History of the Pallavas of Kanchi c15.21

c15.21

The emperor in these records is called Mahārāja and Dharmamahārāja. In the Gupta inscriptions of North India also, the emperor is called Mahārājādhirāja and Paramēśvara. In the Gupta Government the emperor is the centre of a group of subordinate kings. The territory of the empire was called a Rājya in the Gupta inscriptions as well as Rāshṭra, and Dēśa and Maṇḍala which occur also in the Pallava inscriptions. The territories in the Pallava Empire are divided in the records into Koṭṭams and Nāḍus on the lines of the Gupta administration where they are similarly divided into Bhukti, Vishaya, and Grāma. There is a close resemblance between the sources of taxation and revenue between the early Pallava records and Gupta inscriptions. These may be gathered from the inscriptions recording various grants. These include several items such as Uparikara, Vāṭa Bhūta, Hiraṇya, Ādēya, etc. Several of the Gupta inscriptions as well as Pallava inscriptions indicate negatively the obligations imposed by the state. Several of the Gupta Inscriptions, may be compared with portions of the Pallava records dealing with exemption from taxes.²