State and Government in Ancient India c23.s1.3

c23.s1.3

The institutions of the foreigners had, however, some influence upon the Indian administrative usage. Chandragupta and Aśoka were content to call themselves mere Rājās; the Mauryan queens like Chāruvākī were known as mere Rāṇīs; Kanishka on the other hand styled himself as Mahārāja- *rājātirāja-devaputra*.¹ Queens began to be called *agramahishīs* and *mahādevīs*. Hindu kings and queens did not adopt these titles during this period. The title *devaputra* shows how the theory of the divinity of the king was making a rapid progress under the Kushāṇa auspices ; the emperors of this dynasty started building temples at Mathurā in honour of their dead predecessors, following the Roman practice on the bank of the Tiber. Manu, who flourished during this period, describes the king as a great deity *mahatī devatā*).