1858.] Of two Edicts bestowing Land. 247 



suzerain of the three classes of Governors styled masters of cavalry, 

 masters of elephants, and masters of infantry ;* a Vacbaspatif for 

 inquisition into various sciences ; victorious ; charges, acquaints, 

 and enjoins the inhabitants of the village of A'godalijJ in the can- 

 ton§ of Haladoya ; and all his subjects ; and likewise sojourners 

 from abroad ; as also kings, queens, princes consort, imperial coun- 



* As'wapati, gajapati, and narapati. The import of these phrases, as here em- 

 ployed, is undetermined. A cognate term, chhatrapati ' master of umbrellas,' 

 may be named as sometimes associated with them. The first three expressions 

 might be taken to denote, severally, the possession of a component part of an 

 army ; were it not for the omission of chariots, which are necessary, as a fourth 

 element, to make up a complete martial host. But the word rathapati ' master of 

 chariots' is never found, instead of chhatrapati, connected as above ; and, if so 

 found, in order to stand as a synonyme of it, chhatra must bear a sense at present 

 unrecognised. 



The epithet gajapati is known to have been affixed, from a certain age, to the 

 names of the rulers of Orissa ; the title of narapati — an ordinary equivalent of 

 c king' — is said to have been specially borne, at one time, by the sovereigns of 

 Telingana and Karnata ; and the designation chhatrapati was affected by the Pesh- 

 was. The appropriation of as'wapati may admit of doubt. 



It seems not impossible that, by these distinctions, so many feudatories, or 

 classes of feudatories, of a paramount power were once discriminated. On this 

 point, however, authentic history is, at best, only suggestive. As for the rest, it 

 had already become the custom of Indian governors, early in the middle ages, to 

 arrogate the lordship of three of these orders of royalets, — if they may so be con- 

 sidered. Among the Kanoj kings, Govindachandra was, apparently, the first who 

 laid claim to this sort of pre-eminence. That a similar superiority was not assert- 

 ed with respect to the chhatrapatis, is a circumstance worthy of note. Can it be 

 that the Chhatrapati raja, or rajas, whoever they were, enjoyed sufficient power 

 to deter such a pretension? As. Res., Vol. IX., p. 123 ; and Vol. XV., p. 254. 

 Journal of the As. Soc. of Bengal, for 1838, p. 49 ; for 1839, p. 485 ; and for 

 1841, p, 103. Mackenzie Collection, Vol. II., pp. ccxxxv., ccxxxvi., and 

 ccxxxviii. ; where the mere names, of like aspect, of Ganapati, Venkatapati, and 

 Setupati will also be seen. Useful Tables, Part the Second, p. 119. Preface to 

 the Praudha-pratdpa-mdrtanda, a law work. Preface to the Siddhdnta-chan- 

 drikd, the earliest commentary on the S'dstra-dipi/cd of the Mimansa. 



t Or Byihaspati ; preceptor of the gods. 



X There is, possibly, on the copper-plate, a stroke of punctuation after the word 

 preceding this name, and a mark of suspense under its final consonant. In that 

 case, we must read ' Godali.' 



§ In the original, patlald. See a note on the preceding inscription. 



