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POLITY AND ADMINISTRATION
23 times assumed the power. The Puranas of this time invariably refer to the Sūdra kings who were ruling over certain parts of the country during this Kali age. 2
To be regarded as the true king by the people it was necessary that the king should have a pure heritage (ubhaya-kulaviếuddha), should belong to high Kșatriya family (uditakulavasasambhūta), and be properly coronated either by the previous king or by the subjects (muddhabhi sitta).8 King Candragupta was thus not respected by the Ksatriyas, because he came from the class of peacock-tamers (mayūra posagavamsa). The coronation ceremony alone invested upon a king the rights of a full sovereign. The coronation of a king or emperor was styled as mahabhişeka, while that of a crown-prince or feudatory as abhi şeka.According to the popular practice the heads of all the eighteen guilds or corporations and the ascetics of all the religious sects called on the king at the time of his coronation. King had the right of keeping certain royal insignia like chatra ( the royal parasol ', câmara ( a pair of Aywhisks ) and simhāsana ( the royal throne ) as indicatives of his royal powers."
Proficiency in the science of state-craft (rajjanīti)' was the prerequisite for a king. The king, who was not versed in state-craft, being incompetent in administering justice, was
rebellion and regicide have occasionally arisen, other castes, assuming the distinction-Watters, On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, Vol.
1, p. 170. 1. NC. 3, p. 266; NC. 4, p. 229. 2. Matsya Purūna, CXLIV. 30-47; Kurma Purāņa, Sec. 1, Cantos
XXIX-XXX. Vide-Beni Prasad, States in Ancient India, p. 336. 3. NC. 2, p. 449; also Paumacariya of Vimalasūri, 6. 18; B/h. V!. 6,
p. 1684, 4. NC. 4, p. 10 5. NC. 2, p. 462. 6. NC. 2, p. 463; also cf. Uttarā. Ti., p. 248; Adi Purāna, XVI.
223-30. 7. NC. 3, p. 101; NC. 2, p. 450; also cf. Harsacarita, p. 103; Prabandha
Cintamani, p. 20. 8. NC. 3, pp. 506-7.
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