The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c17.160

c17.160

towns in Orissa to the learned Buddhist Jayasena. The practice of the state endowment of religion and piety was common to the whole of north India. For instance the king of Kapiśa commissioned five pure men to make continuous offerings of scents and flowers to Buddhist relics.¹ Other rulers in the north-west favoured various religions.² The Chinese pilgrim records numerous instances of Buddhist monarchs and nobles who built Stûpas and Vihâras, organised religious festivals, discussions and assemblies.³ Harṣavardhana’s Brahmanical ancestors had celebrated sacrifices on a grand scale. In his pompous style Bâṇa records that under the rule of Prabhâkaravardhana the golden age seemed to bud forth in close packed lines of sacrificial posts, the evil time to flee in the smoke of sacrifices meandering over the sky and heaven to descend in stuccoed shrines.⁴ As to the patronage of learning Bâṇa seems to reflect facts when in his romance he paints king Śûdraka as a founder of literary societies and a refuge for men of taste.⁵ In the latter half of the seventh century A.D. I-tsing noted how young scholars went to debate at the courts of kings in the hope of receiving government employment. Often the kings bestowed grants of land on the scholars. At any rate victory in the discussions brought wide fame.⁶