DDK HistoryF.p65 - CSIR

302 WATERWORKS BHOJA [9.1
trade, policing of trade-routes—all done through subordinate feudatories
or governors. The last known repairs to the Mauryan dam at Girnar,
now lost without trace, seern to have been in A. D. 456 (Fleet 14) by
Cakrapalita, son of Parnadatta appointed governor of Surastra by
Skandagupta. The name Parnadatta is unquestionably Sanskritized
from the Persian (c/. J. Charpentier in JRAS 1928, pp. 904-5 ; also F.
W. Konig, WiKM. 31. 1924. 309, Farondata in the genea-logy). The
greatest work of this sort was by king Bhoja (died A. ix 1055-6), a
tremendous reservoir at Rhojpur. Created by just two carefully placed
dams of moderate size, the lake covered an area of 250 square miles.
Inasmuch as the greater barrage was intact at least till 1888 (IA. 17,
1888, pp. 348-352) while the lesser (cut by Hoshang Shah) was about
87 feet high and between 500 and 700 yards long, it would be very
easy today for our modern five-year plans to restore this body of
water at a cost far below that of any other project with comparable
results. Though, king and warrior, Bhoja left a mark upon Sanskrit
literature, in which his is one of the outstanding names because of his
literary theory, original works, and patronage of contemporary
authors. With him declined the great tradition of royal men of (Sanskrit)
letters which had begun not later than Rudradaman, and had really
flowered under the Guptas and Harsa, though the kingdom of Dhara
was not to be compared to the two great empires. In none of his
writings (that I have been able to consult) is there any mention of
revenue administration, land settlement, ownership of land.
The state protected and encouraged private settlement, on
condition of paying in kind, much lighter taxes than under the
Mauryans. Nevertheless, this very prosperity killed the empire. The growth
of the virtually self-contained village meant considerable decrease of
commodity production per head. As noted in chapter VII, the central
army and bureaucracy could be maintained over so large a country
only if there were great commodity production with extensive trade and
sufficient cash taxes. The highly profitable new trade went down. The
guilds that had been so powerful under the Satavfihanas vanished
gradually but completely. The crucial problem : how to retain the
indispensable minimum of caste technicians and artisans in each village
was, as will be shown, solved neatly without guilds, slavery, cash