Gaudavaho

Author(s): Vakpatiraj, Narhari Govind Suru, P L Vaidya, A N Upadhye, H C Bhayani
Publisher: Prakrit Text Society Ahmedabad

Page 110

(xciii) such as those of Chămara-bearers or Tāmbūla-Karankabearers. For this purpose, wives of kings, captured after they were conquered or slain were selected and in addition, they were also kept in the harem as concubines. Their miserable plight has been a favourite theme for poets to exhibit their poetic art and Vākpatirāja too has described their condition in his Poem.
The Sāmantas,53 who generally waited upon the king, were the king's kinsmen or relatives, who were territorial lords or subordinate kings in their own territories. They had their own small armies, with which they helped their sovereign king, whenever he moved against his enemies. To help the king in his administration, he had his ministers, called Mantris of Sacivas or Amātyas, the most important among them being the Sandhi-Vigrahika or the minister for peace and war. Besides the ministers, there were other important officers called Superintendents or Adhyakşas of Sulka (Customs), Kosthāgāra (Storehouses ), Durga (fortifications ) etc. 'The king's army usually consisted of infantry, cavalry and elephants. The chariots had long ceased to be of use on the battlefield. The elephant was considered to be a formidable part of the Army. They were obtained from the many forests on the borders of the Himalayas and the Vindhyas. The art of catching the elephants, rearing and training them for fighting had almost reached perfection and there were regular treatises dealing with these topics. The horses for the cavalry were mostly obtained from Persia, Arabia and Afghanistan. In the training of horses also, the same perfection had been attained as that of elephants. The
53. C. V. Vaidya- History of Medieval Hindu India'. '
P. 152.