The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c13.45

c13.45

About the first century A.D. other foreign dynasties ruled in the western regions of India. Bhûmaka Kṣahârâṭa and, some time after him, Nahapâna who assumed the titles Mahâkṣatrapa and Râja exercised sway over southern Râjpûtânâ, Surâṣṭra and some other districts. The line continued until about 119 A.D., when it was extinguished by the Ândhra king Gautamîputra Śri Śâtakarṇi, who annexed its whole territory.¹ It is interesting that the foreigners did not take long to adopt the Hindu title of Râja. Their other title Kṣatrapa is the Sanskritised form of the old Persian Khshathrapâvan, ‘protector of the land.’ Hindu literature never recognised it but it has been traced on coins and inscriptions from the second century B.C. onwards. The emergence of a new title Mahâkṣatrapa which corresponds to the Hindu Mahârâja indicates an adaptation to Indian conditions. Rudradâman I is said to have won the title Mahâkṣatrapa for himself. The Jûnâgaḍh Rock Inscription of Rudradâman records that he deposed and reinstated many Râjas.² It appears that the assumption of the higher title was the symbol of the recognition of suzerainty. For a while the title Mahâkṣatrapa is in abeyance, according to numismatic testimony.³ Possibly, the suzerainty of the rulers had been destroyed and they had been reduced to vassalage. The rule of Kṣatrapas and Mahâkṣatrapas seems to form part of the federal-feudal conditions which obtained in India. The Jûnâgaḍh Rock