Book Title: Political History Of Ancient India
Author(s): Hemchandra Raychaudhari
Publisher: University of Calcutta

Previous | Next

Page 588
________________ ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS OF GUPTA INDIA 559 That Chandra Gupta II was a good monarch may be inferred also from the inscriptions. Himself a devout Vaishnava (Parama-bhāgavata), he appointed men of other sects to high offices. His general Amrakārddava, the hero of a hundred fights, anēkasamar-āvāpta-vijaya-yaśaspatākah, appears to have been a Buddhist or at least a à pro-Buddhist, while his Minister of Peace and War, Sāba-Virasena, and perhaps also his Mantrin or High Counsellor, Sikharasvāmin, were Saivas. Regarding the machinery of Government we have no detailed information. But the following facts may be gleaned from the inscriptions. As in Maurya times, the head of the state was the Rājā who was at times nominated by his predecessor. The king is now regarded as a divinity-Achintya Purusha, 'the Incomprehensible Being, Dhanada-Varunendrāntaka-sama, the equal of Kuvera, Varuņa, Indra and Yama, loka-dhāma deva, 'a god dwelling on earth, Paramadaivata, 'the supreme deity. He was assisted by a body of High Ministers whose office was very often hereditary as is suggested by the phrase "anvaya-prāpta Sūchiyya" 'acquirer of the post of minister by hereditary descent,' of the Udayagiri Inscription of Śāba. The most important among the High Ministers were the Mantrin, 'High Counsellor,' the Saidhi-vigrahika, Minister for Peace and War,' and the Akshapatal-ūdhikrita, 'the Lord but they are also mentioned in the time of his son in inscriptions of Northern Bengal. The Baigram inscription.of the year 128 (448 A.D.) for instance refers to rūpakas along with dināras (cf. Allan, p. cxxvii). The copper coins issued by Chandra Gupta II are commonly found around Ayodhyā (Allan, p. cxxxi). 1 The Maha-danda-nāyaka Harishena was the son of the Mahā-danda-nāyaka Dhruva-bhūti. The Mantrin Pșithivishena was the son of the Mantrin Sikharasvāmin. Cf. also the hereditary governors (goptri), of Mandasor, Surāshtra, etc. Things were somewhat different in the Maurya Period. Pushya Gupta, Rashtriya of Surāshtra in the time of Chandra Gupta Maurya, was quite unconnected by blood with Tushāspha, governor or feudatory in the time of Asoka.

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 674 675 676 677 678 679 680 681 682 683 684 685 686 687 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711 712 713 714