State and Government in Ancient India c23.s4.31

c23.s4.31

Rāshṭrakūṭa records refer on rare occasions to Vishaya-mahattaras (elders of the district) and Rāshṭramahattaras (elders of the province), suggesting the existence of popular bodies at the district and provincial headquarters, discharging functions probably similar to those of the councils of village elders (Grāma-mahattaras) in villages. We have, however, no direct evidence to show that the elders of the district or the province had actually a council of their own, regularly meeting at intervals and discharging important administrative functions. It may be that the absence of a reference to the council of Rāshṭramahattaras and Vishyamahattaras in our records is accidental and that the district non-official councils functioned under the Rāshṭrakūṭas in the Deccan, as they did under the Guptas in Bengal.