THE REGIONAL KINGDOMS OF EARLY MEDIEVAL INDIAThe administrative structure in these principalities and early kingdoms
seems to have evolved gradually in keeping with local requirements. Thus
the inscriptions of the Matharas of the fifth century did not yet contain
long lists of royal officers and there seems to be only a vague indication of
district administration (vishaya). The villages seem to have enjoyed a
considerable degree of autonomy. Mathara land grants only mention the
peasants (kutumbin) themselves as witnesses. A more elaborate inscription
belonging to the sixth century was found in the central Mahanadi delta
region, an area which had been in closer contact with the Gupta empire.
This inscription mentions mahasamantas, maharajas, ministers belonging
to the royal family (kumara-amatya) and royal servants (parikara). But,
unlike the similar list in Harsha’s inscription no mention is made of
governors or district officers. This seems to indicate that in Orissa these
small kingdoms in the second phase of development were alliances of
princelings under the suzerainty of the strongest amongst them. A
centralised administration probably did not even exist in the nuclear area
of the chief ruler at this stage.
A distinct change can be noticed when the Bhaumakara dynasty
established its hold over coastal Orissa. The land grants of this dynasty,
recorded on copper plates, contain the full list of mahasamantas,
maharajas, princes, ministers, governors and district officers and a host of
other royal officers. Interestingly enough, the grants also contain a short
list of the important people in the villages concerned which seems to
indicate that the villages continued to enjoy a large amount of autonomy
even at this stage of the development of the regional kingdom.
Another aspect of the rule of the Bhaumakaras is the existence of a
circle (mandala) of tributary neighbours. This circle was, in fact, a
semicircle of the hinterland surrounding the coastal nuclear areas
controlled by the Bhaumakaras. The mandala rulers were the Shulkis,
Nandas, Tungas and Bhanjas. They have all left inscriptions of their own in
which they referred to their Bhaumakara overlords but otherwise acted
rather independently.
The mandala lords’ strong position was due to the fact that they
represented important tribal units with their own distinct territorial base.
The Shulkis probably belonged to the tribe of the Shaulikas which has been
mentioned in the inscriptions of Central Indian kings. They worshipped a
tribal ‘Goddess of the Pillar’ (stambheshvari), a goddess who is still
worshipped today in the former tribal areas of Orissa. Nevertheless, the
Shulkis also built magnificent Hindu temples in their capital. These tribal
rulers can be compared to the allodial lords of medieval Europe who did not
hold a fief bestowed upon them by the king but had grown ‘from a wild
root’. It was an important element of the expansion of the regional kingdom
in India that such mandala lords extended their sway into the surrounding
mountainous regions where tribes lived who were as yet untouched by