State and Government in Ancient India c17.s1: Provincial Government
State and Government in Ancient India c17.s1
- Language
- English
Provincial Government
c17.s1.1
Provincial administrations in the modern sense of the term existed only in big kingdoms. The Mauryan empire was divided into several provinces. Five of them are known at present, Uttarāpatha, Avantirāshṭra, Dakshiṇāpatha, Kaliṅga and Prāchya with Taxila, Ujjainī, Survarṇāgiri, Tosali and Pāṭaliputra as their respective capitals. It is not unlikely that Uttarāpatha and Dakshiṇāpatha may have had several provinces under them. Under the Śuṅgas, in the beginning at any rate, the administration of Mālwa had the status and powers of a Provincial Government. The Kaṇva kingdom was probably too small to have any viceroys. The Sātavāhana empire extended over the whole Deccan, but we know very little about its provincial administration. The status of *mahākshatrapas* ruling at Banaras, Mathurā and Ujjayinī in the empire of Kanishka was undoubtedly similar to that of provincial governors. In the Gupta empire, Kathiawar, Mālwā and Gujarat had provincial administrations. In the home territories of the Rāshtrakūṭa empire, there do not seem to have been any officers with the viceregal status, but Gujarat, Banavāsi and Gaṅgavāḍī, which were new additions to the empire, had viceroys to govern them. The *Bhuktis* under the Pratīhāra empire appear to have been rather Commissioners' Divisions than provinces. The Pālas, the Paramāras, the Chaulukyas, the Chandellas, the Gāhaḍawālas and the Cholas ruled over relatively smaller kingdoms; the bigger ones amongst them like the Cholas had two grades of administrative divisions, *maṇḍala* which was roughly equal to about two or three modern districts, and *nāḍu*, which usually covered two Tehsils. Smaller kingdoms were divided only into districts and their sub-divisions.
c17.s1.2
Heads of the provincial administrations were officers of very high status. Very often princes of the blood royal were appointed to them. Thus under the Mauryas, Bindusāra, Aśoka and Kuṇāla had all served as viceroys in the different provinces of the empire¹; under the Śuṅgas, the crown prince Agnimitra was serving as viceroy in Mālwā.² Ghaṭotkacha-gupta, the Gupta viceroy of the same province in *c.* 435, was a prince of the royal family. The Gujarat viceroys under the Chālukyas and the Rāshtrakūṭas were scions of the royal family, who eventually managed to establish practically independent houses. The province of Gaṅgawāḍī in the Rāshtrakūṭa empire had the emperor’s eldest son as viceroy in *c.* 790 A. D. Of course princes of the blood royal were not always available for appointment to the viceregal posts; then they went to the most senior and trusted officers of the empire, who were usually military generals as well. Thus Nahapāṇa and Chashṭaṇa, the Deccan viceroys of the Kushāṇas, were capable generals, as also Baṅkeya, the Banavāsi viceroy of the Rāshtrakūṭa emperor Amoghvarsha I. Military leadership was regarded as an essential qualification not only for ministerial but also for viceregal posts. Viceroys enjoyed high and wide powers; they had to maintain internal order and protect the empire against the external enemies contiguous to the territories under their charge. So military leadership was essential to them.
c17.s1.3
¹ *Divyāvadāna*, p. 371.
c17.s1.4
² *Mālavikāgnimitra*, Act. V.
c17.s1.5
Provincial viceroys, being often royal princes, had their own courts and ministers. It is against the oppressive ministers that the people of Taxila had their grudge when they rose in rebellion in *c.* 280 B.C. Agnimitra, the viceroy over Mālwa, had his own ministry; the same was the case with the southern viceroys of the Rāshtrakūṭas and the Yādavas, who usually had the status of *mahāsāmantas* or feudatory rulers.¹ Viceroys were required to follow the policy of the Central Government as communicated to them either by imperial writs or through special messengers. Communications being difficult, they naturally enjoyed considerable autonomy. Like the provincial governors of the East India Company before the Regulating Act of 1773, we sometimes find them declaring their own wars and dictating their own peace, as did Agnimitra with reference to the kingdom of Berar.² This was to some extent inevitable, because there was the tacit understanding that they would try to extend the extent of the empire. They had their own military forces, and the Central Government would often summon some of their battalions to put down rebellions in other parts of the empire. Thus the Kushāṇa emperor summoned his Deccan viceroy Rudradāman to put down the revolt of the Yaudheyas in northern Rājputānā; Baṅkeya, the viceroy of Banavāsi, had to repair to Gujarat to put down the revolt there, when the Rāshtrakūṭa emperor Amoghavarsha I could not cope with the situation.
c17.s1.6
¹ *S. I. I.*, IX. Nos. 367 and 387
c17.s1.7
² *Mālavikāgnimitra*, Act I
c17.s1.8
We have no definite evidence about the part which the viceroys played in the civil and revenue administration of the province. They must obviously have been in charge of its supervision and guidance in the light of the orders received from the capital. Divisional Commissioners must have worked under their instructions. In the Gupta administration, however, the latter appear to have been directly responsible to the emperor. Thus the Divisional Commissioner of Puṇḍravardhana was appointed by Kumāragupta I and appears to have worked under his direct instructions.¹ It is, however, doubtful whether there was a viceroy between him and the emperor.
c17.s1.9
¹ *E. I.*, XV. pp. 130, 133 etc
c17.s1.10
Besides maintaining law and order and supervising revenue collection, the viceroys had to take steps for developing the resources of their provinces by constructing and repairing works of public utility like irrigation tanks and canals and to strengthen the foundation of the empire by ensuring good government and promoting public confidence. Almost all the departments mentioned in the last chapter, that existed at the imperial capital, must have had their replicas in the provincial headquarters.
c17.s1.11
The government taxes and revenues must have been first collected at the provincial headquarters. The balance that remained after meeting the charges of the provincial administration must have been sent to the imperial capital.