Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c25.15

c25.15

In the Kālsi edition, only 1 to 3 are named with the addition 'and other *aparāntas*.' In other words, Aśoka designates the whole¹ (1) to (5) to be '*Aparāntas*'. Against these in Rock Series XIII we have:—
(1) the Yonas,
(2) the Kambojas,
(3) the Nābhaka and the Nābha-paṅktis,
(4) the Bhojas,
(5) the Pitinikas,
(6) the Andhras and the Pulindas. Instead of *aparānta* they are predicated with '*here, amongst the rāja-vishayas*.'² We know that 2, 4, and 5 had non-monarchical constitutions. Now, two questions present themselves. What constitutional position do they occupy in the system of Aśoka's empire? Are these three, the Kambojas, the Rāshtrika-Bhojas and the Pitinikas, the only republican communities in the group? To answer these questions we have to examine the inscriptions critically.