Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c21.s1.27

c21.s1.27

Regarding the machinery of Government we have no detailed information. But the following facts may be gleaned from the inscriptions. As in Maurya times, the head of the state was the *Rājā* who was at times nominated by his predecessor. The king is now regarded as a divinity—*Achintya Purusha*, ‘the Incomprehensible Being’ *Dhanada-Varuṇendrāntaka-sama*, the equal of Kuvera, Varuṇa, Indra and Yama, *loka-dhāma deva*, ‘a god dwelling on earth,’ *Paramadaivata*, ‘the supreme deity.’ He was assisted by a body of High Ministers whose office was very often hereditary as is suggested by the phrase “*anvaya-prāpta sāchivya*” ‘acquirer of the post of minister by hereditary descent’, of the Udayagiri Inscription of Śāba.¹ The most important among the High Ministers were the Mantrin, ‘High Counsellor,’ the *Sāṁdhi-vigrahika*, ‘Minister for Peace and War,’ and the *Akshapaṭal-ādhikṛita*, ‘the Lord Keeper of State Documents.' Like the Kauṭilyan *Mantrin*, the Gupta *Sāṁdhi-vigrahika* accompanied the sovereign to the battle-field. As in the case of most of the *Pradhānas* of Śivājī there was no clear-cut division between civil and military officials. The same person could be *Sāṁdhi-vigrahika*, *Kumārāmātya* (cadet-minister), and *Mahā-daṇḍa-nāyaka*, 'great commandant of the army,' and a *Mantrin* could become a *Mahā-bal-ādhikṛita* 'chief commander of forces.'