Illustration No. 3.1. One among the householders in a village was appointed as the chief of the village. He was called
‘Gamika’. The activities between each village were coordinated by the Gamikas.
how the Parumakas came into being, we can
easily understand the way in which the political
power of this country evolved. In order to
understand that, the ancient rural society in this
country and its operation should be meticulously
studied.
Householders
At least by 900 B.C. the rural settlements of
this country had spread in many areas in the
dry zone. These villages consisted of several
families. Perhaps between 1 to 30 families lived
in those villages. In the ancient time the word
‘Kula’ was used to mean a family. The chief of
all these families was called ‘Gruhapathi’. In the
inscriptions made in 250 B.C and later, the word
'Gahapathi' was used for them. An inscription
in which there is important information
regarding that was discovered in the area called
Periyapuliyankulama. It says that “a householder
who was engaged in metal trade, had cleaned
a cave and offered it to the Bhikkus for their
comfort”. Those householders offered themselves
in common activities in a village representing
each family. In simple terms, the householders
meant chiefs of the families.The Gamikas
The ancient inscriptions as well as the
annotations have mentioned a group of people
called ‘Gramika’ or ‘Gamika’. They were the
chiefs of the ancient villages. The ancient villages
existed separately. A belt of jungle area separated
one village from the other. Because of this
separation the people who lived in each village