South Indian Inscriptions

SOCIETY

...The inscription in Ajaṇṭā Cave XVII states that a feudatory of Emperor Harishēṇa, whose name has, unfortunately, been lost, being moved by compassion, released, by expenditure of wealth, (persons) whose eyes were suffused through fear, as though they were his (own) sons.¹ As this verse, like several others in that record, is very sadly mutilated, it is not possible to say who these persons were. Perhaps they were domestic slaves. The institution of slavery was, no doubt, prevalent in ancient India. A slave had no right to property.² He had to do menial work. He was generally treated with kindness and so foreign observers like Megasthenes have recorded that none of the Indians employed slaves. The Yājñavalkya Smṛiti lays down that a king should release from bondage those who have been enslaved by force or have been sold by thieves. He who saved the life of his master was also set free. Those who were sold for money could be released by payment of the required amount to their master.³ In the Mṛichchhakaṭika Śarvilaka attempted to release his lady-love from servitude by this means. The slaves referred to in the aforementioned Ajaṇṭā inscription were probably of this type. Harishēṇa’s feudatory took pity on them and released them from bondage by paying ransom-money and made them free citizens.

... Inscriptions generally do not contain any particulars about the people’s mode of living, their costume, jewellery, head-dresses, weapons, dwelling places, furniture, utensils, musical instruments and so forth. For these, we must turn to contemporary literature, sculpture and painting. The Vākāṭaka age produced several Sanskrit and Prakrit kāvyas, but most of them are now lost. The Mēghadūta of Kālidāsa, and the Sētubandha of Pravarasēna II are the only kāvyas of the age, produced in Vidarbha, now extant. As the other kāvyas and nāṭakas of Kālidāsa were produced in Mālwā outside Vidarbha, the description in them may not be exactly true of Vidarbha. Still, these works also could be utilised with due caution. The best sources of information about the social condition of the time are the sculptures and paintings in Caves XVI, XVII and XIX at Ajaṇṭā, which were excavated and decorated in that age. Fortunately, many of these sculptures and paintings are still in a fairly good condition. They furnish considerable information about the customs and manners of the people of Vidarbha in that age.

... As shown elsewhere, the custom of building temples and vihāras in stone and brick was coming into vogue in the age of the Vākāṭakas,⁴ but these materials do not seem to have been generally used for constructing dwelling places for the rich or the poor. Ajaṇṭā painting show that palaces, houses as well as shops in market places were constructed of wood. As is well known, early Indian architecture was in wood. When Vihāras and Chaityas came to be excavated in hills, many of the features of wooden architecture such as beams and rafters, unnecessary as they were in such excavations, were carved in stone. Wooden ribs can still be seen in some early caves such as the Chaitya Cave at Kārlā.

... Ajaṇṭā paintings show that the palaces and mansions of rich persons were constructed on wooden pillars which were decorated with carvings or paintings in three places, at the bottom, in the middle and at the top. The Pillars had stone pedestals and either round or elongated capitals. The lintels were decorated with Chaitya windows. The assembly halls were either square or round in shape with a small verandah in front. For the latter type,
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¹ No. 27, line 17.
² Manusmṛiti, IX, 416.
³ Adhyāya II, v. 182.
⁴ Ajaṇṭā paintings occasionally show some small stone structures crowned with a dome, an āmalaka and a finial resembling those of the original temple at Bodh Gayā. They may be dēvakulīs or small temples. See Ajanta, Part III, Pl. LXI and IV, Pl. XLIV (a).