Indian Epigraphy c12.65

c12.65

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.