The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c21.121

c21.121

A comparative study of the inscriptions reveals the fact that the number of officers steadily increased in the north with the lapse of time until the last age presented the greatest number of them. Of the status of ministers, who next to the king, formed the highest rung of the official ladder, enough has been said before with reference to various epochs and regions. But it may be emphasised here that, though creatures of the king, they occupied a position of the highest dignity and responsibility. As the Jûnâgaḍh Inscription of Rudradâman shows, they sometimes dared to oppose the king. Somadeva Sûri lays down that one of the essential features of ministership was that the king should be afraid of ministers.