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ADMINISTRATION
oppressive in their dealings with the village people. They were therefore expressly forbidden
to enter agrahāra villages donated to Brāhmaṇas, and could not claim from them any of
the privileges allowed to them in other places except when they had to apprehend persons
accused of high treason, the murder of a Brāhmaṇa, theft, adultery or such other heinous
crimes. So long as the donees of these land-grants did not rebel against the king and did not
commit any offence against the residents of other villages, they were free from the molestations of these bhaṭas and Chhātras.1 The Kulaputras, bhaṭas and Chhātras had therefore to be
specially informed of every land-grant made by the king.
...Another officer, who is, however, mentioned in a solitary grant of the Vākāṭakas,2 was
Rajuka. His name is derived from rajjū ‘a rope’, which shows that he was originally a
Settlement Officer who measured land for the assessment of revenue. The Rajukas are
mentioned in the edicts of Aśōka. In the Mauryan times they were high officers of the
State who were placed in charge of many hundred thousands of men and who could at
their discretion inflict punishment or confer a reward. They seem to have lost their high
rank in course of time; for, the rajuka is mentioned in the aforementioned Vākāṭaka grant
only as a writer of the charter. The Rāhasika mentioned in the Bamhanī plates3 was
probably the Private Secretary who acted as the confidential clerk of the king.
...
The only military and police officers mentioned in Vākāṭaka grants are the Sēnāpati4 and the Danḍanāyaka.5 The Senāpati is almost invariably named in charters of land-grants
as they were drafted in his office.6 His title, like that of his lord, was a modest one. In
North India, the Guptas introduced grandiloquent titles for their civil and military officers
such as Kumārāmātya, Sāndhivigrahika and Mahādaṇḍanāyaka,7 but the Vākāṭakas preferred
to continue the humbler titles of the earlier age. There were apparently frequent transfers
of officers; for, we find that the post of the Sēnāpati was held by different persons or by the same
person at different times during the reign of Pravarsēna II. Thus, the Sēnāpati of the king was
Chitravarman in the 11th and 13th regnal years8, Bāppa in the 18th and 25th years9, Namidāsa and Chamidāsa in the 23rd year10, Kātyāyana in the 27th year11, and Mādhappa in the
29th year12 . Sometimes the order for a land-grant was personally given by the king and this
was indicated by the words ājñā svayam (ordered personally), recorded in the charter. In other
cases the name of the Dūtaka (called Ajñapti in the Bāsim plates ) who communicated the royal
order to the Sēnāpati’s office was mentioned at the end of the charter.13 In one grant the names
of the persons who got the charter drafted are also recorded14. Sometimes the name of the
goldsmith who inscribed the copper-plates was also written at the end of the grant.15
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1 No. 6, line 42-43.
2 No. 9, line 34.
3 No. 19, line 48.
4 See e.g. No. 5, line 30.
5 No. 24, line 2.
6 A smṛiti verse cited in the Mitāksharā on the Yājñavaalkyasmriti, II, 319-20, states that the charters
were to be written by the Sāndhvigrahikā or Minister for Peace and War.
7 C.I.I, Vol. III, p. 10.
8 No. 5, line 30 and No. 6, line 60.
9 No. 7, line 35 and No. 12, line 42.
10 No. 10, line 28 and No. 11, line 33.
11 No. 13, line 44.
12 No. 14, line 54.
13 Cf. the expression rāj-ājñā-prada used in place of Dūtaka in the Ponnuṭūru plates (line 6) of
Sāmantavarman. Ep. Ind., Vol XXVII, p. 220.
14 No. 13, line 46-47.
15 No. 13, lines 45-46; No. 19, line 49.
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