Indian Epigraphy c16.s3.93

c16.s3.93

The above list may be compared with that in the Manahali plate of Madanapāla (*c.* 1143-61 A.D.) who was one of the latest rulers of the Pāla family. In this list, we have *Rājan*, *Rājanyaka*, *Rājaputra*, *Rājāmātya*, *Mahāsāndhivigrahika*, *Mahākṣapaṭalika*, *Mahāsāmanta*, *Mahāsenāpati*., *Mahāpratihāra*, *Dauḥsādhasādhanika*, *Mahākumārāmātya Rājasthānīya* and *Uparika*, *Cauroddharaṇika*, *Dāṇḍika*, *Dāṇḍapāśika*, *Śaunika*, *Kṣetrapa*, *Prāntapāla*, *Koṭṭapāla*, *Aṅgarakṣa*, *Taḍāyuktaka*, *Viniyuktaka*, *Hastyaśoṣṭranabalavyāpṛtaka*, *Kiśoravaḍāvagomahiṣājīkādhyakṣa*, *Dūta*, *Preṣaṇika*, *Gamāgamika*, *Abhitvaramāṇa*, *Viṣayapati*, *Grāmapati*, *Tarika*, *Śaulkika*, *Gaulmika*, *Gauḍa*, *Mālava*, *Coḍa*, *Khasa*, *Hūṇa*, *Kulika*, *Karṇāṭa*, *Cāṭa* and *Bhaṭṭa*. There are some new designations in this list while a few of them are found in slightly modified form. *Mahāsāndhivigrahika* is found in earlier inscriptions though not in the Khalimpur plate. The prefix *mahā*, which was probably used to distinguish the chief officer in a particular group, has been added to some of the designations found without it in the Khalimpur plate and earlier inscriptions. The *Mahākṣapaṭalika* was the keeper of records according to some but the chief accountant according to others, though he seems to have acted in both the capacities at least in some parts of the country. Amongst the new designations, the *Rājasthānīya* seems to be a subordinate ruler according to the *Subodhikā* commentary on the *Kalpasūtra* quoted above, though the designation is no doubt the same as the *Rājasthānādhikāra* mentioned in the *Rājatarangiṇī*² as one of the highest judicial officers of ancient Kashmir. But the explanation of the *Lokaprakāśa* that the *Rājasthānīya* was ‘one who carries out the object of protecting the subjects and shelters them'¹ and the Mandasor inscription² of Yaśodharman Viṣṇuvardhana representing a viceroy of the king as a *Rājasthānīya* appear to support the *Subodhikā*, although different functions may have been attached to the designation in different regions and ages. The *Śaunika* was apparently the superintendent of slaughter-houses and the sale of meat and the *Kṣetrapa* the superintendent of the lands of the king's Khās Mahāl. The *Prāntapāla* was the warden of the marches and the *Koṭṭapāla* the governor of a fort.³ The *Aṅgarakṣa* was the king's body-guard. Instead of the *Hastyaśvoṣṭragomahiṣājāvikādhyakṣa* of the Khalimpur plate, we have here *Hastyaśvoṣṭranubalavyāpṛtaka* (i.e. the military officers in charge of the elephant and camel corps and the navy) and *Kiśoravaḍavāgomahiṣājāvikādhyakṣa* (superintendent or superintendents of the young mares, cows, buffaloes, goats and sheep). As indicated above, the *Preṣaṇika* may have been the officer in charge of the despatch of messengers. The peoples of Gauḍa and other countries mentioned in the record appear to refer to the mercenary soldiers of various regions serving in the armies of the Pāla emperors. Among the peoples, the Kulikas appear to be the same as the Kulyas of the Purāṇas, who may probably be identified with the people of Kulait in the upper valley of the Ravi.