State and Government in Ancient India c23.s1.5

c23.s1.5

An interesting practice popularised by the Scythian rulers was the system of *dvairājya*. This practice was not unknown to the Hindu polity (see *ante* p. 38) but was rather rare. Under the Śakas and the Parthians, the king and the heir-apparent both ruled with almost equal powers. As instances of this *dvairājya* we may refer to the joint rule of Spalyrises and Azes, Hagāna and Hagāmasha, Gondopharnes and Gad and Kanishka II and Huvishka. Under the Western Kshatrapas, the father usually ruled as Mahākshatrapa simultaneously with his heir-apparent as Kshatrapa, both issuing coins in their own names. In the *dvairājya* administration, the junior member seems to have exercised greater powers than those conceded to Yuvarāja by the Hindu polity. Some queens like Nayanikā of the Sātavāhana dynasty used to act as regents during the minority of their sons.