Samanta Raju

Samanta was a title and position used by the army people of Kings. The institution of Samanta finds mention for the first time in epigraphs of northern India dating to the 6th century. The institution is considered to belong properly to the Gupta Empire and is closely associated with the origin and growth of feudalism in India.

However, 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). 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 6th century AD) in which his father is described as the Samanta-Chudamanih (best among feudatories) of the imperial Guptas.

The Samanta vassal provided military support to the Monarch and governed over a portion of a territory.

The term 'Samanta' originally meant a 'neighbour' and in the Mauryan period, the term referred to the independent ruler of an adjoining territory as is evident from its use in the Arthashastra and Ashokan edicts. The 'border-kings' (pratyan-tanripati) mentioned by Samudragupta in his Allahabad prashasti were such Samantas in the original use of the term.

However, the term underwent a change, and came to mean a 'vassal' by the end of the Gupta period and in the post-Gupta period. In fact the institution of the Samanta was the main innovation that distinguished the post-Gupta period from the periods of ancient India. By the end of the Gupta period and by the 6th century the term Samanta came to be universally accepted as the Prince of a subjugated but reinstated tributary region.

Early kingdoms of Medieval India would surround themselves with a "Samanta-Chakra", that is, a 'circle of tributary chiefs'. By the time of King Harshavardhana, the institution of the Samanta had become well-developed and the Samantas came to be considered powerful figures. In order to integrate them into the hierarchy of the realm they were often given high positions in the court. One such example is the king of Vallabhi who was defeated by King Harsha and became a Maha-Samanta. This Vallabhi King then rose under Emperor Harsha to the position of a Maha-Pratihara (guardian of the royal gateway or the royal door-keeper) and went on to become a Maha-Danda-Nayaka (Royal Field Marshal). In effect, the institution of the Samanta brought rulers of fragmented or tribalistic, small independent regions under subjugation to serve the king or emperor as vassals.

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