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POLITICAL HISTORY OF N. INDIA FROM JAIN SOURCES
Kumarapala against his wish, and it was due to the support of the ministry. or a powerful party at the court.1 Another instance is that of the Paramāra Arjunavarman who was succeeded by Devapäla of the line of the Mahākumara Laksmivarman of the same family. In this choice the ministry or the court party might have had a strong hand though we do not know that it was against the wish of Arjunavarman. These facts, besides proving that there was no law of primogeniture, prove that the support of either a powerful party at the court or of the ministers always counted much in the matter of succession.
In the case of minority of the heir-apparent we find the queen mother holding the rein of the kingdom. The Prabandha-cintamani informs us that Naikadevi, the queen mother of Bala Mülaraja (II), was in charge of the government and she gallantly fought a battle with the Muhammadans." The Prthviraja-Vijaya informs us that Käñcanadevi, the mother of Pythvirājā, transacted the business of the kingdom with the help of the minister Kainväsa (Kadambavāsa) in the minority of Pṛthviraja.
Titles of Kings and Queens:
In the Mauryan period we hear of titles like Rajan, Maharaja and Kumara applicable to the kings and princes, but in the Gupta age we have. several titles which show that these titles were multiplied in course of time. In our period the same high-sounding titles as in the Gupta period have been found. Right from Harga to Guhilotas, the independent kings who happened to rise to paramountcy in the sense that they commanded the allegiance of a few feudatories used to take the title of Paramabhattaraka (the most worshipful master), Maharajadhiraja (supreme king of kings), Paramesvara (supreme lord), and Samastarajavali samalankyta (adorned by the row of kings). Thus the Devagarḥa Jain inscription of Bhoja Pratihāra informs us that Bhoja assumed the title of Paramabhattaraka, Maharajadhiraja and Paramesvara. The colophons of the Jain MSS of the Cahamanas, Caulukyas and Guhilotas also reveal the same conclusion. These titles, however, invested the king with a divine prestige and right to rule over the people.
The queens of these kings were generally entitled as devi or rajni. For example, Mayaṇalladevi was the name of the queen of Karna Caulukya."
1 See supra, p. 265.
See supra, p. 117.
3 SJGM., I, p. 97. 4 See supra, p. 136.
5 EI., IV, p. 309.
6
SJGM., 1, p. 54.
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