The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c11.t14.6

c11.t14.6

The story of one irrigation-tank can be told for about eight centuries. The Sudarśana Lake at Girnar in Kathiawar near the Arabian Sea was constructed by Puṣya-gupta, a *râṣṭrîya* (governor) of the western prefecture under Chandra-gupta Maurya.¹ Sluices connecting the tank with the agricultural areas were opened out by Tuṣaspha, the viceroy of Asoka. About A. C. 150 repairs of an adamantine character were undertaken by Suviśâkha, assistant to Rudra-dâmana, a satrap probably of the Kuṣân Empire. In Skanda-gupta’s time the dam had to be repaired a second time (458). The re-building was superintended by Chakrapâlita, a governor of the Gupta Empire.² Constitutionally speaking, *pax sârvabhaumica* has to be realized from the fact that both under the Mauryas and the Guptas Girnar was a remote corner of the empire, over 1,000 miles from Pâtali-putra, the capital.