State and Government in Ancient India c15.12

c15.12

*Kshattā, akshāvāpa* and *pālāgala*, included among the *ratnins*, seem to have belonged to the class of courtiers. *Kshattā* was probably the Royal Chamberlain.¹ *Akshāvāpa* was the king’s companion at the game table and *Pālāgala* was probably the king’s bosom companion, corresponding to the *vidūshaka* of the later period. It has also been suggested that he might have been the ambassador of the neighbouring state,² but this seems improbable. Some texts³ add *govikartana* or *govyachha, takshā* and *rathakāra* to the list of the *ratnins*. Wealth in the Vedic age consisted mostly of cows, and *govikartana* might have been some high officer connected with the royal herd of cattle. *Takshā* means the carpenter and *rathakāra* the chariot-maker. Chariots played as important part in the Vedic warfare as the aeroplanes do in the modern one. It is therefore not unlikely that the chief of the guild of the carpenters or the chariot-makers might also have been represented on the council of the *ratnins*.