North Indian Inscriptions

ADMINISTRATION

appointed his ambassadors in foreign courts. The Śilāhāras called themselves Kshatriyas.[1] As the Yājñavalkya-smṛiti[2] has stated, the primary duty of a Kshatriya i.e. a ruler is the protection of his subjects. The Smṛiti says further that the king receives one-sixth of the religious merit of his subjects if he protects them properly.[3] If he fails in this duty and the subjects act irreligiously, he incurs half of the sins committed by them.[4] As Aparārka explains, the subjects pay the king taxes in return for the protection they receive from him.[5] It is, therefore, the sacred duty of the king to maintain peace and order in his realm. Yājñavalkya warns all rulers that the fire of popular wrath which spring from the oppression of the subjects does not subside without destroying completely the despotic king’s fortune and family, nay his very life.[6]

.. The Yājñavalkya-smṛiti says that just as king gets religious merit by the protection of his subjects, he does so also by subjugating other kingdoms.[7] In other words, this was an incitement to constant warfare, which is noticed so commonly in the ancient history of India, and which sapped the strength of the warring kingdoms. The king was expected to take an active part in fighting for the protection of his kingdom and in the invasion of foreign countries. The Śilāhāras distinguished themselves by their courage and bravery on several battlefields even in trying circumstances. When there arose a civil war in the kingdom of the Northern Śilāhāras after the death of Mummuṇi, the enemy, taking advantage of it, invaded the country. He devastated the land, and harassed gods and Brāhmaṇas. Then the Śilāhāra king Anantapāla rose to the occasion. He routed the enemy and inscribed his fame on the disc of the moon.[8] Another memorable occasion of the same type arose after the death of Anantapāla also. There was an invasion of North Koṅkaṇ by the Kadambas of Goā. Some feudatories sided with them, As the contemporary inscription graphically describes, “Dharma was lost, the elders were oppressed, the subjects became exhausted, and the country’s prosperity came to an end. Still, undaunted, Anantapāla’s son Aparājita I, single-handed, rushed to the battlefield on horseback, relying on the power of his arm and his sword. Then the enemy knew not whether to fight or to flee. He then took shelter with the Mlēchchhas.[9]” This graphic description recalls that in the Bhitarī inscriptions of Skandagupta’s fight with the Hūṇa invaders.[10]

.. One of the principal duties of the king was to see that all castes acted according to their respective dharma as laid down in the sacred works. The Śilāhāras. like other rulers of the period, are said to have been alive to this royal duty. In their charters they are extolled for their charity, political wisdom and patronage to learning. Of Vijayāditya, the Śilāhāra ruler of the Kolhāpur branch, it is said, “His wealth was acquired for being bestowed in charity ; he fulfilled his vow of heroism by protecting the people ; his pleasing speech was in keeping with the truth ; his mind was engaged in contemplation on the feet of Hari; his wealth was spent in removing the calamities of the good. What poet is able to extol the merits of that Vijayāditya with proper discernment.”[11]

.. Some of the birudas assumed by the Śilāhāras are indicative of the ideal they had set
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[1] No. 60, lines 24-25.
[2] Adhyāya I, v. 336.
[3] Ibid., Adhyāya I, v. 335.
[4] Ibid., I, v. 337.
[5] Loc. cit.
[6] Ibid., I, v. 341.
[7] Ibid., I, v. 342.
[8] No. 19, Lines 52-55
[9] No. 20, Lines 32-35.
[10] C.I.I., III, p. 54.
[11] No. 60, lines 15-17.

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