Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c40.60

c40.60

Paura does not relate to all the towns in the kingdom as it has been translated by both Indians and Europeans. Earlier Hindu writers understood by the technical Pura and Nagara, 'the Capital.' Paura as a corporate body is mentioned in the singular like Jānapada in the inscription of Khāravela (C. 165 B. C.)¹ who granted privileges to the Paura. In the Corporate sense it is clearly mentioned again in the Divyāvadāna where Kunāla is supposed to have entered the Paura (used in singular, that is, the Paura assembly). Tishyarakshitā addressed her forged letter according to the Divyāvadāna to the Pauras, i.e., an organised body. The author of the Vīramitrodaya definitely states that the Paura, which occurs along with corporate bodies in the law-books, was 'the body of the citizens of the capital.'¹