History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v2.c29.s2.872

v2.c29.s2.872

Before concluding it will be convenient to bring here in one place all the available evidence in disproof of the opposite theory that these ruling families of the Deccan were Marāthās but not Kshatriyas. We have shown that the first proof we have goes so far back as the 1st century A.D. A Nasik cave inscription of Gotamīputra Śātakarṇi describes him as "Khatiya—Dapamāna—Damanassa" i. e. restrainer of the pride of Kshatriyas. The opinion of Cunningham that the Kshatriyas mentioned here are those of Rajaputana is untenable as, firstly there were no or very few Kshatriyas then in Rajaputana and secondly Gotamīputra never went to Rajaputana; in fact his conquests never extended beyond the Nerbudda. The Kshatriyas referred to here are, therefore, the Kshatriyas of Mahārāshtra itself such as the Rāshtrakūtas, the Aśmakas and others mentioned in the inscriptions of Aśoka. Next we have the evidence of Śabarasvāmin author of the Bhāshya on the Mīmānsā Sūtras of Jaimini, who may be placed in about 400 A. D. He mentions that the Kshatriyas of Āndhra call themselves Rājās even though they may not actually be doing the work of a Rājā viz., protecting town and country. This clearly admits the existence of Kshatriyas in the south. Again Kumārila who belongs to about 700 A.D. and who wrote his famous commentary on the Bhāshya of Śabara remarks that this statement about the Āndhras was made by the Bhāshyakāra in common with the Dākshinātyas which means that the practice of Kshatriyas calling themselves Rājās was really prevalent among the Marāthas of the Deccan. The word Dākshinātya in ancient Sanskrit writings always means Marāthā the latter word being indeed a later and a Prākrit word. This is a most reliable piece of evidence to hold that the Marāthās of the Deccan were in the 7th and 8th centuries considered by the orthodox and learned Brahmins of the time to be Kshatriyas. And the practice of even ordinary (not ruling) Marāthā families styling themselves Rājās still prevails in the Deccan. We have the support of Hiuen Tsang for this statement of Kumārila as in 640 A. D. he calls Pulakeśin king of Mahārāshtra a Kshatriya. Fourthly the Rāshtrakūtas were considered to be descendants of Sātyaki a lunar race Kshatriya. And the Yādavas were considered to be the *Gesta Romanorum*, the *Legenda Aurea* of Jacobus de Voragine, and the *Speculum Historiale* of Vincent of Beauvais. These were the books that fed the imagination of the Middle Ages, and they were the books that the Church, in its wisdom, provided for the instruction and edification of the faithful.