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Indian Epigraphy c12: Appendix I. Meaning of ‘Upagata’, etc.

Indian Epigraphy c12

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Appendix I. Meaning of ‘Upagata’, etc.

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Different versions of Minor Rock Edict I of Aśoka contain the Prakrit words corresponding to Sanskrit *upagata*, *upayāta* and *upeta* (derived respectively from *upa-gam*, *upa-yā* and *upa-i*) in the same sense which has been variously understood.¹ Elsewhere² we have suggested that *upagata* = *upayāta* = *upeta* in the said context means *saṅgata*, ‘intimately associated’. In our opinion, the passages in question indicate Aśoka’s intimate association with the Buddhist Saṅgha. The lexicons, however, do no bear out this meaning quite clearly. In this connection, a study of similar words, often used in copper-plate grants to indicate the relation of the subordinates and officers of a king with the gift land or the district in which it was situated, may be of interest. These words are generally understood in the sense of ‘assembled’,³ though really some of them appear to support the above interpretation.

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¹ Cf. *CII*, Vol. I, p. 228; see Bhandarkar, *Aśoka*, 1932, pp. 81 ff.

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² *Maski Inscription of Aśoka*, p. 24; *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XXXII, p. 9, note 1.

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³ Cf. *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XXVI, p. 12 and note 3.

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From the standpoint of the recording of grants of land, copper-plate charters can be primarily divided into two classes, viz. (1) those that merely announce that some land or a village was granted by the donor, and (2) those that contain an order of the donor in respect of the grant addressed to certain people. Among the records of the first category, mention may be made of a number of charters issued by the Imperial Gaṅgas of Orissa.⁴ Copper-plate grants written in verse (e.g. many of the charters issued by the Vijayanagara kings¹ and those written mostly in verse² generally fall in the same class. The passage *s-ānunayaṃ prāha bhūpālān* occurring in the versified part of a charter³ from Orissa is one of the few exceptions.

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⁴ See ibid., Vol. XXXI, p. 21, lines 181 ff.; p. 260, lines 125-27; Vol. XXVIII, p. 190, lines 179-81; p. 194, lines 179 ff.; p. 256, lines 122-28. For such records belonging to other dynasties or kings, see ibid., Vol. XXXI, p. 15, lines 8-16; p. 190, lines 14-16; p. 321, lines 6-9; Vol. XXX, p. 140, lines 11-16; p. 187, lines 17-18; Vol. XXVIII, p. 75, lines 3-6; p. 210, verses 17-21; p. 266, lines 7-13; p. 291, lines 17 ff.; Vol. XXVII, p. 77, lines 17-22.

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¹ See ibid., Vol. XXXI, p. 144. For such records belonging to other families, see ibid., Vol. XXX, p. 75; Vol. XXIX, pp. 103, 198; Vol. XXVIII, pp. 153-54.

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² Ibid., Vol. XXIX, p. 32; Vol. XXX, p. 304.

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³ Ibid., Vol. XXX, p. 225, text lines 15-16. In this section, we have quoted the epigraphic passages after removing scribal errors, etc.

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The second category of copper-plate grants, in which the donor's order is addressed to certain people, is important for our enquiry as it is some of these that contain the words in which we are interested. Such records can be broadly subdivided into five classes: (1) those in which the addresees are vaguely and generally indicated; (2) those in which the order is primarily addressed to the inhabitants of the gift village or the village wherein the gift land was situated or the district wherein the gift land or village was situated; (3) those in which the order is primarily addressed to the royal officers or agents including also the subordinate rulers, *Jāgīrdārs*, etc., in some cases; (4) those in which both the inhabitants of the locality in question and the royal officers or agents, etc., are mentioned; and (5) those in which the donor addresses neither the inhabitants nor his officers but only the future kings.

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The first and last of these subdivisions are simple. The first of the two is illustrated by the charters of the Cālukyas of Badami, in which we have the passage *sarvān=evam=ājñāpayati*.⁴ The other is likewise illustrated by the passage *sarvān=eva bhāvi-bhūmipālān=samanubodhayati* occurring in the grants of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas of the Gujarat region.⁵ The other cases are complicated.

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⁴ Ibid., Vol. XXVII, p. 118, note 2; p. 130, text line 54.

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⁵ Ibid., Vol. XXVI, p. 253, text lines 29-30.

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The order addressed to the inhabitants of a locality is simpler in passages like the following : (1) *śrī-Skandavarmaṇo vacanena Kudrāhāra-Kompare grāmeyakā vaktavyāḥ*;⁶ (2) °*grāme* sarva-samavetān=kuṭumbinaḥ samājñāpayati;¹ (3) Goṣṭhavāda-nivāsinaḥ kuṭumbinaḥ samājñāpayati;² (4) Sunikāyāṁ prativāsinaḥ samājñāpayati;³ (5) Prastaravāṭa-vāsinaḥ sarva-samavetān=kuṭumbinaḥ samājñāpayati;⁴ (6) Reyūru-grāme grāmeyakān=ittham=ājñāpayati;⁵ (7) Pherava-grāme yathā-nivāsi-janapadaṁ samājñāpayati;⁶ (8) Āndoreppa-grāme sarva-samanvāgatān=kuṭumbinas=samājñāpayati;⁷ (9) Pratiṣṭhāpura-nivāsinaḥ sarva-samupetān=kuṭumbinaḥ samājñāpayati;⁸ etc. But slight elaboration is noticed in such passages as follows : (1) Brāhmaṇa-purogān=grāmān=carīr-ādi-kuśalaṁ pṛṣṭvā likhati;⁹ (2) Kontinīka-grāme Brāhmaṇān=sampūjya prativāsinaḥ samājñāpayati;¹⁰ (3) Keśavake Brāhmaṇa-purassarān=prativāsi-kuṭumbinas=samājñāpayati;¹¹ (4) uktavāṁś=ca rājā tad-grāma-nivāsino mahattama-jānapadān;¹² (5) Keselaka-grāme Brāhmaṇa-ottarān=kuṭumbinaś=śīrṣakañ=c=ājñāpayati;¹³ (6) sarva-samavetān=kuṭumbino bhojakāṁś=ca samājñāpayati;¹⁴ (7) Gudravāra-viṣaya-nivāsino rāṣṭrakūṭa-pramukhān=kuṭumbinas=samāhūy=ettham=ājñāpayati;¹⁵ (8) viṣaye Vardhamānake grāmakūṭa-droṇāgraka-nāyaka-devavārika-gaṇḍaka-pramukhān=sarvān=eva yathā-prativāsinaḥ samājñāpayati;¹⁶ (9) Mehāra-grāma-nivāsi-yathā-pradhāna-janapadān=mahattarāṁś=ca samādiśanti;¹⁷ etc.

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⁶ Ibid., Vol. XXXI, p. 9, text lines 8-9.

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¹ Ibid., p. 200, text lines 9-10; Vol. XXX, p. 27, text lines 13-14; p. 117, text line 5.

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² Ibid., Vol. XXXI, p. 203, text lines 24-25.

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³ Ibid., p. 315, text lines 4-5.

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⁴ Ibid., Vol. XXX, p. 277, text lines 2-3 (on first plate, second side).

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⁵ Ibid., Vol. XXIX p. 96, text lines 12-13.

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⁶ Ibid., Vol. XXVII, p. 113, text lines 8-9.

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⁷ Ibid., Vol. XXVIII, p. 178, text lines 5-6.

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⁸ Ibid., p. 219, text lines 8-9.

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⁹ Ibid., Vol. XXXI, p. 92, text lines 5-6.

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¹⁰ Ibid., p. 221, text lines 10-11.

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¹¹ Ibid., p. 265, text lines 3-4.

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¹² Ibid., Vol. XXX, p. 149, text line 18.

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¹³ Ibid., Vol XXVIII, p. 16, text line 3.

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¹⁴ Ibid., Vol. XXVII, p. 35, text lines 2-3.

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¹⁵ Ibid., p. 45-46, text lines 15-16.

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¹⁶ Ibid., p. 142, text lines 35-36.

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¹⁷ Ibid., p. 188, text lines 15-16.

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In the first group of these passages, the inhabitants of a village (grāmeyaka, kuṭumbin, prativāsin, janapada, etc.;

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cf. *grāma*, *jānapada*, etc., in the second group) are referred to, while, in the second group, they are mentioned along with their social or administrative leaders and with several village officials in a few cases. Rarely, the villagers of a whole district are stated to have been ordered after having been summoned (*samāhūya*). The word used in some cases in respect of the villagers is *sarva-samaveta* which may mean ‘assembled from all sides’. This seems to be supported by the expression *sarva-samanvāgata* rarely used in place of *sarva-samaveta*. As will be seen below, the expression *samupasthita* is used in some cases in a similar context in respect of the villagers and local officials. Sometimes *sarva-samupeta* is also found in place of *sarva-samaveta*. The reference may be to an announcement to the people summoned by the beat of drums in respect of the grant in the gift village or the village containing the gift land or at the headquarters of the administrative unit in which the gift land or village was situated.

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There are some charters in which the order is addressed not to the villagers but to others such as the subordinates, officers and agents of the king often with reference to a district. Cf. (1) *śrī-Kāpālivarmaṇo vacanena Śivapura-viṣaye vartamāna-bhaviṣyad-bhojak-āyuktaka-sthāyy-ādayo vaktavyāḥ*;¹ (2) *sarvān=eva svān=āyuktaka-mahattara-drāṅgika-cāṭa-bhaṭa-dhruvasthānādhikaraṇa-daṇḍapāśik-ādīn=anyāṃś=ca yathā-sambadhyamānakān=anudarsayati*;² (3) *asmin=Koṅgoda-maṇḍale śrīsāmanta-mahāsāmanta-mahārāja-rājaputr-āntaraṅga - daṇḍapāśik-oparika - viṣayapati-tadāniyuktaka - vartamāna - bhaviṣya - vyavahāriṇaḥ sa - karaṇān=yathārhaṃ pūjayati mānayati ca*;³ (4) *sarvān=ev=āgāmi-vartamāna-nṛpati-sāmanta-viṣayapati-bhogika-rāṣṭragrāmakūṭa-deśillaka- mahattar - ādhikārik-ādīn=samanudarśayati*;⁴ (5) *sarvān= eva samupagata-viṣayapati-rāṣṭragrāmamahattar-ādhikārīn=samanudarśayati*;⁵ (6) *Uttamāloka-viṣaye samupāgatān=vartamāna-bhaviṣyan-mahāsāmantamahārāja-rājaputra-kumārāmāly-oparika-viṣayapati-tadāyuktaka-dāṇḍa-pāśika-sthānāntarikān=anyāṁś=ca cāṭa-bhaṭ-ādīn=adhikaraṇāṁś=ca pūjayati;¹ (7) yato=’smat-santakāḥ sarv-ādhyakṣa-niyoga-niyuktā ājñāsañcāri-kulaputr-ādhikṛtāḥ bhaṭāś=chātrāś=ca viśruta-pūrvay=ājñay=ājñāpayitavyāḥ;² etc. In these, the expressions vartamāna-bhaviṣyat and yathā-sambadhyamānaka, used in several cases, show that the order was meant for the king’s officers, etc., who were associated with the administration of the area containing the gift village or land for the time being and also those who would be so associated in future.³ Sometimes the word samupāgata has been used in relation to ‘the present and future’ subordinates and officers of the donor in the district containing the gift village (No. 6). It is difficult to take samupāgata here in the sense of ‘assembled’ since the whole district seems to be too big a place for an assemblage, while it is not easy to understand how the ‘future’ subordinates and officers also assembled.

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¹ Ibid., Vol. XXXI, p. 233, text lines 1-3.

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² Ibid., p. 300, text lines 11-12; p. 303, text lines 16-18.

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³ Ibid., Vol. XXX, p. 268, text lines 31-34; cf. p. 272, text lines 23-26.

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⁴ Ibid., Vol XXVIII, p. 21, text lines 15-17.

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⁵ Ibid., p. 201, text lines 12-13.

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¹ Ibid., p. 334, text lines 3-6. Cf. Kārttikeyapura-viṣaye samupāgatān=sarvān=eva niyogasthān=rāja-rājanaka, etc. (ibid., Vol. XXXI, p. 280, text line 11; cf. p. 287, text line 10; p. 294, text line 13).

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² Ibid., Vol. XXVI, p. 160, text lines 20-22.

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³ For sambadhyamānaka, see Lalitapuravāla-sambadhyamānaka-Tauḍā-grāme (ibid., Vol. XXXI, p. 312, text line 8). In the charters of the Bhauma-Karas of Orissa, a distinction is generally made between the subordinates and officers of the district or province and those of a village or a group of villages; e.g., Dakṣiṇa-Tosalāyāṁ vartamāna-bhavisya-mahāsāmanta-rājasatka-rājaputra-kumārāmāty-auparika-viṣayapati-tadāyuktaka-dāṇḍapāśika-sthānāntari kān=anyān=api rāja-prasādina=ścāṭa-vallabha-jātīyān=Tamura-viṣaya-Paścima-khaṇḍe mahāmahattara-brhadbhogi-pustakapāla-kūṭakolas-ādy-adhikaraṇam yathārhaṁ mānayati bodhayati samājñāpayati ca. Here the local officers of the western sub-division of the Tamura district have been mentioned separately from the subordinates and officers associated with the province of South Tosalā in which Tamura-viṣaya was situated. See ibid., Vol. XXIX, pp. 88-89, text lines 26-30; cf. p. 217, text lines 23-26; p. 219, text lines 25-27; Vol. XXVIII, pp. 215-16, text lines 213-16.

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In a large number of copper-plate charters, the order regarding the grant is addressed to both the local people or people in general and the royal officers, etc. This is simply indicated in the records of some dynasties, while the charters of some areas have it in a somewhat elaborate form. But it is the most elaborate in the records of some of the early medieval ruling families of Northern India, especially those of its eastern regions. The simple and semi-elaborate forms of indication are illustrated in the following quotations.

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For simple indication, cf. (1) *Pḷaki-viṣaye viṣaya-vṛddhān=adhikāriṇaḥ Kundura-grāma-kuṭumbinaś=ca samājñāpayati*;¹ (2) *Kaliṅganagarāt . . . . . samast-āmātya-pramukha-janapadān=samāhūya samājñāpayati*;² (3) *sarvān=eva svān=āyuktaka-viniyuktaka-cāṭa-bhaṭa-kuṭumbi-mahattara-drāṅgikān=bodhayati*;³ (4) *Ramalava-viṣaye-Paścima-khaṇḍe yathā-nivāsi-sa-karaṇa-sāmanta-bhogyādi-janapadān=yathārhaṃ mānayati bodhayati samādiśati ca*;⁴ etc.

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¹ Ibid., Vol. XXXI, p. 135, text lines 12-13.

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² Ibid., p. 196, text lines 44-47; p. 308, text lines 40-41.

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³ Ibid., Vol. XXX, p. 4, text line 1.

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⁴ Ibid., Vol. XXIX, p. 192-93, text lines 13-15.

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For semi-elaborate indication, see (1) *Nātavāḍi-viṣaya-nivāsino rāṣṭrakūṭa-pramukhān=kuṭumbinas=samāhūya mantri-purohita-senāpati-yuvarāj-ādy-aṣṭādaśa-tirth-ādhyakṣam=ittham=ājñāpayati*;⁵ (2) *Mamḍaura-grām-opagatān=Brāhmaṇān=anyāṃś=ca mānyān=adhikṛtān=kuṭumbi-kāyastha-dūta-vaidya-mahattarān=Meda-Caṇḍāla-paryantān=sarvān=sambodhayati samājñāpayati ca*;⁶ (3) *°grāmeyakān=rājapuruṣa-talavara-daṇḍanāyaka-rāṣṭrika-dūta-bhaṭa-naṭa-ceṭaka-paricāraka-niyukt-ādhyakṣa-praśāstṛ-samāhartṛ-naya-kāṃś=c=ājñāpayati*;⁷ (4) *°bhūmau yathāyathaṃ samupasthita-viṣaya-karaṇa-vyavahārika-pramukha-janapadān=rāja-rājñī-rāṇak-ādhikṛtān=anyān=api rājanyaka-rājaputra-rājavallabha-prabhṛtin=yathākāla-bhāvino=pi sarvān=mānanā-pūrvakaṃ samādiśanti*;⁸ (5) *Jiloṇḍa-viṣaye bhaviṣyad-yathā-kāla-bhāvino rājanyakān=rājaputrān=Brāhmaṇa-purogān=sāmanta-nivāsi-janapadān=adhikāriṇaḥ sa-karaṇān=anyāṃś=ca cāṭa-bhaṭa-vallabha-jātīyān=rāja-pād-opajīvinaḥ sarvān=yathārhaṃ mānayati bodhayati kuśalayaty=ādiśati c=ānyat*;⁹ (6) *Vaṭapadrake Brāhmaṇān=sampūjya sa-pradhānān=prativāsino yathā-kāl-ādhyāsinas=samāhartṛ-sannidhātṛ-pramukhān=adhikāriṇas=sa-karaṇān=anyāṃś=c=āsmat-pād-opajīvinas= sarva-rājapuruṣān=samājñāpayati;¹ (7) Māṇḍiḍḍā-viṣaye rāja-rājanaka-rājaputrān=viṣayapati-daṇḍapāśikān=yathākāl-ādhyāsino vyavahāriṇo Brāhmaṇān=karaṇa-purogān=nivāsi-janapadāṁś=ca yathārhaṁ mānayati bodhayati samādiśati ca sarvataḥ śivam=asmākam=anyat;² etc.

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⁵ Ibid., Vol. XXXI, p. 42, text lines 31-34.

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⁶ Ibid., p. 72, text lines 7-9.

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⁷ Ibid., p. 78, text lines 22-24.

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⁸ Ibid., Vol. XXX, p. 207, text lines 30-32.

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⁹ Ibid., Vol. XXIX, p. 188, text lines 27-29. Cf. Vol. XXVI, p. 79, text lines 24-27; also Vol. XXVII, p. 330, text lines 25-27, where we have *yathā-kāl-ādhyāsin* for *yathā-kāla-bhāvin*.

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¹ Ibid., Vol. XXVII, p. 290, text lines 6-9; cf. p. 323, text lines 6-8.

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² Ibid., p. 339, text lines 11-14.

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In these instances, the word upagata has been used once in relation to the inhabitants and local officials of the gift village (No. 2 of Group II). In one case (No. 4 of Group II), the local people and officials are stated to have been samupasthita at the gift land, while the subordinates, etc, are separated from the said class by the epithet yathā-kāla-bhāvin. The same distinction is also made in another case (No. 5 of Group II) by using the expressions bhaviṣyad-yathā-kāla-bhāvin and sāmanta-nivāsin. Similar use of the expressions prativāsin and yathā-kāl-ādhyāsin are noticed in one case (No. 6 of Group II) and yathā-kāl-ādhyāsin and nivāsin in another (No. 7 of Group II). This distinction is made clear in the Gāhaḍavāla records in which, in the course of an elaborate indication, we have °grāma-nivāsino nikhila-janapadān=upatatān=api ca rāja-rājñī, etc.³ Here the relation of the subordinates and officers of the king with the gift village is indicated by the word upagata. Some charters indicate the same distinction by enumerating the two classes as sarvān=ev=ātmīyān=mantri-purohita°, etc., and tan-nivāsi-Brāhmaṇ-ottarān, etc.⁴

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³ Ibid., Vol. XXVI, p. 73, text lines 12-14.

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⁴ Ibid., p. 202, text lines 28-30.

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The word found in the Gāhaḍavāla records as upagata is often found in the form samupagata or samupāgata in the same context in many other charters,⁵ especially in the elaborate indication in the grants of the Pālas and Senas of Eastern India.⁶ We have seen above how the ‘present’ and ‘future’ subordinates, etc., of a ruler are described as samupāgata with reference to a viṣaya or district. The question now is what the words upagata, samupagata and samupāgata in this context really mean. In our opinion, they mean the same thing as sambadhyamānaka, yathā-kāla-bhāvin and yathā-kāl-adhyāsin as found in the same context in many records. This may be clear from the quotation of a few corresponding passages from the charters of the Gāhaḍavālas, Pālas and Senas.

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⁵ Ibid., Vol. XXXI, p. 280, text lines 11-17; p. 287, text line 10; p. 294, text line 13.

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⁶ Ibid., Vol. XXIX, pp. 7-8, text lines 31-41; pp. 11-12, text lines 29-38.

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The Gāhaḍavāla grant referred to above has : upagatān=api ca rāja-rājñī-yuvarāja - mantri - purohita - pratīhāra - senāpati - bhāṇḍāgārika - akṣapaṭalika - bhiṣag - naimittika - antaḥpurika - dūta- karituragapaṭṭanākarasthānagokulādhikārī-puruṣān=ājñāpayati bodhayati=ādiśati ca. It is difficult to believe that all the said kinds of subordinates and officers of the king would have assembled in a gift land or village whenever a grant was made, especially in view of the fact that the Gāhaḍavāla kings are known to have often issued such charters. The number of the classes of people is much higher in the Pāla and Sena charters. It has also to be noticed that often the subject of the gift was a plot or several plots of land including tanks, etc., and the assemblage of subordinate rulers, their queens and sons and of all the officers (cf. aśeṣa-rājapuruṣān) therein becomes inconceivable. The list sometimes includes also, besides others, the mercenary soldiers of various nationalities such as Gauḍa, Mālava, Khasa, Kulika, Karṇāṭa and Lāṭa and even people performing menial services such as Meda, Andhra and Caṇḍāla. An assemblage seems to be physically impossible in such cases.

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Thus the Belwa plate of Mahīpāla has : °grāma-puṣkariṇīṣu samupāgat-āśeṣa-rājapuruṣān = rāja-rājanyaka-rāja-putra-rājāmātya- mahāsāndhivigrahika - mahākṣapaṭalika - mahā-sāmanta - mahāsenāpati - mahāpratīhāra - dauḥsādhasādhanika - mahādaṇḍanāyaka - mahākumārāmātya - rājasthān - oparika - dāśāparādhika - cauroddharaṇika - dāṇḍika - dāṇḍapāśika - śaulika - gaulmika - kṣetrapāla - śrāntapāla - koṭṭapāla - aṅgarakṣa - tadāyuktaka - viniyuktaka - hastyaśvoṣṭranaubalavyāpṛtaka - kiśora-vaḍavāgomihiṣajāvikādhyakṣa - dūta - preṣaṇika - gamāgamik - ābhitvaramāṇa-viṣayapati - grāmapati - tarika - Gauḍa - Mālava - Khasa - Hūṇa - Kulika - Karṇāṭa-Lāṭa-cāṭa - bhaṭa - sevak - ādīn = anyāmś = c = ākīrtitān = rāja - pād - opajīvinaḥ prativāsino Brāhmaṇ - ottarān=mahattam-ottama - kuṭumbi - puroga - Med - Andhra - Cāṇḍāla-paryantān=yathārhaṃ mānayati bodhayati samādiśati ca.¹

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¹ Ibid., Vol. XXIX, pp. 7-8, text lines 31-41. In the Sena charters, the list of subordinates and officers is concluded with the passage : anyāmś=ca sakala-rāja-pād-opajīvino—’dhyakṣa-pracār-oktān=ih=ākīrtitān = caṭṭa-bhaṭṭa-jātīyān = janapadānkṣe=trakarān=Brāhmaṇān = Brāhmaṇ-ottarān = yathārhaṃ mānayanti bodhayanti samādiśanti ca. Cf. ibid., Vol. XXVI, p.8, text lines 32-34. Some records make it clear that the grant was made at the capital of the donor in the presence of officers, etc. See ibid., Vol. XXXIV, p. 222; cf. Vol. XXVIII, p. 309.

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Thus the words upagata, etc., in the above context seem to refer to the close relation of the king’s officers and subordinates with the land as administrators or fief-holders.

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