History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.318

v4.c62.318

According to the Amarakośa the words deśa, rāṣṭra, viṣaya and janapada are synonyms. Epigraphic usage is not uniform about the dimensions of these. Sometimes viṣaya appears to be a sub-division of deśa (vide the words 'rāṣṭrapati-viṣayapati-grāmakūṭa' in I. A. vol. VIII. at p. 20 in the grant of Cālukya Tribhuvanamalla in śake 999 and I. A. vol. XII pp. 247, 251 in the grant of Rāṣṭrakūṭa Govinda in śāke 855). But in the Hirahaḍagalli plates (E. I. vol. I. p. 5) 'viṣaya' occurs first and then 'rāṣṭra'; so it appears that there 'viṣaya' is deemed to be larger than rāṣṭra. According to the Sahyādrikhaṇḍa (uttarārdha, chap. 4) deśa is made up of 100 villages, maṇḍala is made up of 4 deśas, a khaṇḍa of 100 maṇḍalas and the earth has nine khaṇḍas.¹⁸⁰ From the Cambay plate of śake 852 (930 A. D.), we see that maṇḍala was a sub-division of deśa (E. I. vol. 7 p. 26, at p. 40). From the Bangarh grant of Mahīpāla I (E. I. vol. 14 p. 324) and the Amgachhi plate of Vigrahapālā III we see that maṇḍala was smaller than viṣaya which again was a subdivision of 'bhukti'. The word 'bhoga' (which is similar in origin to 'bhukti') appears to be applied to a sub-division of viṣaya (which in its turn is a sub-division of rāṣṭra) in the Bhamdak¹⁸¹ plate of Kṛṣṇarāja I dated śake 694 (E. I. 14 p. 121, 126) and also in the Jejuri plates of Vinayāditya in 609 śake (E. I. vol. 19 p. 62 at p. 64 where the word 'rāṣṭrapati' does not occur). The Mitākṣarā on Yāj. I. 319 explains that only a king (mahīpati) can make a grant of land and not a *bhogapati* (i. e. the officer over a *bhoga*). Another ancient word for a division of a country is *āhāra* which occurs in the Rupnath Rock inscription and Sarnath pillar Edict of Aśoka (Corpus I. I. vol. I pp. 162 and 166), in the Nasik Inscriptions No. 3 and 12 (Govardhanāhāra and Kāpurāhāra, E. I. vol. VIII pp. 65 and 82) and in the Karle Ins. No. 19 (E. I. VII. p. 64) where we have Māmalāhāra, modern Māvaḷ (in Poona District). For want of space it is not possible to pursue this subject here. For further information vide Dr. Fleet in J. R. A. S. for 1912 p. 707 and my paper on 'the Ancient Geography of Mahārāṣṭra' (JBBRAS. vol. XXIV for 1914-1917 pp. 648-653). In the epigraphic records particularly of the Deccan and South India we come across names of territorial divisions to which small as well as very large figures (indicating the number of villages they comprised) are affixed: e. g. a group of twelve villages in Aparānta on the sea near Kalvivana (modern Kelvem) is mentioned in the Sanjan plates of Buddhavarasa (E. I. 14 p. 144 at p. 150), Nyāyapadra saptadaśa in Bhoja's grant in *saṁvat* 1076 (E. I. 18 at p. 322), Kisukād 70 (E. I. 15 p. 73), Belvola 300 (in E. I. 13 at p. 40), Koṅkaṇa 900 ruled over by the Kadamba king Jayakeśi II (E. I. 13 pp. 298, 317), Tardavāḍi 1000 (E. I. 15 p. 25), Kuṇḍi 3000 (E. I. 13 at p. 18), Pratyandaka 4000 (E. I. III. p. 306), Karahāṭa 10000 (E. I. 13 p. 275), Banavāsi 12000 (E. I. 13 p. 179), Noḷambavāḍi 32000 (E. I. 19 p. 187), Kavaḍidvīpa sapādalakṣa (one and a quarter lakh) in E. I. 13 at p. 299, the country of 7½ lakhs (in the Lakshmeshwar Ins. of Vikramāditya VI in E. I. 16 p. 31). Vide Dr. Fleet in J. R. A. S. 1912 pp. 707-710 as to the meaning of these figures.