State and Government in Ancient India c21.s1.22

c21.s1.22

Smaller feudatories naturally enjoyed far less freedom. Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja and Śatrughna Mahārāja, who were Vākāṭaka feudatories, Rudraṭa who was a feudatory of Vainya-gupta, Paramagula, a subordinate ruler of Gaṅga king Śivamāra and Bhānuśakti, who owed allegiance to the Kadambas,—all felt the necessity of securing imperial sanction for alienating the revenues of some villages in their own states.² When Budhavarsha, a feudatory of the Rāshṭrakūṭa emperor Govinda III, desired to grant a village to counteract the evil influence of Saturn, he had to supplicate for the permission of his feudal lord.³ Śaṅkaragaṇa, a feudatory of the Rāshṭrakūṭa emperor Dhruva, is seen to take the imperial permission when making a village grant.⁴ The Kadambas also exercised a similar control over their feudatories. In the Gurjara Pratīhāra empire feudatories even in the distant provinces like Kathiawar had to take imperial permission for the alienation of land or land revenues, which was usually given through the resident Political Agents, who are often seen signing the copperplate charters on behalf of the imperial power.⁵ The same practice prevailed also under the Paramāras⁶ and was followed in the 7th century in Kashmir.⁷