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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA reference may also be a case in which the details of a dispute had previously reached the ears of the judge who was thus in a position to detect the fabricated elements in the statement put to him without investigation. 8. Arthi-pratyarthinā vinā vyavahārō na grāhyaḥ. A law suit could be taken up for disposal only when the complainant and the defendant were both present and never in the absence of either of the parties. 9. Āpaṇē āsanasthasya chhalō na grāhyaḥ. This means either that (1) the pretext of being engaged in work at the shop should not justify the absence of a party to a law-suit from the court (cf. No. 8 above), or that (2) no careless statement of accusation was acceptable from a person who had been at the time of occurrence busy in selling thing in a shop or market (cf. No. 21 below). 10. Gō-śakaṭaṁ na grāhyam. This seems to be related to No. 11 below. 11. Sāmant-āmātya-dūtānām=anyēshāṁ ch=ābhyupāgamē śayanīy-āsana-siddhānnaṁ na dāpayēt. When a subordinate chief, an officer or an envoy of the king came to a village, the inhabitants thereof should not be compelled to supply beds or couches, seats and boiled rice. Some of these things, however, are known to have been usually supplied by the villagers and the kings are found to have exempted gift villages from these obligations. Cf. such parihāras or exemptions as a-kūra-chōllaka-vināśi-khaṭvā-saṁvāsa and a-paraṁparā-balīvarda-grahaṇa explained in the Successors of the Sātavāhanas, p. 187 ff. It may be pointed out that inscriptions speak of supplying bullocks to the touring officials by the inhabitants of different villages in succession but not of supplying carts (cf. No. 10 above). The reference to boiled rice (siddh-ānna) in particular may suggest that unboiled rice had to be supplied. But the expression siddh-ānna also reminds us of sīdhā, ‘uncooked victuals’, in Hindi, Bengali, etc.
12. Sarva-śrēṇīnām=ēk-āpaṇakō na dēyaḥ. Members of different guilds should not be allowed to flock to the same market. The idea seems to be that different mercantile guilds should occupy different markets or at least different quarters of the same market. 13. Sarva-śrēṇībhiḥ khōvā-dānaṁ na dātavyam. All the guilds should not be compelled to pay khōvā, the meaning of which is unknown. It may be the same thing as the aṭṭapati-bhāga or ‘the share of the lord of the market’ mentioned as a tax in the Rājataraṅgiṇī (V, 164). 14. Rājakulē=dhikaraṇasya cha rāj-ārgghikā dēyā ; anyēshām=adēyā. Periodical offerings to be made to the king should be brought to the palace or to the particular office engaged in collecting them, but not to anybody else. Rāj-ārgghikā may be the same as rāja-pradēya of the Manu Smṛiti (VII, 119).[1] The word also occurs in No. 45 below. 15. Vārikasya hastē nyāsakō na sthāpanīyaḥ. This is probably related to No. 14 above. The offerings meant for the king were not to be deposited with (or, no deposits should be entrusted to) the vārika. The vārika (cf. No. 72 below) seems to indicate a class of officials, three of which are mentioned in the record (cf. Nos. 27, 28, 31, 47). It may be compared with Gujarati vārēdār or tax-gatherer. The Bṛihaspati Smṛiti[2] mentions vārika along with the chāturvaidya, vaṇik, sarvva-grāmīṇa, mahattara and others, while the Rājataraṅgiṇī (VI, 345) speaks of the Kaṭaka-vārika. The meaning is, however, not clear. The word may be connected with vāra, probably meaning ‘the member of a committee’ and occurring in such expressions as vāra-gōshṭhī, pañcha-vārī and vāra-pramukha found in inscriptions.[3] But the official designation Śānti-vārika, occurring in the inscriptions of the Chandra kings of Bengal, has been explained as ‘ probably a priest in charge of propitiatory _________________________________________________
[1] According to Manu, however, ‘ the headman of the village should get all of what is daily payable by the
villagers to the king in the shape of food, drinks, fuel and other things’. Cf. Successors of the Sātavāhanas, p. 187.
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