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ADMINISTRATION
have proceeded to Delhi to pay homage to the great Akbar.1 He was absent for about
eight years and returned to Ratanpur, being invested by the Emperor with the full rights
of Raja and confirmed in the possession of his territory. The Muslim Chronicles, however,
do not mention this event.
The Raipur branch has left two inscriptions2 dated 1402 and 1415 A.C., both of which
belong to the reign of Brahmadeva. The only historical event recorded in them is the
defeat which Ramadeva (or Ramachandra), the father of Brahmadeva, inflicted on Bhoninga-
deva, who belonged to the Phanivamsa or Naga dynasty.3 Two Naga families were ruling
in Chhattisgarh during this period, one in the former Kawardha State and the other in the
former Bastar State. The last dated record of the Bastar family is of Harischandra, who
was ruling in 1324 A.C.4 The Kawardha family also continued to rule till the fourteenth
century, as its last dated inscription is of 1349 A.C.5 In the absence of subsequent records,
it is difficult to say to which family Bhoningadeva defeated by Ramachandra, belonged.
Perhaps he was ruling over the former Bastar State; for, the Nagavamsi chiefs of the
Kawardha state are known to have been feudatories of the Kalachuris, whose era they
used in earlier times. Some of them were also matrimonially connected with the
latter.6
The conditions of Chhattisgarh at the time of its annexation by the Marathas are very
well described in the following extract.7-“The Haihayas merely stood at the head of a
number of petty Rajas and official chiefs, each of whom was, to a large extent, independent,
and among whom the whole country was divided. It was an essentially weak system,
adapted only to an earlier stage of social development, and it would have fallen long ago,
had any well organized foreign invasion ever been repeated. When the Marathas came,
they marched through the whole country without any opposition, and demanded and
obtained the allegiance of all the surrounding states.”Thus ended the rule of the Kalachuris
in Chhattisgarh after lasting for more than seven centuries from circa 100 A.C. to 1740A.C.
ADMINISTRATION
The records edited here belong to two main periods-the earlier one extending from
about 250 A.C. to about 750 A.C., and the later from about 850 A.C. to about 1500 A.C.
The earlier inscriptions mainly come from Western India comprising Gujarat, Konkan
and Northern Maharasthra, and the later ones from Northern India and the Chhattisgargh
Divison of Madhya Pradesh. The administrative system, religion, and social and
economic life in these two periods naturally show wide differences.
In the earlier period, the largest administrative unit was the desa corresponding to the
province of modern times. The Kingdom of the Traikutaka Vyagharasena, for instance
comprised several desas provinces only one of which viz., Aparanta (North Konkan),
_____________
1According to Cunningham, he went to Delhi in consequence of a dispute with the Raja of Mandla
and returned in Samvat 1628 or 1571 A.C.
2Nos. 107 and 108 A copper-plate inscription of Amarasimhadeva who is said to have belonged to
the Kalachuri family, was discovered at Arang. But it gives no pedigree, contains no date and has no
historical importance
3 No. 108,1.6.
4Ep., Ind., VoI. X, pp. 39 ff
5I.C.P.B., (second ed.) p. 176
6The Mandava Mahal inscription from the former Kawardha State states that Ramachandra
of the Phanivamsa married Ambikadevi of the Haihaya lineage ibid. p.174
7Bilaspur District Gazetteer, p. 48.
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