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ADMINISTRATION
in the north. The records from Chhattisgarh mention several mandalas such as Komomandala,1 Apara-mandala2 Madhya-mandala,3 Samanta-mandala,4 Anarghavalli-mandala5
(called also Anargha-mandala), Talahari-mandala6etc. Sometimes mandala was used in
the sense of desa. Notice Malava-mandala7 in the sense of Malava-desa in the Bhera-Ghat
inscription of Narasimha, and Chedi-mandala in the Ratanpur stone inscription of Prithvideva II.8 A more common term denoting a district was pattala, which was current over a
wide country. We have, for instance, Kausamba-pattala,9 from Uttar Pradesh, Deva
grama-pattala,10 Khandagaha-pattala,11 Kuyisambapalisa-pattala,12 Dhanavahi-Pattala13 and
Reva-pattala14 from Vindhya Pradesh, and Sambala-pattala15 Nava-pattala16 and Jauli-
pattala17 from the Jabalpur District of Madhya Pradesh. Subdivisions of a pattala are
rarely mentioned. In the records editied here, we have only two instances of Maladvadasaka18
and Korella-chaturasiti19 which were evidently groups of villages of which Mala and korella
were the principal ones. A pattala may, therefore, have been divided into smaller territorial
units of 10, 12, 40 or 100 villages, but they rarely find a mention in the inscriptions of this
period . Names of towns ended in nagara or pura and those of villages in grama or pataka.
See, e.g., Lavananagara, Durlabhapura,20 Hastigrama, Nikhatigrama, Thiulapataka and Vania-
pataka21 Some towns were named after the kings or queens who settled them. See, e.g.,
Ratnapura founded by Ratnadeva I, Jajallapura by Jajalladeva I and Gosalapura by Gosaladevi. All these are still known by their ancient names which, in some cases, are slightly
changed.
The form of government was monarchical throughout the long period represented
by the records edited here. At the head of the administrative machinery was the king whose
authority was supreme. He appointed viceroys, governors, ministers, and important civil and
military officers, and transferred them from one province to another according as he considered it desirable. The Chalukya Emperor Vikramaditya I, for instance appointed his younger brother Jayasimha to govern Gujarat and the Nasik District22 and placed the Harischan
driya prince Svamichandra in charge of the whole Puri-Konkana.23 The king usually
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1No. 77, 1. 13.
2No.76, 1.29.
3No. 91,1.25.
4No. 92,1.22.
5No. 83, 1.25.
6No. 96, 1.6.
7No.60, 1. 18.
8No. 93,1.8.
9No. 50, 1.37.
10No.56, 1. 18.
11No. 65, 1.11.
12No. 68, 1.7.
13No. 72, 1.10.
14No.70, 1.13.
15Below, p. 649.
16No. 64, 1.26.
17No. 60, 1.24.
18No. 42, 1. 31.
19No.121, 1.16.
20No. 45, 1. 32.
21No. 74, 1. 37.
22No. 27, 1.9.
23No. 31, 1.6.
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