According to Chola inscriptions, land given for the maintenance of a school was called:

In Chola inscriptions, land given for the maintenance of a school ("shala") was called "shalabhoga".

About shalabhoga:

• "Shala" means a school or hall, and "bhoga" means enjoyment or use; so shalabhoga was land whose income was used for a school.
• The income from the land was used to feed students, pay teachers, and maintain the institution.
• NCERT lists shalabhoga among the different categories of land mentioned in Chola inscriptions.

Education in the Chola period:

• Education was mostly connected with temples and religious institutions.
• Some temples and "mathas" (monasteries) ran schools where the Vedas, grammar, philosophy and other subjects were taught.
• "Ghatikas" were centres of higher learning attached to temples.
• Famous Chola-period educational centres included Ennayiram (in South Arcot district) and Tribhuvani (near Puducherry), which had colleges with hundreds of students, according to inscriptions.
• The inscriptions record the number of students and teachers, the subjects taught, and the provision of food and lodging.

Land grants in the Chola period:

• The Chola kings and other donors made many grants of land for religious and charitable purposes.
• These grants are recorded in stone inscriptions on temple walls and in copper plates.
• The famous copper plates include the Anaimangalam (Leiden) plates, which record a grant to a Buddhist monastery at Nagapattinam, and the Tiruvalangadu plates of Rajendra I.
• The Tiruvalangadu copper plates consist of 31 sheets held together by a ring with a royal seal.

Land and society:

• Land grants helped to expand agriculture, as new lands were brought under cultivation.
• Grants to temples made temples into important economic centres, which employed many people, such as priests, garland makers, cooks, sweepers, musicians, dancers and craftspersons.

Why not the other options?

• ✗"Devadana" was land gifted to temples (a general term).
• ✗"Kuttagai" referred to land given on lease.
• ✗"Jivita" was land given for maintenance (livelihood), often to officials or servants.