The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c18.104

c18.104

The Bhâgalapur plates of Nârâyaṇapâla (Ind. Ant., XV, pp. 304 et seq.) also give Mahâsâmantas and Râjarâjânakas as feudatories. Besides other officers there are Kṣetrapa, protector of the fields, Prāntapāla, protector of the frontiers, Koṭṭapāla and Khaṇḍarakṣa—police or military officers. It appears that either the king or these officers appointed keepers of elephants, horses, camels, inferior naval and military officers, men in charge of foals, mares, cows, she-buffaloes, goats and sheep. It seems that mercenaries were employed from far and wide. The fiscal system is of the usual type. Besides the three classes of messengers there are Dūtapraiṣaṇikas—those who despatched messengers.