A Forgotten Functionary of Ancient India That was Ksattr (An Old and Rare Book: Only 1 Book Available)

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Kşemendra Vyasadāsa, the great Kashmirian poet of the eleventh century A.D., had a pupil, Laksmaņāditya by name, whom the poet mentions as 'Rājaputra'. In the Rajatarangini Kalhana mentions one Laksmaka who is designated as Ksattr (Práti hara), i.e., 'Chamberlain'. According to Dr. Süryakanta, the only reason that militates against identification of Kşemendra's pupil, Rājaputra Laks- maņāditya with Laksmaka of the Rajatarangiņi is the improbability of a Rajaputra being appointed a Ksattr or Chamberlain. The whole weight of Dr. Süryakanta's argument obviously rests on the idea of a low status he apparently assigns to the title, 'Chamberlain' (Kşattr or Pratihāra). True it is that in the ancient Codes the Ksattr is assigned a very low social status. True it is that 'Kșattr' as the name of a respectable official is not traceable in the ancient Indian works on Polity or in the classical Sanskrit literature, generally. But, on a critical and comparative examination of almost all the available materials in this connection, it is revealed that the Ksattr in the administrative machinery of ancient Kashmir has a distinct colour all its own, which disembodies the idea of condemnation that had permeated through the import of the designation in the long course of its history.