[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India)](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930) › v2.c19.75.2 # History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c19.75.2 History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c19.75.2 - **Language:** English ### [v2.c19.75.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c19.75.2) 8.9.1-2 mentions among the 'ratnas' (the jewels), the sūta, grāmaṇī, kṣatṛ, saṁgrahītṛ, bhāgadugha (collector of taxes), akṣāvāpa (superintendent of gambling). Vide also Tai. Br. I. 7.3. In the Tāṇḍya Brāhmaṇa (19.1.4) it is said that 'eight brave persons hold up the kingdom viz. the king's brother, the king's son, the purohita, the crowned queen, the sūta, the grāmaṇī, kṣatṛ and saṁgrahītṛ'. Therefore it looks likely that kṣatṛ and saṁgrahītṛ were high officers of state and not castes. In the Śat. Br. XIII. 4. 1. 5 among the guards of the horse let loose in the Aśvamedha there were 'a hundred sons of kṣātra-saṁgrahītṛs carrying clubs'. As the word 'kṣātra' is prefixed to 'saṁgrahītṛ' it follows that 'saṁgrahītṛs' were officers who may have belonged to any varṇa. In the same passage mention is made of a hundred guardians who were the sons of sūtagrāmaṇīs. In another passage of the same brāhmaṇa (XIII. 2. 2. 18) the sūtas and grāmaṇīs are said to be no kings and yet are rājakṛt (i. e. king-makers).¹⁰⁷ This means probably that they are the principal persons on whose support the king depends. The Śat. Br. V. 4. 4. 15-19 arranges brāhmaṇa, king, king's brother, sūta or sthapati, grāmaṇī, sajāta in a descending scale of powerfulness. So the sūta appears to have been originally an important officer. It is hardly possible to say with assurance that all these had become petrified into castes in the modern sense, particularly when several persons associated with these in the Vāj. S. - [Previous: v2.c19.75.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c19.75.1) - [Next: v2.c19.75.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c19.75.3) - [Up: v2.c19.75](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c19.75) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c19.75.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c19.75.2) · Pramāṇa