History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c16.16

v1.c16.16

A few remarks may be made on the form of administration. It was apparently entirely northern. The word for lowest revenue division is vishaya and not nadu the Dravidian word. A village is always said to be situate in such and such a vishaya. Secondly the Ājnaptā or issuer of the command of grant is some prince but in one it is said to be Pancha Pradhānas (पञ्चप्रधानाः). This is a remarkable change. We hear for the first time the word प्रधान Pradhana, so much used in later Maratha history. The ministers are not eight but five; who they were cannot be surmised. The words Mantri, Amātya and Adhyaksha are by this time left behind and may have got into special significations. Thirdly, the grants are addressed to Rāshtrakūta-Pramukhān Kutumbinah (विषयनिवासिनो राष्ट्रकूट-प्रमुखान् कुटुम्बिनः इत्थमाज्ञापयति). Now this word राष्ट्रकूटप्रमुखान् is singular in these Eastern Chālukya grants and is not to be found in any other grants of the ancient kingdoms of India. What does it mean? It is translated as "heads of provinces" by the Ind. Ant. But this is not quite acceptable. A vishaya or Tehsil is the lowest division and above it comes Rāshtra (राष्ट्र) or Bhukti (भुक्ति) and so on. The word Rāshtra too occurs in these grants e. g. Krama Rāshtra and apparently shows a division larger than a vishaya. Rāshtrakūta ordinarily means head of a province but Rāshtrakūtas cannot come under vishayas. Of course here we have a distinct clue to the fact that Rāshtrakūta is not the name of a family as many think or thought but it is the name of an office and is the exact equivalent of the modern Deshmukh. Deshmukh and Deshpande (head patil and head writer) are higher officers of the District, not the Taluka. The Rāshtrakūta family of Malkhed, therefore, as we shall state in their history has merely an official position name changed into a family surname as Prabhu, Deshmukh and Senāpati (Senvi) etc. have become in later Marātha history. But what we urge here is that as Rāstrakūta office cannot come under vishaya, Rāstrakūta had already become apparently the name of local official families of Marathas. Deshmukhs in Vengi were usually Marathas and it is probable that under the Eastern Chālukyas, the Dravidian country must have been assigned to Rāstrakūta or Maratha families as hereditary Patils in the same way as in the Deccan. The grants are therefore addressed to the inhabitants of the vishaya of whom the Rāstrakūtas were the leading families. However, whether Rāstrakūta indicates Maratha people or not, this word Rāstrakūta occurring in the eastern Chālukya grants throws full light on the origin of the name of राष्ट्रकूट and shows that it means nothing more than a revenue official like the Deshmukh of modern days.