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The Mauryan Polity c10.s2.t5: Rājukas

The Mauryan Polity c10.s2.t5

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Rājukas

c10.s2.t5.1

Another body of higher officials went by the designation of rājuka or lājuka. It would be indeed interesting here to examine whether this office of the rājuka is mentioned in the Kauṭalīya Arthaśāstra. The term occurs in the work with a prefix ‘cora’, and the full designation is ‘corarajjuka.’² It would appear that the designation rajjuka is the more correct technical term and not ‘rājuka.’ It is not clear from what root the word derives its present form. Perhaps it comes from the old root rasj or rajj. Whatever this may be the passage in the Arthaśāstra throws welcome light on the rural administration of the land. Rural policy depended obviously on the nature of the territorial area. In the intervening places between any two villages was the officer in charge of the pasture lands (vivītādhyakṣa) and he was responsible to make good the loss occurring in his territorial jurisdiction. If the locality was not considered of sufficient importance from a commercial point of view, and the traffic was slack, there was the cora-rajjuka who was responsible for the security of the place. There were again other places where transactions were next to nothing, and in those places the people of the locality made their own arrangements for the upkeep of peace. Perhaps the responsibility was fixed in the village community.¹ In Chapter VI of Book II, the terms rajjūḥ and corarajjūḥ occur and are respectively interpreted as ‘income from the territory’ (viṣayapāladeyam), and as ‘income from the village for protection against the thieves.’² The officials in charge of such incomes were those who were connected with the department of revenue. Whenever they were chosen for specified interests, they were designated with a title, the prefix of which denoted the functions allotted to them. It may be presumed that they were officials connected with ‘survey, land settlement and irrigation’.³ This was also the interpretation which Bühler gave in discussing the phrase mahāvalabham rajjūkam⁴ when examining the Śātavāhana inscription containing a grant of Hārītiputta Satakaṇṇi of Bānavāsi of the second century A.D. That such officials existed is corroborated by the Greek authority, Megasthenes.⁵

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² Ar. Śās., Bk. IV, ch. 13.

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¹ Ibid.

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² coragrāhakāya grāmadeyam, T.S.S., Vol. I, p. 134.

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³ See F. W. Thomas, C.H.I., Vol. I, pp. 487 and 508.

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⁴ See Z.D.M.G., xlvii, p. 466, cp. Ep. Ind., II, p. 466, n.

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⁵ Fg. 34, p. 86 (Cal., 1926); see also Law, Aspects of Ind. Polity, Intro., by Mookerjee, p. 36; Contra Stein, Meg. und Kauṭalya, p. 22.

c10.s2.t5.8

To turn our attention to the Aśokan inscriptions the term occurs in the Rock Edict III and the Pillar Edict IV. According to the latter the rājukas are set over hundreds of persons. An examination of their powers and functions shows that they occupied a status next in rank only to the viceroys. Says V. A. Smith: ‘The modern term governor may serve as a rough equivalent.’⁶ According to the same authority the word rājuke or rāju (Mānsehrā R. E.) is etymologically connected with *rāja*, and hence Bühler’s construction cannot be accepted. If it is connected with the term *rāja*, he should have been one of the *mahāmātra* officials, since *rāja* in Pāli means *mahāmātra*. The term may therefore mean ‘all those who have power of life and death’.¹ The Rājukas were very likely the chief provincial revenue officers. It appears that Aśoka invested them with extensive powers and allowed them the use of their independent discretion ‘without the necessity of obtaining sanction for particular acts by reference to the Crown.’² Categorically their powers and duties may be stated as follows³:—

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⁶ Aśoka, p. 94.

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¹ See Childer’s Pāli Dictionary.

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² See Pillar E. IV, *Corpus*, p. 123; also Smith, *Aśoka*, p. 203.

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³ See P.E. IV.

c10.s2.t5.13

(1) They were the sovereign authority with regard to the questions of war and peace (*abhihara*) so far as the provinces were concerned. This means that they informed the Central government of the movements of the enemy and breaking up of hostilities in the neighbouring kingdoms or border tracts.

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(2) They were the final authority in matters relating to the upkeep of internal peace. This was to afford protection by the proper exercise of *daṇḍa* and *daṇḍanīti*. That their decision was binding is evident from the term *ātmapatiye* in the inscription. Local affairs were left to the hands of local men who had first-hand knowledge of the locality. It was felt improper to dictate a policy from the imperial capital by members who had neither the opportunity nor the occasion to get themselves acquainted with the needs and aspirations peculiar to the locality.

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(3) They exercised also civil and criminal jurisdiction. Wrongs were righted and grievances were redressed by an impartial administration of justice. They thus took cognizance of both civil and criminal causes within their territorial jurisdiction.

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(4) They were to conduct themselves in such a way as to win the esteem and confidence of the Jānapada organisations. Co-operation was therefore sought with the Jānapada or popular assembly for awarding punishment or granting *anugrahas* (favours and concessions). In their acts and deeds they were to be like nurses whose only care was to look after the proper growth and progress of children.

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(5) They were to discharge their responsibilities with a sense of duty, peace of mind, and with no feeling of hostility. They were to promote what was good for the *prajā* and the *loka* (people) and on behalf of the Jānapada. By taking a dispassionate view of things and acting selflessly with an eye to the welfare of the people, they realised their objects easily. They were, in short, expected to do what the common will dictated as tending for the common good.

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Thus according to the *Arthaśāstra* and the Edicts of Aśoka, the Rajjuka or Rājuka was the officer of the Jānapada entrusted with duties of a varied character as warranted by the circumstances of the situation.

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