6 , ADMIHISTaATION The following pages aspire to present the picture of government machinery and its working in this region during the period under study. The task Is rendered easier, and the onus Is lightened by the eminent authorities on the subject who have, so far, iwltten on the administration of the various dynasties with which the present study Is con­ cerned. naturally It Is deemed proper to refrain from deal­ ing In details of the administrative machinery functioning fro® the Vakitaka period to that of the Yadavas. In the following pages, therefore, the administrative asoects, the Information about which we could deduce from the eplgraohs found In this region, are only dealt with. Our principal sources of information, in this connection, are therefore, m the statements made In the epigraphs. The information gleaned from the epigraphs found outside our academic Jurisdiction has also been made use of tw>, present a fuller and better persoective. All the data have been occasionally compared to the rules laid dovmr by the contemoorary Smrtl• writers and statements in the records of other contemporary dynasties. Accounts of the Muslim traders have also been 55 Utilized, If the picture of the administrative machinery presented below is not comoletej it does not mean that the machinery was defective or imperfect. It would simply mean that our scope is limited and we could not get adequate information to make it a complete one. Moreover it should be noted that the dynasties under study were ruling over extensive empires and this region was one of the parts of those. Naturally the information about the administration available in this region also constitutes a part of it which might be available in the neighbouring regions and the states. Though the extensive empires built by the Hashtrakutas etc, had huge standing armies at their disposal} we find no record of the flastrakutas giving much details about the military organization. SATAVAHAKAS Some evidence exists to visualise the political status of Marathwada and its administrative machinery prior to the Satavahana period. Similar is the case of the Sata- vahana administration a hazy picture of which can be had with the aid of the information fran a few inscriotions found in the outlying districts of Marathwada and the celebrated work, Oathasaptasatl. As we have no other adequate evidence about the administration! the works on ancient Indian polity may be accepted as sufficiently reliable sources for the study of administrative machinery and the life of the people, as 55 S there Is nothing to suggest that in the administration the Satavahanas ignored the ideals set forth in the I Arthasastra and the Smrtis, Despite the vast extent of the Sitavahana empire its polity was simple and local administration was left largely to the general control of royal officials. King­ ship was hereditary in the male line though matronymles were freely prefixed to the names of the kings and the nobles,^ The king was the guardian of the established social order snd he always wielded suprene authority over it. He was expected to devise time and place properly for the pursuit of the Tlvaga (i .e . Dharma, Artha and Kama) i and to ssrmpathise fully with the weal and woe of the citizens.' This is in complete accord with Kautalya's recanmendatlon. 1. Chatopadhyaya has tried to trace the descent through the matriarchal line. But this view is not tenable if the puranlc list is referred to. See. "Satakarni/ succession and marriage rule” jaAS.Y^ 1939, P.317, More over in Northern India the practice was to form the metronymic from the name of the country over which the mother's father rules, e.g* AJatarfatru of Rajagrha was called Valdehiputra* In south India the custom* seems to be to adopt the meSfronymic from that of a Bralraana gotra^e, g. Qaut^unlputra, Vasisthiputra etc. June 1919, 2. 'Pora Jananl \7isesa Samasukhadukhasa'. Nalk Cave Inscription, ASWI^ IV, No. 14, 3. Arthasastray bk.I., Chapters, VII and XIX, 55 4 Sovereignty was oeoasionally proclaimed by performing sacrifices,^ Not content with the title Haja, they soon longed for higher ones, Oautamlputra Satakami is therefore A called Hi^arano , Daksinapathapatly Apratlhatacakra and Prathamavlra were a few titles among others. King used to lead armies and to pardon those who submitted humbly C to him. During the king's illness his mother was to g issue orders^ and during the minority of a crown prince, 7 the administration was headed either by the uncle or by O his dowager mother. Royal Officers Epigraphs mention only a few of the royal officers who assisted the sovereign in the government of the realm* 1. Satakarnl II Proclaimed it by performing two AsVamedhas and one'Rajasuya sacrifice, EHiPj p .132. 2 . Elf nil, p,60f EHg, p.132. 3. Naneghat inscription, ASMIf V, p .60, 4. I M i . 6, Nasik Inscriotion, VIII, p,60, 6. iMd. 7. K r ^ a had acted as regent in the absence of his cousin Kumira Sitakarni from the capital. EHD. p,114. 8. In the minority of Vedisri, Naganika acted as regent. Cf, Nasik inscription) t P»120. S55 as for Instance, Amitya, ai^amatya, the Mahamatra, Bhanda- • • garlkat Karanlka, Mahasenapatl and the Lekhalrai. The Amatya was employed as the governor of the divisions knowi as Aharas. For instance, Amatyas like Vlsnupalita, Syumaka and Slbaskanda-datta successively governed the Ahara op Govardhana (Naslk) in the days of Oautamltmtra Satakami and Pulumavl,^ « « • 2 The aiyamatyas were probably trusted with the duty of attending on the king and constituting the advisory body. This might be the uttana amatya of Kautalya • and the Governor of the Ahara, the avara type of amitya. There is one more reference to the Amatya in the Kanheri inscription as Vi^vasya amatya who was attached to the q[ueen, probably as private secretary (Personal secretary?) _ „ A The Mahamatra was coffimissioned to execute a specified task. He probably was the counterpart of Dharma- mahamatra of Asbka. 1. 1252f p. 133, 2, Kanheri Inscription, ASWI,: IV| EHD, p, 133, 3. Also Inscriotion of Vlsisthiputra. 4, Samana Mahimata, Naslk inscription of Kanhaj aanade, pa i .gAtaTahaift t p*7i. The Bhandagarika probably functioned as the superintendent of stores. The Heranlka acted as a treasurej'-f Relatively late in the history of the empire was created the office of Mahasenapatl,^ obviously the commander of 3 State forces. He sometimes acted as the governor of one of the provinces. The Lekhaka functioned as the secretary of state 4 and drafted all documents. The registration of such docu­ ments was looked after by another officer known as the Nlbandhakara, Mahabhojas® and Maharathls were probably local chiefs who enjoyed status higher than that of the A Amatyas, They had probably the privilege to mint coins 7 in their own names, Naslk Inscription mentions one more 1, Yazdanli EHD. p .133, 2, Inscription of Pulumavl, Kanherli ASWI IV. 3, The Jangllgimda inscription, £X* P. 165, 4, Kautalya gives the qualification of Lekhaka. Artftasistra. p,71, 5, Kuda inscription, ASWI. IV, p,84) Kanherl inscription^ ASWl.V, pp,84,86, 6, Amatya was to make grants of lands etc, under order of the sovereign, but the Maharathl or Mahabhoja made these his own 8Mthorlty,*Cf, Karle inscription. No,14, El, 7, Maharathl Sadakaya Kalelaya had minted coins of his own, Ranade^ P .7 ., Pal than ghe Satav^ana RaiakulaT P.73, 557 officer known as Patiharahhlya probably Ineharge of the palace affairs. The cave inscription at Pltalkhora refers to a royal physician of Pratlsthana. The extensive and well organized state like that of the Satavahanas was expected to need the services of all such officers in Marathwada region too. The process^ of drafting, preparation of the bharter, registration in the Qrovemment archives and the delivery of the document to the donee is sufficloat to prove that the estate administration was well organized. At its zenith, as ve have s e ^ in Chapter I I , the Sitavahana empire stretched from the Bay of Bengal in the east to the Arabian Sea in the west, and onbraced the entire region between the Narmada in the north and the Krishna in o the south. It is thus easily understandable that such a vast state could not have functioned smoothly without essen­ tial departments such as those of police, finance, ^^stice, army, agriculture, etc. though contemporary inscriptions do not actually refer to any of these. 1. Nasik Inscriptions, Nos, 4 and 6| E£, VIII, 2, The boundaries might have fluctuated continually as can be surmised from the political vicissitudes of the times. 558 Justice The king was the foiuitaln head of justice In the Deccan as In the north. Jails and jailors are rather rarely referred to. The latter is called Bandhanagaradhyakaa In the Arthasastra, Male and female prisoners were kept In separate wards,^ There is nofcaruch information about this in the Satavahana records. But it is likely that the pattern was possibly the same as described In the Arthasastra. Admin The Satavahana inscriptions refer only to Janapada, 2 Ahira,^ Patha^ and Grama,® The Nigama affairs were managed by the prefects with the help of non-official committees (Nigamasabha), 6 These existed at Nasik under the Satavahanas, Such committees 1, Gatha Nos,64-55 (ed,Jogalekar), 2, In the Myakadani inscription of Pulumavi, a Janapada is expressly mentioned as a district under a military Governor, See E l ., XIV. p. 155. 3, Soparaka ahara, and Govardhana ahara', EHD. p,i33, 4, Pratistana-pathaj Rande, oo.cit. , p,71, 5, It is the smallest unit everywhere except in the Rastrakuta and the Yadava period where village is divided into two and known as Laghu and Brhat, Elsewhere, next to the village is a piece of land, * 6, Nasik inscription.