Jain Journal 2004 10

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 13

JAIN JOURNAL : VOL-XXXIX, NO. 2 OCT. 2004
In the coronation ceremony of a king, umbrella was regarded as the royal insignia, and the umbrella was made of the feathers of a peacock (Ku. IX. 12). At the time of coronation the king used to ride on an elephant and an umbrella was put over him (Ku. XI. 100).
At the time of coronation many valuable gifts were presented to a king both by the rich and the defeated enemies (Ku. VI. 19; XI. 35). The defeated cnemy used to submit some royal insignia to the king. King Bhoja had submitted his golden canopy to Chedīrāja and this was later on presented to Bhīmarāja (Ku. IX. 57).
For administrative purposes, the country was divided into several parts. These are janapada, mandala, desa, viņaya, pathaka, grāma and so on. Janapada is a bigger place and the king of a Janapada is considered as an independent king. The Sindhu territory, at that time, was an independent Janapada (Ku. VIII. 116). A Janapada is further divided into Mandalas. Mandalas are administered by governors who are called Māndalikas. H.D.. Sankalia (Archaeology of Gujarat, Bombay, 1941, p. 202) thinks Mandala was the largest division of Janapada which corresponds to our modern province. In mediaeval India, Gūrjara was called a Mandala. A.K. Majumdar (Chaulukyas of Gujarat, Bombay, 1956, pp. 208-209) has noted that there were fourteen Mandalas in Chaulukyan empire as mentioned in the Chaulukyan inscriptions. Mandalas were further divided into desas, visayas and pathakas. Whether Deśas were less than Mandala in size or not, is not clear from the descriptions, but that Lāța and Saurāṣtra were called deśas shows that deśas were smaller than Mandalas. Vișaya and Pathaka were, perhaps, smaller than deśas and the head of a village was called grāmaņi (Ku. I. 181). The mountanous areas and forests were called khalatikas (Ku. III. 84).
In the Kumārapālacarita, the names of some official posts are found, but their exact significance is not generally mentioned. These names are Mahāpradhāna (Ku. II. 56), Purohita (III. 80), Māhāmātya (Ku. VI. 26), Māndalika (Ku. VI. 26). Pratihāra (Ku. I. 116), Comūpa (VIII. 90), Ayudhāgārika (XVII. 44). From the secondary sources we come to know that these officers used to perform their duties in the territory. For example, in the Kumārapālacarita, it is stated that Jambaka and Jehula were ministers of equal status.
For administrative purposes spies were employed in the country. Apart from dyūta, the other term Nagaraghātas were also used (Ku.