The Rashtrakutas and their Times c15.46

c15.46

Our records, however, do not give any clue as to what were the powers of these councils of the district and provincial notables or representatives, whether they were elected, if so, by whom, how frequently they met and how they transacted their business. Considering the means of communication in our period, it would appear very probable that the meetings of these bodies could not have been very frequent. Their powers, therefore, must have been considerably less than those of the village councils. If they were as powerful as the village councils, one would have heard much more about them than is actually the case at present. An officer called ‘Mahattamasarvādhikārin’ is mentioned in the Begumra plates of Kṛṣṇa II as the *dūtaka* of the grant.³⁰ It may thus appear that the *Vishaya*- and *Rāṣṭramahattaras* had an accredited officer of theirs, probably their president, who was perhaps acting for them when they were not in session. Gaṇapati, the chief councillor of Bankeya, the Banavasi viceroy of Amoghavarsha I, was a *mahattara*;³¹ he may have been probably selected from among, or elected by, the *Rāṣṭramahattaras* of Banavasi. In Śaka 991³² one of the ministers of the Yādavas of Seuṇḍeśa was Mahattama Śrī-Amāditya. It is possible to conjecture that some of the members of these bodies were selected for some of the posts in the ministry.