Bhukti

Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

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Bhukti (भुक्ति) was a division or unit of a Kingdom during Gupta dynasty. It was term normally used for province. Tej Ram Sharma writes that Bhukti (भुक्ति) (from √bhuj) literally means 'enjoyment' or possession. Bhukti denoted an administrative division smaller than a modern Tehsil or Taluka in the Deccan and M.P., but in Northern India under the Guptas and Pratiharas it denoted a unit as large as the Commissioner's Division in modern times.

History

Provincial administration: The Empire of Harshavardhana was divided into several provinces, which were known as Bhukti. These Bhuktis were further divided into vishayas i.e. districts and visayas were divided into several Pathakas i.e. tehsils. Village was the smallest unit of administration; the provincial ruler or head of the province was also called something. The visaya was called visayapati. There were Dandika or Jrodvaranika, Dandapasika. etc. to help the rulers of province and district.

It can be learnt from Madhuban inscription that governor was called Rajasthaniya, vishayapati i.e. head of the district, and Uparika i.e. head of the province.

Place-names ending in Bhukti

Tej Ram Sharma writes.... Bhukti (भुक्ति) (from √bhuj)

Literally it means 'enjoyment' or possession. ⁴³ Bhukti denoted an administrative division smaller than a modern Tehsil or Taluka in the Deccan and M.P., but in Northern India under the Guptas and Pratiharas it denoted a unit as large as the Commissioner's Division in modern times.⁴⁴ Thus

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212 Personal and geographical names in the Gupta inscriptions

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Pratisthanabhukti consisted of only 12 and Kopparakabhukti of 50 villages in the Deccan under the Rastrakutas, ⁴⁵ whereas under the Guptas the Pundravardhanabhukti comprised of the districts of Dinajpur, Bogra and Rajshahi, and Magadhabhukti included the districts of Gaya and Pataliputra. ⁴⁶ Sravastibhukti under the Pratiharas included several districts in northern U.P. ⁴⁷ The Bhuktis under the Pratihara empire appear to have been rather Commissioners' Divisions than provinces. ⁴⁸ Bhukti is changed into hutias Jejakabhukti, Jejahuti. ⁴⁹ The unit bhukti which so often appears in the inscriptions of the Gupta period as the designation of an administrative unit is not frequently found in the early medieval period. ⁵⁰ The mention of a Nagara-bhukti is also made in Deo-Baranark Inscription of Jivitagupta II. ⁵¹

We find only one place name with the suffix bhukti which is detailed below:

Pundravardhana (पुण्ड्र वर्धन) (No. 28, L.I; No. 33, LL .1-2; No. 34, L. 2 ; No. 35, L.2; No. 36, L. 2;- No. 37, L. 2; No. 43, L. 14) :

This bhukti is mentioned in the Gupta epigraphs ranging from the years 124 to 224 of the Gupta era, i.e. from A.D. 443 to 543. It formed an integral part of Gupta empire during this period. According to Inscription No. 37, a noble man (kula- putra) Amrtadeva by name belonging to Ayodhya approached the local government of Kotivarsa of which Svyambhudeva was the governor, under the provincial government of Pundra-vardhana-bhukti, during the reign of Bhanugupta, and prayed that he might be given, by means of a copper-plate document in accordance with the prevailing custom, some rent-free waste lands. His prayer was granted.

General Cunningham ⁵² identifies Pundravardhana with the extensive ruins known as 'Mahāsthāngarh', 8 miles north of the town of Bogra. The river Karatoya was the dividing line between Pundravardhana-bhukti and Kamarupa. ⁵³ According to Wilson, the ancient kingdom of Pundradesa included the districts of Rajshahi, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Malda, Bogra and Tirhut. ⁵⁴ It seems to have been the biggest administrative division or province of the Gupta empire, divided into several visayas and mandalas of which twenty-four ⁵⁵ are mentioned

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^{Personal and geographical names in the Gupta inscriptions 213}

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in known epigraphs. In short Pundravardhana signified North Bengal

Pundravardhana, as the name suggests, was a settlement of the Pundras. ⁵⁶ The first reference to the Pundras is found in the Aitareya Brahmana. ⁵⁷ The earliest literary reference to Pundravardhana is to be traced in the Buddhist work, the Divyavadana, where it is mentioned as the easternmost city of India. ⁵⁸ The Paundra country is mentioned also in the Brhat-sarhhita, ⁵⁹ as situated in the east. ⁶⁰ The Kavyamimamsa also mentions it as a Janapada in the east. In the inscriptions of Bengal the name Pundravardhana was changed into Paundra-vardhana in the early part of the 12th century, when it occurs first in the Manahali grant of Madanapala and remained in use till the end of the Sena rule. The Rajatarangini mentions Pundravardhana as the capital of Gauda which is also proved by a reference in Purusottama's lexicon (llth century A.D.) ⁶¹

The city lost its importance from the third quarter of the 12th century A.D. as the later Sena kings shifted their capital to Gauda in the Malda district. Towards the end of the 13th or the beginning of the 14th century A.D. Pundravardhana was occupied by the Muhammedans. ⁶²

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43. Sanskrit-English Dictionary by Monier Williams. p. 759, col. 3.

44. A.S. Altekar, (Sir Asutosh Memorial Volume ) 2 , p. 202.

45. Ibid., Epigraphia Indica. XXV, p. 265.

46. Epigraphia Indica. XV, pp. 129 ff. 'When the Mitakara on Yaj. I. 319 states that only a king can make the grant of land and not a bhogapati, it is obviously referring to the head of this large territorial division' vide Ibid.; Altekar, (Kz) 2 , p. 202 f.n. 2.

47. A.S. Altekar, (Sir Asutosh Memorial Volume) 2 , p. 202.

48. Ibid., p. 203.

49. N.L. Dey, Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and Medieval India. Preface p. i.

50. K.K. Gopal, Indian Historical Quarterly, Calcutta ., March and June 1963, p. 81.

51. Corpus Inscripionum Indicarum, Vol. III by John Faithful Fleet , p. 216, L. 6.

52. Archaeological Survey of India, Annual Reports . Vol. XV, pp. 104-117 : Epigraphia Indica. XX, p. 61.

53. B.C. Law, Historical Geography of Ancient India. p. 243.

54. Visnu Pur ana, II, pp. 134, 170 :Dey, Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and Medieval India. p. 161.

55. R.C. Majumdar, The History of Bengal. Vol. I, pp, 24-25.

56. B.C. Sen, (Sir Asutosh Memorial Volume)1 p. 104.

270 Personal and geographical names in the Gupta inscriptions

57. VII, 18.

58. B.C. Sen, (Sir Asutosh Memorial Volume) 1 p. 104,.

59. XIV, p. 119, V. 7: उदयगिरिमद्रगौडकपौण्ड्रौत्कलकाशिमेकलाम्बष्ठा:

60. Kavyamimamsa Saptadasho adhyay p.235

61. N.L. Dey, Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and Medieval India. pp. 161-162 . B.C. Law, Historical Geography of Ancient India. p. 247.

62. B.C. Law, Historical Geography of Ancient India. p. 248.

List of Bhuktis

• Bharbhukti (तीर भुक्ति) ('the country of Bhars'. Bharbhukti later changed to Bharhut)
• Dandabhukti (दंडभुक्ति)
• Jayaratabhukti
• Jejakabhukti
• Kopparakabhukti
• Magadhabhukti (मगधभुक्ति)
• Nagarabhukti (नगर भुक्ति)
• Paithamabhukti (पैठामभुक्ति)
• Pragjyotishabhukti (प्रागज्योतिष भुक्ति)
• Pratisthanabhukti
• Pundravardhanabhukti (पुंड्रवर्धन भुक्ति),
• Shrangarbhukti (श्रंगारभुक्ति)
• Sravasti Bhukti (श्रावस्ती भुक्ति) = Sravasti
• Taraḍamsakabhukti
• Tirabhukti (तीर भुक्ति)
• Vardhamanabhukti (वर्धमान भुक्ति)

परिचय

शासन की सुविधा के लिये गुप्त वंश के शासकों ने साम्राज्य को अनेक भुक्तियों में विभाजित किया था। ये भुक्तियाँ वर्तमान कमिश्नरी की भाँति थीं जिनमें कई 'विषय' या जिले होते थे। भुक्तियों का शासन 'उपरिक' नाम के अधिकारियों के हाथ में था जो अधिक शक्तिशाली हो जाने पर 'उपरिक महाराज' कहलाते थे।

गुप्तोत्तर काल में शासन की इकाई के रूप में भुक्ति के उल्लेख अधिक नहीं मिलते। प्रतिहार साम्राज्य में ऐसे कुछ उल्लेख हैं किंतु उनकी संख्या अधिक नहीं है। परमार, गहड़वाल, चंदेल और चालुक्यों के साम्राज्य में अधिक विस्तृत नहीं थे, भुक्ति के उल्लेख नहीं मिलता। बंगाल में पालों के बड़े साम्राज्य के कारण भुक्ति के उल्लेख हैं। असम में भी भुक्ति का उपयोग संभवत: पालों के साथ दीर्घकालीन संबंध के कारण था। गुप्तोत्तर काल में सम्राज्य का बहुत बड़ा भाग सामंतों के अधिकार में होने के कारण केंद्र द्वारा शासित प्रदेश इतना बड़ा नहीं था कि उसे भुक्ति जैसी बड़ी इकाइयों में बाँटा जा सके।

राष्ट्रकूट वंश, जो गंगा के मैदान के संपर्क में रहा, अपने कुछ अभिलेखों में कुछ भुक्तियों के नाम देता है, किंतु वहाँ यह विषय का विभाजन था। जो वर्तमान तालुक या तहसील जैसा छोटा था और उसमें प्राय: केवल 50 से 70 तक गाँव होते थे।

कुछ स्थलों पर भुक्ति का शासन के विभाजन के विशिष्ट अर्थ में उपयोग नहीं मिलता; यथा ईदा अभिलेख में 'वर्धमान भुक्ति' के अंतर्गत दंडभुक्ति एक मंडल था। इसी प्रकार तीरभुक्ति नगर के नाम के रूप में भी प्रयुक्त हुआ है।

गुप्तोत्तर काल में भुक्ति का उपयोग सामंतों की जागीर के अर्थ में भी मिलता है। यह उपयोग भुक्ति के शाब्दिक अर्थ पर आधारित था। कई चाहमान अभिलेखों, कीर्तिकौमुदी और उपमिति भवप्रपंच कथा में भुक्ति का उपयोग इस अर्थ में है।