Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c21.s1.43

c21.s1.43

² It has been taken to mean (1) minister of a Prince as distinguished from that of the King (*rājāmātya*), (2) minister in charge of Princes, C. V. Vaidya, *Med. Hind. Ind.*, I, 138, (3) a junior minister whose father is alive, or (4) one who has been a minister since the days of his youth. But *cf. Ep. Ind.*, X, 49; XV, 302 f. It will be seen that the Kumārāmātyas were, as stated by a previous writer, divided into two classes, *viz.*, (i) Yuvarājapādīya, those serving the Crown Prince, and (ii) Parama-bhaṭṭārakapādīya, those serving the Emperor himself. This perhaps makes the interpretation 'counsellor of, or in charge of the Prince' untenable. See, however, Penzer. I. 32; III. 136. The most probable view is that the term *Kumāra* in the expression *Kumārāmātya* corresponds to *Pina*, *Chikka*, *Immadi*, *Ilaya*, of the south, and is the opposite of *Peda* (*Prauḍha*), *Piriya*. In the Gupta Age the Kumārāmātyas often served as district officers. The office was also combined with that of a general, counsellor and foreign secretary.