113992242-Dravidian-Settlements-in-Ceylon-and-the-Beginnings-of-the-Kingdom-of-Jaffna-By-Karthigesu-Indrapala-Complete-Phd-Thesis-University-of-London-1965

perun-taxi were the 'minor' and 'major' treasuries respectively,
though plausible, leaves the term inexplicable.
It is not known whether the royal treasury was divided into
three different departments to which were attached three sections
of the army. This seems unlikely. It is also unlikely that the
guards and soldiers who protected a king during his minority
belonged to a section of the army different from that of those
who protected him in his later life. It is also not possible to
explain these terms as mere honorary titles,for, in the instances
quoted above as well as in the Polonnaruva inscription, such
an interpretation does not seem to suit the context. Hultsech
baa sometimes referred to the Ciu-taam as a class of subordinate
officials and Ni].akanta Lastri, too, is of the opinion that
this was a flower grade of official nobility' The latter opinion
is the result of confusing the terms perun-tan. and perun-tarani
as referring to the same institution But an examination of
the occurrences of these two terms in the south Indian
inscriptions reveals that the two are different in their meaning.
Peruntaram appears as an honorific indicating high official
171
1. S.I.I., II, Intro., p. 11.
2. LA.Nilakanta Sastri, The Cas, p. k63.
3. Ibid. ; peruntarani - perum (= high or big) + taram (=status).