South Indian Inscriptions

ADMINISTRATION

conferred titles and other distinctions such as Panchamahāsabda for meritorious service.¹He was also the Commander-in-chief of the army and himself led important campaigns. Some early grants were issued from the victorious camps of kings evidently in the course of Military campaigns. The king was also the Supreme Judge, and, according to the smritis, it was one of his principal duties to dispense justice either personally or through judges appointed for the purpose. His consent was necessary for the transfer of any immovable property in the states. The three early inscriptions from Khandesh,² for instance, record the royal assent to certain gifts of land made by private individuals.

The King’s authority was thus, in theory, unfettered, but in practice there were several checks. The education of the princes was so designed as to make them self-controlled as well as learned and brave . The high ideals of self-restraint, charity, impartiality, liberal patronage to religion and learning, and respect to elders and learned people were constantly kept before their eyes and inculcated upon their minds. The princes who were brought up in such traditions did not generally believe the expectations of their educators. The earlier records of the Traikūtakas, the Kalachuris and the Gurjaras give a glowing description of the ābhigāmika-gunas (attractive qualities) and other merits of the reigning kings and their ancestors. The Surat plates state, for instance, that the Traikūtaka king Vyāghrasēna shared his wealth with learned people, refugees, elders, relatives and good persons and that his enviable fortune was allied with self-restraint worthy of his noble birth.³ The Kalachuri records state that the illustrious king Krishnarāja wielded his weapon for the protection of the distressed, fought to humble the arrogance of his enemies, acquired learning to attain humility, and wealth to spend it in charity, made gifts to a acquire religious merit and accu mulated religious merit to attain salvation.S⁴ The Gurjara grants say that Dadda III was an adept in performing his duty, as he had acquired discrimination by studying the sacred treatise of the great sage Manu.⁵ Even foreigners were impressed by the high ideals preached by the Hindu Dharmaśāstras and Arthaśāstras. The Śaka king Śrīdharavarman is described in both the records of his reign as dharmavijayin, i.e., a righteous conquereor.⁶ This means that he never waged any war for self-aggrandizement. There may be some exaggeration in the description of the princes given by their panegyrists, but it undoubtedly indicates the ideal set before the rulers, which many of them must have striven to reach. In later inscriptions, however, we do not find the same emphasis laid on the virtues of self-restraint, learning and humility. The later praśastis abound in glowing descriptions of a king’s bravery and liberality as well as his construction of religious and charitable works, but they rarely refer to his discipline, duties and responsibilities.

The king could not also oppress the people by means of harsh and unjust lawa; for his legislative powers were extremely limited. He was enjoined to govern the people and to administer justice strictly in accordance with the civil and criminal laws laid down in the Smritis. He had no power to enact fresh laws and to issue orders except in matters not covered by these works. In ancient times when religion had a firm hold on the minds of the people, few kings dared to defy the dicatates of the age-old sacred Dharmasastras. On the other hand, many took pride in stating in their records that they studied these works and implicitly followed their teaching in respect of the institiutions of the varnas (castes) and asramas (orders of life).⁷
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¹See above, p. Ixv.
²Nos.2-4.
³No. 9, 1.7.
⁴No. 12, 1. 8-9.
⁵No. 21, 1. 8.
⁶No. 5, 1. 2 and No. 119, 1.2.
⁷No. 21, 11 8-9.