History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.160.1

v4.c62.160.1

The Matsya-purāṇa (114. 9-10) first gives the dimensions of Bhārata-varṣa from South to North (from Cape Comorin to the source of the Ganges) as one thousand yojanas, states that its extent is ten thousand yojanas (when measured upwards across the boundaries) and that on all borders of it there are Mlecchas and that Yavanas and Kirātas dwell to its east and west (verse 11) and that the king who conquers the whole of Bhāratavarṣa is styled 'samrāṭ' (verse 15). Vide Brahmapurāṇa 17. 8 ff for almost the same words. The Śukranītisāra (I. 183-187) states that a sāmanta is one whose yearly revenue is from 1 to 3 lakhs of silver karṣas without oppressing the people, the revenue of a māṇḍalika is from 4 to 10 lakhs, that of a rājan is from 11 to 20 lakhs, of a mahārāja from 21 to 50 lakhs, of a svarāṭ from 51 lakhs to a crore, of a virāṭ from two crores to ten, of the sārvabhauma (who wields suzerainty over the whole earth i. e. Bharatavarṣa) from 11 crores to 50. Though these definitions may be regarded as scholastic and too rigid to have been practically followed they do convey a sufficiently clear idea about the power of a feudatory, a king and an emperor. The Sabhāparva⁹⁸ (15. 2) says 'there are kings in each house, who do what pleases them; but they do not reach the position of emperor, which title can be acquired with great difficulty'; and 'that king under whose sole dominion the world abides secures the position of *samrāj*'.