Brahmana Beneficiaries of Royal Endowments in Early Andhra of Southern India: An Epigraphical Study
摘要
The empirical evidence regarding the details of royal grants is of direct relevance for understanding the nature of the political, economic, social, and religious order in early Andhra of Southern India. A large volume of inscriptions recording brahmana beneficiaries of royal patronage through land grants from the 3rd c.A.D. to the 7th c.A.D. provides valuable information in society. The Brahmins steadily and successively emerged as an important class and as dominant mediators in the territories of religiosity and social values at the village level. The affiliation between the King and the Brahmana was significant in polity and other fields. Land grants created only a small portion, and that helped us visualize the stabilized king’s power with a Kshatriya status and huge benefits of the state. These grants can be interpreted as providing state recognition and support for the sacred status of Brahmins. Thus, Brahmins become a group with religious and cultural authority. Therefore, the spread and dominance of Vedic-Sastric-Epic-Puranic ideas can be seen in the prasasti section of the epigraphical archives of early Andhra. There is a need for detailed studies of the history of the activities of Brahmins in society. In this context, an attempt has been made to examine epigraphic data relating to the Brahmana beneficiaries of royal endowments; the main focus being on how the charters define Brahmanical identity through Gotra, Carana, Sakha, and so forth; and the further nature of the king and their and administration.