The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c15.s3.t4.6.2

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;