The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c18.134

c18.134

A tenth century stone inscription of Siyadoni in the modern state of Gwalior in Central India shows that the town was for a while ruled by independent kings who called themselves Mahârâjâdhirâjas. Another personage is distinguished as Samadhigata-śeṣamahâśabda and Mahâśamantâdhipati. He enjoys all the Mahâśabdas and is designated as the lord high chief of feudatories and may be regarded as the greatest of all the feudatories under the dynasty.³ The plates of Pravarasena II, from Dudia in Chhindawârâ in the modern Central Provinces, record a grant by a Mahârâja, a feudatory. It belongs probably to the 8th century A.D.⁴ In Balavarman’s Plates of the year 893 A.D. the Mahâsâmanta who had attained the five Mahâśabdas declares himself a vassal, as meditating on the feet of the hereditary Paramabhaṭṭâraka, Mahârâjâdhirâja, Parameśvara.⁵