ABSTRACT
Among various types of Sresthis the one who was particularly significant was the rajasresthi or the royal merchant, who may have been appointed by and/or was closely associated with the ruler. Nepal also has a tradition of employing rajasresthi. The Thimi inscription, assignable probably to the reign of Sivadeva, has an interesting passage which refers to the annual payment of a levy in cash by villagers in connection with vistimanusya which would be raised by rajakuliyavyavasayis. Several rajasresthi figured in the Hoy sala court during the twelfth and the thirteenth centuries. Two of them belonged to the reign of Visnuvardhana; they were Hoysala-setti and Nemi-setti. Kammata Catti-setti was the royal merchant of Hoysala Vira-Ballala II. In the same Kolhapur record of 1136 figures Bommi-setti, of Mandalesvara’s household. Mandalesvara’s Nimbadevarasa is described in the same record as the samantaairomani or the principal vassal of Gandaraditya.
