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PROLEGOMENA TO PRAKRITICA et JAINICA
34). The Māndalikas were the governors of some places known as Mandalas or Deśas. The Mahājanikas were, perhaps, the businessmen and hence rich people.
The word sva-rāt (1.69) also indicates that the king was a supreme judge, and perhaps, he used to sit in his court every morning.
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 enemy used to submit some royal insignia to the king. King Bhoja had submitted his golden canopy to Chedirāja and this was later on presented to Bhimarāja (Ku. IX. 57).
For administrative purposes, the country was divided into several parts. These are janapada, mandala, deśa, vişaya, 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 Māņdalikas. 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, Gurjara 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 deśas, visayas and pathakas. Whether Deśas were less than Mandalas in size or not, is not clear from the descriptions, but that Lăţa and Saurāştra were called Desas shows that Deśas were smaller than Mandalas. Vişaya and Pathaka were,
