Samanta

This article is about the Indian title. For the feminine given name, see Samantha.

Samanta was a title and position used in the history of the Indian subcontinent between 4th and 12th century[1][2] to denote a vassal, feudal lord or tributary chief. The leader of 100 village also popularly known as jagirdar. The term roughly translates to neighbor.[3] The institution is considered to be closely associated with the origin and growth of feudalism in India and Medieval India.

The institution is known to have existed prior to the Gupta period, though details on them are vague. A Pallava inscription dating to the time of Santivarman (AD 455–470) uses the term Samanta-Chudamanayah (best feudatories).[4] The Samanta in South India was used to mean a vassal to an emperor. In North India, the earliest use of the term in a similar sense was in Bengal in the Barabar Hill Cave Inscription of the Maukhari Chief, Anantavarman (dating to the 6th century AD) in which his father is described as the Samanta-Chudamanih (best among feudatories) of the imperial Guptas.[4][5]

  1. ^ The Journal of the Bihar Research Society, Volumes 69–70, p.77
  2. ^ "Samanta – Banglapedia". en.banglapedia.org. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
  3. ^ Kulke, Hermann; Rothermund, Dietmar (2016). A History of India.
  4. ^ a b Indian Hist (Opt), by Reddy, p.A-415
  5. ^ Origin and growth of feudalism in early India: from the Mauryas to AD 650, by Gian Chand Chauhan, p.53