History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c13.s1.5

v1.c13.s1.5

Lastly, we come to the court. The centre of the court was of course the king. He was an absolute monarch; he was, however, bound by laws of divine origin and therefore of an unchangeable nature. He was, again, considered the father of his people and was also the dispenser of justice. Except in a few exceptional cases, the king though despotic, was therefore generally a just and an affectionate ruler and was also in return loved by the people. The king of course was born to enjoy and had come to the royal station, so the people believed, by reason of austerities performed in former lives. He was, therefore, always surrounded by young and beautiful women. He was attended on by these damsels as his Chāmara-bearer, Tambūla-Karanka-bearer and so on. They stood about him even in open court. This feature of an ancient king’s life strikes us as almost voluptuous. But it was a long established practice of the court. Even Manu Smṛiti ( 7,224 ) describes the king as always surrounded by women.* Megasthenes also does the same. ( Ancient India Mc. Crindle’s Megasthenes page 71 & 72 ). Kālidāsa also describes the king as attended by Yavanīs and lastly Bāṇa describes even the chaste and self-restrained Harsha as attended by beautiful young women in court when Bāṇa went to see him. (H. C. p. 118). Even on elephants when marching or fighting, the king had young women for his arm-bearers. Probably this custom was originally borrowed from the Persians by Chandragupta or even the Nandas who copied the forms of the Persian court, then the most powerful and magnificent imperial court in the world, It is hence that we can explain the mention of Yavanīs by Kālidāsa as attending kings. In Bāṇa’s days these women were not probably Yavanīs as they are not so described. They were always selected for their strength, health and beauty. Except for great kings like Harsha who was martial and of great moral strength, these women must generally have been a cause of great moral degeneracy in Indian kings.