The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c15.s3.t4.6

Language: English

v2.c15.s3.t4.6.1

The Kākatīya monarchs were assisted in the government of the kingdom by a large number of ministers. Although *mahāpradhānas*, *pradhānas*, *preggaḍas*, *amātyas*, and *mantrins* are mentioned in the inscriptions and the Telugu literature of the period, yet unfortunately no information is available about the way in which they were organized or how they helped the monarch in transacting the business of the state. Much importance is, no doubt, attached to the office of the minister in the works on *rājanīti*. A *mantrin* was recognized from very ancient times onwards as one of the *saptāngas* (the seven constituent members) of the body politic. A king who has no minister to advise him is compared to an elephant without its trunk. The king is required to exercise great caution in the choice of his ministers and the delegation of powers to them. He should, according to the *Nītiśāstramuktāvali* of Baddena, avoid an ignorant man even though he may happen to be a personal friend, and should appoint a wise and trustworthy person as the minister. He should place confidence in people noted for their discretion and loyalty, and should avoid fickle-minded individuals who are likely to divulge the secrets of the council. He should not make any minister head of the government of the state; for a minister entrusted with such unlimited authority would become too powerful and wealthy.

v2.c15.s3.t4.6.2

The respective positions of the king and the minister in a state should not be reversed, for the excessive growth of the power of any single member of the body politic would destroy the majesty of the regal state and ruin the kingdom. The Kākatīya monarchs appear to have paid due regard in this matter to the maxims of the political thinkers, for during the period of their rule no instance is on record of any minister who passed the limits of his authority and usurped the power of his sovereign. At the same time the injunctions of the *rājanīti* were not invariably observed in all respects. The king, for instance, is required to appoint as his ministers brāhmans well versed in the Vedas, the *śāstras*, and political science. The Kākatīyas (who perhaps came originally from the Śūdra caste) do not seem to have paid much attention to this rule, for they did not restrict their choice to any single community in selecting their ministers. The instances of Malyāla Hēmādri Reḍḍi and of Muppiḍi Nāyaka, who held the office of *Mahāpradhāna* respectively² under Gaṇapatidēva and Pratāparudra, show that they selected their ministers from all the principal classes and castes of their subjects. Merit was probably the criterion when making appointments to the public service;

v2.c15.s3.t4.6.3

the example of Vellaki Gaṅgādhara, who, starting his career as an official in the royal palace under Prōla II, was subsequently promoted to the office of an *amātya* or minister by his son and successor Rudra on account of his loyalty and his efficient discharge of his duties, indicates that weight was attached by the king to pure merit when filling vacant ministerial positions. The appointment of a person to the office of a minister was invariably accompanied by the conferment of special insignia such as the palanquin, the white umbrella and a special dress, &c., beside the grant of *jīvita* or the *vritti* (land) pertaining to that *niyōga* (office) and presents of valuable ornaments and costly perfumes.¹ The number of ministers in the service of the king at any given time is not known. True, a passage in the *Sakalanītisammatamu*, which is said to have been extracted from an old Telugu rendering of the *Kāmandakam*, mentions twenty-one (*muyyēḍu*) *tīrthas* or ministers; but, in fact, it actually names only eighteen, viz. (1) *mantrin*, (2) *purōhita*, (3) *mantri-jan-ādhyaksha*, (4) *sainyādhināyaka*, (5) *sannidhātri*, (6) *āṭavika*, (7) *praśāstra*, (8) *āyudha-(?

v2.c15.s3.t4.6.4

āyudha) nāyaka*, (9) *vyāvahārika*, (10) *samāhartṛi*, (11) *daṇḍapāla*, (12) *durgapāla*, (13) *prāntapāla*, (14) *prādeśhṭri*, (15) *karmāntika*, (16) *antar-vamśik-ādhikāra*, (17) *yuvarāja* and (18) *dauvārika*.² It is interesting to note that this list of the *tīrthas* is not found in the available editions of the Sanskrit and Telugu *Kāmandakas*. Probably the author of the Telugu *Kāmandakamu* quoted in the *Sakalanītisammatamu* copied this list into his translation from some other work on polity, since we know that the institution of the *tīrthas* was in existence in the country in his time. The term *tīrtha*, according to lexicographers, denotes a group of eighteen ministers, beginning with the *mantrin*, in the service of the king. The institution of the eighteen *tīrthas* is, as a matter of fact, not unknown to the Āndhra polity in general. The Māṅgallu plates of the Eastern Chāḷukyan king Amma II Vijayāditya VI (A.D. 945-970) mention also eighteen *tīrthas* including the *mantrin*, *sēnāpati*, and *yuvarāja*,³ whilst the inscriptions of his elder brother Dānārṇava and his descendants refer to the *dauvārika*, *pradhāna*, and *adhyaksha* in addition to the other ministers cited above.⁴ Though some of the ministers included among the eighteen *tīrthas* are mentioned in the Kākatīya inscriptions, it is not possible, for lack of definite proof, to state whether the institution as such actually flourished under the Kākatīyas.

v2.c15.s3.t4.6.5

It seems probable, however, that the Kākatīya ministers constituted a council or cabinet, for in the course of his daily routine, the king, according to the *Purushārthasāram*, should regularly join his ministers and deliberate with them on the affairs of the state.⁵ Another institution which deserves notice in this context is that of the *niyōgas*. Officials of all classes who were in the employ of the court—both civil and military officers and the royal household—were divided into *niyōgas* or categories, seventy-two in number, referred to collectively as *bāhattara*. They were under the supervision of a high-ranking officer of State called the bāhattara-niyōg-ādhipati. This is an ancient office going back to the early Chālukyan period. We find the niyōg-ādhikṛita mentioned in Eastern Chālukyan inscriptions as early as the time of Amma I.¹ This niyōg-ādhikṛita is indeed the fore-runner of the bāhattara-niyōg-ādhipati of later Western Chālukyan times. The Kākatīyas who in the early phase of their history were feudatories of the later Western Chālukyas, inherited the classification of officials into niyōgas from their overlords with other political institutions. Gaṇapati appointed the Kāyastha chief Gaṅgaya Sāhiṇi to this important office in A.D.

v2.c15.s3.t4.6.6

1251, and bestowed on him the territory extending from Pānugal in the Nalgonda district to the fort of Kaivāram in the Kolar district.² Subsequent to his death Indulūri Gannaya, son of Gaṇapaya,³ and after him the Kāyastha chief Tripurāri or Tripurāntaka and Mahāpradhāna Pōmkala Mallaya Preggaḍa held this office under Rudramadēvi.⁴ What exactly the functions of the bāhattara-niyōg-ādhipati were is not definitely known. Whether he was a mere titular dignitary, or an officer ranking only below the king and wielding enormous power, cannot be ascertained in the present state of knowledge.