North Indian Inscriptions

SOCIAL CONDITION

Govaṇaiya of a Brāhmaṇa (vipra) member of the Managing Committee mentioned in the Bhādāna grant.[1] See also the name Lokapārya,[2] the son of the Sāndhivigrahika Devapāla mentioned in the Khārepāṭaṇ plates of Raṭṭarāja. The Rājaguru and the Laghurājaguru mentioned in the Ambarnāth and other inscriptions were evidently Brāhmaṇas, though some whose names ended in śiva may have been Saṁnyāsins of the Śaiva sect.[3] It is noteworthy that the Kaśeḷi plates of Bhōja II mention a vipra (Brāhmaṇa) as the engraver of the record.[4]

.. The Kshatriyas ranked next to the Brāhmaṇas in the social hierarchy. The Silāhāras, who traced their descent from the Vidyādhara Jīmūtavāhana, claimed to be of the Kshatriya caste.[5] The Silāhāra family is called Mahā-kshatriya in the Kolhāpur inscription of Vijayāditya.[6] Bhōja II is called Kshatriya-śikhāmaṇi,[7] the crest-jewel of the Kshatriya, in the Kaśeḷi plates. Yājñavalkya says that the chief duty of the crowned Kshatriya or the king is to protect his subjects from internal trouble and external aggression. He obtains thereby one sixth of the religious merit acquired by his subjects. Yājñavalkya says further that he gains the same merit by conquering other countries.[8] The Śilāhāras fulfilled the first duty quite successfully. There were a few invasions of their territories by foreign powers, but they courageously resisted them and ultimately drove them out. They rarely invaded others’ countries. Among the Śilāhāras of North Koṅkaṇ, only Aparājita[9] and Aparāditya I [10] are known to have made some conquests. Other rulers of that branch were content to rule their countries peacefully. Bhōja I of the Kolhāpur branch is said to have taken part in several wars, but that was pro- bably as a feudatory of the contemporary Chālukya suzerain.[11] On the whole, the period of the Śilāhāras was one of peace and prosperity for their subjects.

.. The Śilāhāras must have appointed several Kshatriyas to high posts in their kingdoms, but as the caste of the royal officers is rarely mentioned in inscriptions, it is not possible to be definite in the matter. Still, many of the Sāmantas, Ṭhākuras and Prabhus mentioned in the Śilāhāra records probably belonged to the Kshatriya caste.[12]

.. The Kāyasthas had by this time formed a separate caste of their own. Some of them are mentioned as scribes in Śilāhāra records. In the Udayasundarīkathā, Sōḍḍhala, who belonged to this caste, gives a fanciful account of its origin. He belonged to the Kāyastha caste of Valabhī (Valā in Saurāshṭra). He says that the caste derived its name from the gaṇa (attendant) of Śiva, who was so called because he was always in attendance in the water of the ocean, which is the Kāya (body) of that god.[13] Sōḍḍhala says that the Kāyasthas belonged to the Kshatriya caste. Similar fanciful derivations of this caste-name are noticed in other literary works and inscriptions.[14]

.. The merchants and agriculturists belonged to the third or Vaiśya caste. The merchants had their own guilds and exercised great influence in the town and village assemblies. They
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[1] No. 7, line 64.
[2] No. 41, line 76. It has however, to be noted that the names of other castes like Vaiśya also ended in aiya. See the names Vappaiya and Chēlapaiya of a śrēshṭhin and a vaṇik respectively in No. 7, line 64.
[3] No. 29, lines 9 and 11 etc.
[4] No. 60, line 44.
[5] No. 47, line 18.
[6] No. 53, line 3.
[7] No. 60, lines 24-25.
[8] Yājñavalkya, I, 342.
[9] No. 5, lines 40-43.
[10] No. 19, line 64.
[11] No. 46, lines 18-24.
[12] Some Nāyaka, however, were Brāhmaṇas.
[13] Udayasundarīkathā, p. 10.
[14] C.I.I., Vol. IV, p. 271.

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