Indian Epigraphical Glossary c6.197

c6.197

Ājñā (IE 8-3; EI 27; BL; CII 3), an order or command; same as ājñapti or ājñāpti supposed to be connected with giving the order for the drawing up of a charter; person receiving a king’s order regarding the preparation of a charter; usually translated as ‘executor of a grant’; standing alone, the word is supposed to indicate the office of the Dūtaka, though the latter seems to have been additionally responsible for giving the donee the possession of the gift land. Cf. Ep. Ind., Vol. XIV, p. 362 (of the Gaṅga year 149) where the words are ājñā mahāmahattara-Śivavarmā; also svayam=ājñā (CII, Vol. III, p. 115; Ep. Ind., Vol. XVI, p. 19) taken to mean that the king employed no Dūtaka to convey the details of his grant to the local officers, but that he gave the details in person.