Social Life in Ancient India: Studies in Vatsyayana's Kamasutra c6.284

c6.284

The Ābhīras are mentioned prominently. The Ābhīra ladies are said to be the same in their likes and dislikes with the ladies of Mālava³, and the love intrigues of the ladies in the harems of Ābhīra kings are also referred to. In this connection we are told that the Ābhīra harem was defended by guards who bore the designation of Kṣatriyas⁴, showing that the Ābhīras themselves had not yet acquired the status of Kṣatriyas and it seems that these latter were employed as guardians of the royal seraglio, in consideration of the lesser chance of their communication with the ladies than of warders taken from their own clan. An Ābhīra Kottarāja or king of Kotta, which, the Commentator informs us, was a place in Gurjarāta (modern Gujrat) is mentioned as an illustration of the dangers to kings in entering the houses of others on love intrigues. The Commentary gives the detail that this Ābhīra king had entered the house of Śreṣṭhī Vasumitra to meet his wife, and there he was assassinated by a washerman employed by the king's brother who had a claim to the throne⁵.