State and Government in Ancient India c17.s1.2

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.