered important. The overall dominance of the Brahmin community, within this context, is striking. The ideological influence exercised by this community was stupendous. In 1906, when they constituted one-fiifteenth of the total population of Thanjavur» still more numerous in this district than in any other district of Madras Presidency apart from Ganjam and Canara, the Collector wrote: "Brahminical Hinduism is here a living reality, and not the neglected cult shouldered out by the worship of aboriginal godlings ,.. almost every village has a temple."3 The link between ideological and economic dominance, in this context, could be brought out by a deeper analysis of the extensive ownership of land by temples in Thanjavur. The growth of these landlords has a long historical past, but it is clear that first, they have been concentrated in eastern Thanjavur, where sub-infeudation is most complex and yack-renting most oppressive, and secondly, they have a close link with Brahmin dominance in the region. During the Chola period their management was subject to the supervision of both the State and the (Brahmin-controlled) village assembly. Their existence encouraged Brahmins to set up agffdiaram villages^ where again this caste w^s dominant. It has been noted th^t in the management of temple lands extra-economic, specifically caste, considerations have determined the choice of tenant. Most commonly, the choice would be a Brahmin, who again was barred from tilling the land, and would therefore sublet the land. Historically, these managements have been known to charge ^xtrqmely high rents (borne by Brahmins for the status of renting land from a temple) and vary them greatly.4 The weight of this burden was undoubtedly felt at the level of the cultivating tenant. The Cl(jiss"Caste Relationship The prevalence of Brahmin landlordism has encouraged a misleading oversimplification of the relationship between cla^s and caste in Thanjavur. Beteille writes, in what is now accepted terminology in class-room sociology:'"Very broadly speaking oaae can characterise the Brahmins as landowners, the Non^gkahmBS as cultivating tenants and the Adi-*Dravidas as agricioltur^toboure^s. This cHaracterisation highlights only the typical position. It holds true particularly with regard to Brahmins tod Adi^Dravidas-.