Introduction

• Land grants by the Satvahana rulers in the 2nd century A.D. involved the transfer of administrative rights to the donees, marking a novel feature in post-Mauryan polity.
• In Gupta polity, the position of district officers became hereditary, enhancing the power of local administration.
• From the 5th century A.D. onwards, land grants became increasingly numerous.
• Gupta feudatories in Central India granted lands to Brahmins that included administrative rights like control over revenue and maintenance of law and order.
• These grants were generally held in perpetuity, leading to the rise of Brahmin feudatories with independent administrative rights.
• Land grants from Gupta rulers did not allow for the right of sub-assignment, though early instances of sub-infeudation are noted in an Indore inscription regarding merchant grants.
• By the late Gupta period, feudatories began issuing grants without seeking royal approval within the core of the empire, though this practice began earlier in the periphery.
• Evidence exists of land grants for religious purposes, with officials receiving revenues as payment for their services.
• No clear instances of land grants to administrative and military personnel are noted.
• In the 6th century A.D., the term Samant referred to subjugated chiefs who became feudatories or tributaries, as noted in the Barabar hill cave inscription of Maukhari chief Anantvarman.
• The title Samanta Cudamanih was given to distinguished feudatories, eventually applied to royal officials during the Kalachuri-Chedis and Harshavardhan periods.
• Under Harsha, both vanquished chiefs and officials were given titles such as samanta-maharaja and mahasamanta.
• Samantas were required to provide military aid to their suzerains during wartime.
• The Harshcharit of Banabhatt elaborates on the role of the Samantas, emphasizing the tributary relationship central to the Samant system.
• Initially, land grants served religious purposes, but the emergence of feudatories within the Gupta state system established a hierarchical structure based on the suzerain/subordinate relationship.
• In the post-Gupta period, various ruling lineages proliferated, at times collaborating to create a supra-local authority at the regional level.
• The processes of Kshatriyaisation and the Samant system, marked by land grants to secular personnel, became foundational for state formation.