Part 3: Other Office Bearers of the Government

Although, Bāṇa has not given a systematic description of the emperor Harṣa’s ministry, but many other important royal functionaries, which are of great importance for the smooth running of the administration, are described.

They are—

1. mahāsāmanta,
2. kumārāmātya,
3. sandhivigrahika,
4. pratīhāra,
5. bhogapati,
6. cāṭa and bhaṭa,
7. rājaputra and kulaputra and
8. dūtaka etc.

1 Mahāsāmanta:

According to the Arathaśāstra-the term sāmanta means an independent neighbour.^[1] According to Manu-it refers to those with, whose help the boundary disputes of the villages were settled.^[2]

Another important position of royal functionary is mahāsāmanta. About the mahāsāmanta, Bāṇa describes many times in the Harṣacarita. When Bāṇa went to meet king Harṣavardhana, he saw that the enemy mahāsāmanta were eagerly waiting to meet Harṣa.^[3] In this context, he tells that the defeated mahāsāmanta greeted the conqueror by removing the crown and headdress (śekhara and mauli).^[4] At the time of Harṣa’s birth, the wives of the neighboring king came in thousands to the palace from everywhere to congratulate the king Prabhākaravardhana.^[5] At the time of trouble also, the sāmantas helped the king. When Harṣa searched for his sister Rājyaśri in Vindhyāraṇya, Vyāghraketu, the atavīkasāmanta (a feudatory abode in the forest), whose hair was tied with maulī,^[6] helped him to search her.

According to Amarakoṣa—

cuḍākiriṭakeśāśca saṃyatā maulayastrayaḥ.^[7]

King Prabhākaravardhana had sent his son Rājyavardhana to conquer the Southern India with the amātya and the mahāsāmanta.^[8] In the Madhuban copper plate of Harṣa, it is found that Skaṇḍagupta, the dūtaka of the grant, is not only the commander of the elephant force but also the mahāpramātāra and mahāsāmanta.^[9]

In the Harṣacarita, Skaṇḍagupta is described as—

aśeṣāgajasādhanādhikṛta^[10]

i.e., “the leader of the horses”.

On another hand, the writer uses the term pratisāmanta to imply the enemy commander^[11] and also mentions that the pratisāmanta had passed sleepless nights, when they heard about the Harṣa’s march with the army.^[12]

2 Kumārāmātya:

The term kumārāmātya is usually interpreted to mean the ministers of the crown prince.^[13] They had been in service of the king from the time when he was a boy. According to D.C. Sircar—

“kumārāmātya may probably mean an amātya enjoying the status of a kumāra.”^[14]

The term kumāramātya is mentioned in the Madhuban copper plate^[15] and the Banskhera copper plate.^[16] But in the Harṣacarita, Bāṇa mentions the term kumāra and amātya separately.

About amātya the Harṣacarita refers as—

atha kadācidarājā rājyavardhanaṃ …..cirantanairamātyairanuktaiśca ………kṛtvā sābhipuramuttarāpathaṃ prāhiṇot.^[17]

Again the author describes that king Harṣa was surrounded by kumāras.^[18]

3 Sandhivigrahika:

The sandhivigrahika is first mentioned in the Allahabad inscriptions of Gupta periods. Here, Samudragupta describes Hariṣena as sandhivigrahika, kumārāmātya and mahādaṇḍanāyaka.^[19] The foreign secretary of the guptas was called sāndhivigrahika.^[20] Sometimes the sandhivigrahika took place of the dūta.^[21] In the Gupta period, the mahāsandhivigrahika was the minister in charge of the royal policy towards the vassal both in times of war and peace, and acted as the executor of land grants. He also wrote all the royal orders. When the king Harṣavardhana had resolved to kill king Śaśāṅka, he commanded Avantī (mahāsandhivigrahika) to issue a proclamation of digvijaya.^[22]

4 Pratīhāra:

Generally, the word pratīhāra means gate-keeper. He also reports to the king the arrival of persons who sought his audience. When Haṃsavega, the messenger of kumāra Bhāskaravarman, came to meet emperor Harṣa, the pratīhāra reported to the king.^[23] It is seen that the gatekeepers (pratīhāra) sometimes not only harassed the people who wanted to visit the king, but also used to beat them often.^[24] Again D. C. Sircar noted that-“the mahāpratīhāra may have been the superintendent of troops in charge of the defense of the gates of the palaces and capital, and probably also the king’s bodyguard. He may also have been an officer attending on the king at the door of the royal bed chamber.”^[25]

In the Harṣacarita, the minister Skaṇḍagupta, serves as the valādhikṛta (chief commander of army), but he is mentioned in the Madhuban copper plate inscription as mahāpratīhāra.^[26] Bāṇa asserts that at that time the gate-keeper was known as dauvārika^[27] also. When he had entered to meet emperor Harṣa, the royal entrance of the gate was regulated by the dauvārika, the chief of whom was called Pāriyātta i.e., the king’s favorite.^[28]

King Harṣa himself mentioned in his book Priyadarśikā^[29] that the pratīhāra had to maintain order in the women’s apartment, guard against stumbling at every step, maintain law and order within the town by the guidance of a staff and prevents the abuse of justice therein. In this context, Bāṇa mentions that the ladies were guarded by such type of men who were hunch-backed persons, wharfs, deaf men and barbarians etc appointed at that time.^[30] P. V. Kane comments-“these are usually described as the attendants and guardians of the ladies harem.”^[31]

5 Bhogapati:

Bhogika was a feudatory who served as a royal officer. Some bhogapati exploited the rural community. The Harṣacarita states that in the march of Harṣa, villagers made spurious complaints against bhogapatis.^[32] In Sanskrit lexicons the term bhogika is explained as groom, horse keeper and plaguing-bearer.^[33]

6. Cāṭa and bhaṭa:

Cāṭa and bhaṭa generally mean soldiers or warriors. According to Amarakoṣa—

bhaṭā yoddhāśca yoddhāraḥ.^[34]

According to D.C. Sircar—

“bhaṭa is probably derived from bhṛta. Cāṭa probably indicates the leader of a group of bhaṭas, a policeman leading a group of pāiks.”^[35]

Their duty was to guard the inhabitants and arrest thieves, robbers and persons of suspected characters.

According to P. V. Kane—

“The word cāṭa seems to have some technical sense. In grants of villages the word ‘acāṭabhaṭapraveśyaḥ’ occurs very frequently.”^[36]

Bāṇa mentions cāṭabhaṭa at many places together in one compound. When Harṣa went to the expedition, the ceṭacāṭa were praised as king Harṣa’s army expedition (i.e., daṇḍayātra)^[37] and in there, there was applied an unguent paste in order to show that they formed the vanguard.^[38]

It is said by Yājñavalkya that the duties of the king is to protect people from harassment caused by cāṭas , robbers and kāyayasthas.^[39]

P. V. Kane comments thus—

“viṭaḥ is a voluptuary and companion of a dissolute young man or courtesan and ceṭakaḥ a servant.”^[40]

7 Rājaputra and Kulaputra:

In ancient times, the kings used to adopt children, which were known as rājaputra. In the Harṣacarita, it is described that the rājaputras feel very sad and they were lying down in the floor whole night without sleep, when the king Prabhākaravardhana was in his death-bed.^[41] Again Bāṇa mentions about kulaputra in his gadyakāvyas that they are brought up in the service of the king on hereditary principle.^[42]

According to P. V. Kane—

“kulaputrakaḥ is a nobly born young man.”^[43]

It is also seen that they consoled the prince Harṣa, when the king Prabhākaravardhana died.^[44] The description of the chemist Rasāyana’s suicide, due to the unrecovered diseases of his king (Prabhākaravardhana), shows the emotional relation between the king and the kulaputras. Harṣa, therefore, thanked them and said that he had the best kulaputra.^[45] Sometimes, the kulaputras showed their power to the people. Bāṇa describes that the kulaputras greatly harassed the people during king Harṣa’s expedition.^[46]

8 Dūtaka:

According to Yājñavalkya^[47] and Manu^[48] the word dūta imply more or less, in the sense of a messenger. Kauṭilya describes^[49] the treatment of the subject of dūta (messenger). Manu also points out the qualities of a dūta.^[50] He says that an intelligent, pure-hearted person of noble family, efficient and well-versed in all the Śāstras and capable of drawing interest of other person, should be appointed as a messenger to convey the massages.^[51] Also, a person who is handsome, skillful, devoted to his person, capable of judging the spirit of the place and time, fearless and eloquent, should be recommended for the post of dūta.^[52] If the above mentioned qualities are found in a person, then he may be a good messenger. In Bāṇa’s Harṣacarita, we find these characters of a messenger (dūta) in many places. There was a rule that one should appoint such a messenger who was suitable for the particular mission and carried the king’s sanction and order. King Bhāskaravarman had sent the messenger named Haṃsavega, who was very believable for the mission,^[53] who was very expert, handsome and skillful to manage all the situations diplomatically. And he carried the envoy to emperor Harṣa.^[54] Also his personal charms exceeded the greatness of his qualities.^[55] He also stated to the king about the various experiences of the kings and the character of the servants and their misfortune in the royal assembly. Haṃsavega’s version shows his great personality, too.^[56]

Again, Kṛṣṇa, a cousin brother of king Harṣa, had sent a courier to Bāṇa, who was very faithful to all the envoys and again brought a letter^[57] and sent a courier to his brother Rājyavardhana.^[58] The dūtaka carried the king’s sanction and order to the local official, and delivered to the recipient of land grants. In the Madhuban copper plate^[59] and in the Banskhera copper plate^[60] of Harṣa, Skaṇḍagupta appears as the dūtaka of the grant.

Other royal messengers described in the Harṣacarita are such as Kuraṅgaka (was a royal messengers), who was very obedient in his business and was an expert in overcoming the long path as if he was winged.^[61] He wore rags on his head; it suggests that he was a royal messengers.^[62] When Bāṇa had come to meet emperor Harṣa, he saw the different messengers from different countries who were eagerly waiting to meet Harṣa.^[63]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Arthaśāstra,I.6

[2]:

Manusaṃhitā,VIII.258

[3]:

….iti darśanāsayā divasaṃ….śatrusāmantaiḥ samantādasevyamānam, Harṣacarita, II. p.27

[4]:

keściducchāsasaurabha….śekharoḍḍīyamāna…..pranāmaviḍambanā…. maulibhiriva ….saṃmānitairivānanyaśaraṇai…, Ibid.

[5]:

aparedyurārabhya sarvābhyo digbhyaḥ strīrājyānīvāvarjitāni……rājakulamāgacchanti samantātsāmantāntaḥpurasahasrāṇyadṛśyanta, Ibid.,IV.p.62

[6]:

Ibid.,VII.p.125

[7]:

Amarakoṣa,II.6.102

[8]:

atha kadācidrājā rājyavardhanaṃ …..cirantanairamātyairanuktaiśca mahāsāmantaiḥ kṛtvā sābhipuramuttarāpathaṃ prāhiṇot, Harṣacarita,V.p.74

[9]:

Epigraphica Indica, no.11,p.67

[10]:

Harṣacarita,VI.p.104

[11]:

pratisāmanta...., Ibid.,VII.p.118

[12]:

pratisāmanta cakṣuṣāmiva nanāsa nidrā….., Ibid.

[13]:

Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Vol.-III, no.1,p.16

[14]:

Select Inscriptions, Sircar, D. C., p.166

[15]:

Epigraphica Indica,no.11,p.66

[16]:

Corpus Inscriptional Indicarum,IV, No.29.p.208

[17]:

Harṣacarita,V.p.74

[18]:

āsannavartināṃ …..pārthivakumārāṇāṃ… Ibid.,VII.p.114

[19]:

Corpus Inscriptional Indicarum,Vol. III, no.1, p.212

[20]:

Post Gupta Polity, Sinha, Ganesh Prasad, p.97

[21]:

Ibid.

[22]:

śrūyatāṃ me pratijñā…..ityukvtā ca.. mahāsandhivigrahādhikṛtamavantikamantikasthamādideśa likhyatām…., Harṣacarita,VI.p.102-103

[23]:

atha tatra pratīhāra….vijñāpitavāna-deva, prāgjyotiśvareṇa kumāreṇ prahito haṃsaveganāmā dūto…, Ibid.,VII.p. 115

[24]:

[a]. ….pratīhāramaṇḍalakaraprahārairnirasyamānasya……., Ibid.,VII.p. 119
[b] prātareva pratīhāraiḥ samutasāritanikhilānibaddhalokaṃ viviktamakriyat rājakulam, Ibid.,IV.p.70

[25]:

Indian Epigraphy, Vol.II, D.C.Sircar, p. 358

[26]:

Epigraphica Indica, Vol.I, p.67

[27]:

Harṣacarita,II.p.28

[28]:

[a] eṣa khalu mahāpratīhārāṇāmanantaraścakṣuṣyo devasya pāriyāttanāmā dauvārikaḥ, Ibid.
[b] prātareva pratīhāraiḥ samutasāritanikhilanibaddhalokaṃ viviktamakriyata rājalokaṃ, Ibid.,IV.p.70

[29]:

Priyadarśikā, actIII, p.49

[30]:

…vikalakalāmukakubjavāmanavadhirabarbaraviralena…….parivṛtam, Harṣacarita,VIII.p.131

[31]:

Ibid.,p.602-603

[32]:

narendranihitadṛṣṭibhirasato’pi pūrvabhogapatidoṣānudbhāvayadbhiratikrāntayuktakaśatāni….., Ibid.,VII.p.113

[33]:

Sanskrit English Dictionary, Wilson, p.538

[34]:

Amarakoṣa, II.8.61

[35]:

Select Inscriptions, pp.51, 58

[36]:

Harṣacarita,p.556

[37]:

…ityevam.. ceṭasāṭa…stūyamānam, Ibid.,VII.p.113

[38]:

cārucārabhaṭasainyanyasyamānanāsīramaṇḍalāḍambarasthūlasthāsake, Ibid.,VII.p.109

[39]:

Yājñavalkyasmṛti, I.336

[40]:

Harṣacarita, p. 401

[41]:

kṣititalapatitasakalarajanījāgarukarājaputrakumārake, Ibid.,V.p.77

[42]:

[a] kulakramāgatakulaputrakanivahohyamānaśuciśokasaṅkucitakañcukini, Ibid. [b] anekakulakramāgatairasakṛdālocita…., Kādambarī, p.14

[43]:

Harṣacarita, p. 400

[44]:

pitṛpitāmahaparigrahāgatāścirantanāḥ kulaputrāḥ ….śokāpanayananipuṇāśca …paryavārayan, Ibid.,V.p.89-90

[45]:

dhanyaḥ khalu ….apuṇyabhāktidameva rājakulaṃ kulaputreṇa yattādṛśā viyuktam, Ibid.,V.p.81

[46]:

…pade pade patatāṃ durvalavalīvardānāṃ niyuktaiḥ …….ceṭakaiḥ khedyamānāsaṃvibhaktakulaputralokam, Ibid.,VII.p.113

[47]:

Yājñavalkyasmṛti,I. 328

[48]:

Manusaṃhitā,,VII.63-65

[49]:

Arthaśāstra,I.16

[50]:

Manusaṃhitā, VII. 62-65

[51]:

Ibid., VII.63

[52]:

Ibid., VII.63-64

[53]:

deva, prāgjyotiṣeśvareṇa kumāreṇa prahito haṃsaveganāmā dūto’ntaraṅgastoraṇamadhyāste iti, Harṣacarita,VII.p.115

[54]:

anantaraṃ ca haṃsavegaḥ savinayamakṛtyeva nayanānandasampādanasubhagabhogābhadrayā…..praviveśa.., Ibid.

[55]:

savinayamākṛtyaiva….guṇagarimā…., Ibid.

[56]:

…nidhipādapaprarohasyaiva draviṇābhilāṣadadhomukhībhavataḥ……., Ibid.

[57]:

tathābhūte ca grīṣmasamaye …..bhrātā pāraśavaścandrasenanāmā pravisyākathayat-‘eṣa khalu ……śriharṣadevasya bhrātā kṛṣṇanāmnā… prajnatatamo dīrghādhvagaḥ prahito…, ..praviśantaṃ lekhahārakamadrākṣīt, Ibid.,II.p.23

[58]:

….bhrāturāgamanārthaṃ ….dīrghādhvagānaprajavinaścoṣṭrapālānprāhiṇot, Ibid.,V.p.81

[59]:

Epigraphica Indica, no.11, p.66

[60]:

Ibid.,IV.No.29.p.208

[61]:

atha..kāryakautuka..bhāsvatā..pavanamatitvarayā….dīrghadhvagaṃ urangakanāmānamāyāntamadrākṣīt, Harṣacarita,V.p.75

[62]:

…..cailacīrikayā racitamuṇḍamālakam, Ibid.

[63]:

ekāntopaviṣtaiśca …sarvadeśajanmabhiśca..janapadaiḥ….sarvadvipāntarāgataiśca dūtamaṇḍalairupāsymānam, Ibid.,V.p.28