South Indian Inscriptions

ADMINISTRATION

CHAPTER VII
ADMINISTRATION

...THE country under the direct rule of the two branches of the Vākāṭaka dynasty extended roughly from the Narmadā in the north to the valley of the Gōdāvarī in the south and from the eastern boundary of Ṛishīka (Khāndēsh) in the west to the western boundary of Dakshiṇa Kōsala (Chhattisgaḍh) in the east. This vast territory was divided into a number of rāshṭras, also called rājyas, corresponding to the modern Commissioner’s Divisions, some of which find a mention in our records. We have thus the Pākkaṇa rāshṭra mentioned in the Belorā plates,¹ the Bhōjakaṭa rājya in the Chammaka plates² Vāruchha rājya in the Pāṇḍhurṇā plates³ and the Ārammi rājya in the Dudia and Pāṇḍhurṇā plates.⁴ In the records of contemporary feudatory families, whose kingdoms were comparatively smaller, the rāshṭra were named after the directions in which they were situated. Thus we find Uttara rāshṭra or Northern Division mentioned in the Bamhanī plates of the Pāṇḍavavaṁśī king Bharatabala,⁵ and the Pūrva rāshṭra or Eastern Division named in the Ārang plates of Māhā-Jayarāja⁶ and the Raipur plates of Māhā-Sudēvarāja.⁷ No such divisions are, however, noticed in the Vākāṭaka grants. The rāshṭras were next divided into a number of vishayas or districts. This appears clear from the statement in the Bamhanī plates that the Pañchagartā vishaya in which the donated village was situated was included in the Uttara rāshṭra (division) of Mekalā.⁸ The names of vishayas generally ended in kaṭa or kaṭaka. Four such vishayas are named in our records viz. Bhojakaṭa comprising roughly the territory of the modern Amarāvatī District,⁹ Bennākaṭa corresponding to the modern Bhaṇḍārā and Bālāghāṭ Districts¹⁰, Nāṅgarakaṭaka, the exact location of which is uncertain¹¹, and Nāndīkaṭa which comprised the territory round modern Nāndēḍ in the Mahārāshṭra State¹². When a vishaya was too large, it was divided into parts which were named after the directions in which they were situated. We thus find the apara-paṭṭa or western division of the Bennākaṭa mentioned in the Tirōḍī one plates¹³. The vishayas were further sub-divided into āhāras and bhōgas or bhuktis. Only one āhāra viz. the Supratishṭha āhāra is mentioned in our records¹⁴. It seems to have comprised parts of the modern Hiṅgaṇghāṭ, Warōḍā and Yeotmāl tahsils of Vidarbha. The relation of āhāra to bhōga is not known. Our records mention three bhōgas viz. Beṇṇākārparabhōga¹⁵, Lōhanagarabhoga¹⁶
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¹ No. 5, line 13.
² No. 6, line 18.
³ No. 14, line 20.
⁴ No. 10, line 13; No. 14, lines 26 and 29.
⁵ No. 19, line 34.
⁶ C.I.I., III, p. 193.
⁷ Ibid., p. 198.
⁸ No. 19, lines 34-35.
⁹ Bhojakaṭa is said to have been founded by Rukmin, the brother-in-law of Kṛishṇa. See Harivaṁśa, Vishṇuparvan, ch. 60, v. 32.
¹⁰ No. 11, line 13.
¹¹ No. 24, line 2.
¹² No. 23, line 5.
¹³ No. 11, line 13.
¹⁴ No. 2, line 10; No. 3, line 17; No. 12, line 17.
¹⁵ No. 7, line 17-18.
¹⁶ No. 13, line 20.