The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c18.105

c18.105

From this inscription some idea of provincial and local government can be formed. Contrary to expectations, Viṣayapatis are mentioned before Bhogapatis. It may be a mistake or it may be that the terms were used rather loosely at some epochs and places. Elsewhere in the same inscription the sequence of local divisions is stated as Bhukti, Viṣaya, and Maṇḍala. Bhogapati was usually in charge of a bhoga or bhukti, that is, a province. Viṣayapati, as before, held charge of a Viṣaya or district. It may be mentioned that in the Alina Copper Plate Inscription of Śīlāditya (VII) (766-67 A.D.) the term Āhāra is used in the sense of Viṣaya. Daśagrāmika is the officer in charge of a group of ten villages. It appears that this local division was of general prevalence. Karaṇas were another class of government servants charged with registration, etc. The reference to ‘other district officers’ shows that there were numerous other government employees in local government. The Mahāmahattaras and Mahattaras seem to be village elders who were not government employees. But their frequent mention in the inscriptions shows that they had a voice in village administration and, it may be, also in the administration of the next higher division. The information about the fiscal system in this inscription is rather scanty. The four villages in question are granted with the talapāṭaka and paṭṭika. The former signifies the land revenue paid to the government. Paṭṭika means market dues, usually charged on all markets. This inscription, like others, proves that kings often displayed great generosity. Four villages are here granted for the maintenance of a temple erected by the Mahāsāmantādhipati Nārāyaṇavarman.¹