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JULY, 1910.]
THREE OOPPER-PLATE GRANTS FROM EAST BENGAL.
211
Bat the fourth plate (see p. 193 ) militates against this view. It states that Samācāradeva is the supreme monarch and adds that Jivadatta who is the chief officer appointed over Savarna-vauthya is the Uparika in Navyâvakāśikā, which he obtained through paying court to Samācāradeva, and under him Pavitrala is the raler of the district in Väraka province.63 The context here seems incompatible with treating navydvakasi kā as anything but a place. Moreover that grant is dated in Samicăradeva's fourteenth year so that it must be at least 14 years later than plate C, and the expression " the new (or recent) interral" can hardly be applied to a period not less, and probably considerably more, than 32 years. Navydvakäsikā must therefore mean a town," the New Avakisika," which would be the capital of the Vāraka province. It is true we know of no such town, but neither did we know before of the province Vāraka, which these plates (and also the fourth plate) make quite clear. The province must have had some capital.
The mandala was, as appears from these plates, divided into a number of visayas or districts and these were under local administration which is styled adhikarana. The district was either under a single visayapati, "lord of the district," as in plate A (1, 3); or was managed by a Board of Officials, of whom one was pramukha, “chief," as in plates B (1. 7) and C (I. 6).66 No name is given to this district in these grants, but as this region consisted largely of islands as already mentioned, it is very probable that the vignyag were islands.
It may be noticed that the pramukha in both these plates was a käyastha, in fact the same person Nayasena, who was the jyestha or oldest kāyastha. Is this the earliest instance of the mention of this caste?
Officials. Under the district adhikarana were subordinate officials or persons, of whom the following are mentioned, (1) the Sadhanika, (2) the officer who looked after the vyāpāra, (3) the mahattaras, (4) the pusta pala, and (5) the land-measuser. These will be considered in order.
The word sādhanika does not occur in the dictionaries. It is a noon of agency formed from sādhana, and would seem to mean a person who transacts any kind of business or who carries any matter through. In plate A it seems to denote some agent, attorney or factotum, and he was no doubt appointed by the lord of the district to transact business generally on his behalf. The comparison made further on between him and the dyāpāra officials points in that direction. It is perhaps not a mere coincidence that Kalidasa uses this very word sadhana with reference to this very region in the Raghuvamsa, where he speaks of the people as nau-sidhanodyata, which has been noticed already.
The position of the vyāpāra officials depends on the meaning of the terms used, namely, r'yā pāra-kārandaya in plate B (1.5), and in plate. C vyāpārandya (as I read it, 1. 3), and vyāpāraya riniyukta (1. 5); and perhaps there is a third reference in pradhāna vyāp[arinah....? ] in the same plate (1. 9).
Vyāpāra in ordinary Sanskrit means occupation, business, trade or profession," with reference to persons, but here it certainly seems to have the more special meaning of " trade, traffic, commerce," with reference to merchandize. It has this special meaning in Bengali, where bepārt (Skt. vyåpārin) means "merchant, trader," and more particularly " a trader who carries his goods about to different marts, an itinerant trader."
63 Etao = carana-karala-yugal-Aradhan-opätta-navykvakātikāyān Suvarnpa-vauthy-Adhikrt-Antar-lage-Uprika-Jivadattas. For karala read kamala, and probably kztottaranga for "kriantaranga. Of tawhy I cannot make any sense, but with Swarna-vanthya comparo Kirana-Suvarna in Cunningham's Ancient Geography of India,
P. 504.
84 The new form of the letter y (300 p. 203) occurs in this plate. 68 I wannot suggest any identifioation of it.
So also in the fourth plato.
