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________________ 64 THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY ( DECEMBER, 1926 As regards technical education, it was imparted by the respective guilds who used to take as apprentices intending scholars. Public Administration.-We must, before concluding this section, say a few words about the public administration of our Gujarat towns. We have already seen how the villages enjoyed large amount of self-government. What was true of villages was also more or less true of towns and cities. The government was vested in a Dataka' or governor appointed by king; but he was guided in administration by a Panchakala' or Panchayat committee. We have seen how the construction of the huge Sahasralinga lake was entrusted by Siddha. raja, not to his public works department but to a local committee composed of ministers and merchants. The restoration of the Prabhasa temple was entrusted by King Bhima to a 'Panchakala' presided over by his local governor. When Siddharaja Jayasimha had to ascertain the amount of the Imperial tax levied at Bahuloda, he had to inquire regarding the matter not of his local officer but of the local * Panchakala.' We shall get a good idea of the amount of self-government enjoyed by our towns and cities when we realise that the collection of such an important imperial tax as that levied at Bahuloda, a tax which yielded a revenue of 72 lacs, was entirely entrusted to a local body. On the strength of these facts, we may well conclude that in ancient Gujarat towns and cities, local administration was entrusted to committees mostly consisting of non-officials. Thus there was a committee to collect reven'ie, another to supervise over the water supply, a third to carry out repairs of public temples and buildings. There were probably similar committeon to look after drainage and road repairs, to keep a watoh over foreigners and to maintain intact the defences of the towns. Such then were, briefly speaking, the main features of cities and city-life in Ancient Gujarat. The picture they reveal has charms of its own. It reveals a city-life free from the bothers of modern civilization but yet possessing many of the amenities of life which strangely enough we have come to Associate only with modern times.513 The average city, being but of a moderate size, combined the advantages both of the city and village life. There were no slums, there was no overorowding; there were nice arrangements for the carrying out of municipal functions. Person and property was safe, even Muhammadan traders admit that they could apprehend no danger in Gujarat cities though they were in a hopeless minority in the twelfth century. Though divided into various sects and creeds, the citizens lived amicably; Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism existed side by side, each oontributing a valuable share in the formation of the culture of Gujarat, 213 That the features of cities and city life herein described were common in Ancient Indis will be perceived from the following verse occurring in the Gangadhara etone inscription of Viehwavarman (Gupt. Vol., p. 72) which describes the normal features of a good city. वापी-तडाग-मुरसन-सभोरपान-नानाविधोपवनसंक्रमदीर्घकाभिः यो गगराततपुरं समलचकार / / ॐ तत्सत् नमार्पणमस्तु /
| SR No. | 032546 |
| Book Title | Indian Antiquary Vol 54 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Richard Carnac Temple, Stephen Meredyth Edwardes, Krishnaswami Aiyangar |
| Publisher | Swati Publications |
| Publication Year | 1985 |
| Total Pages | 376 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 18 MB |