Саманта: Титул и положение в древней и средневековой Индии.

Title used in ancient and medieval India
the Indian title
Samanta is a surname commonly found among the Hindu Bengali kayastha community was a title and position used in the history of the Indian subcontinent between 4th and 12th century 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. 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). 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.

The Samanta feudatories of Sagakula were called 'Sahi' and their overlord was called 'Sahanu Sahi' (King of Kings). The location of Sagakula is unknown. The Jaina saint Kalaka describes in his "Kalakacarya Kathanaka", that a group of Saka kings called Sahi kings were induced to come to India from 'Sagakula'. After crossing the Indus, they captured Kathiawar and Ujjayini and installed their own Sahi as the "King of Kings" and began a dynasty. The Sagakula were probably Saka Kula Western Satraps who had been expelled from Seistan by Mitradates II of Parthia. It is suggested that Adisura ruled over a small portion of northern Bengal and Bihar as a Samanta king during the Pala rule. A samanta king (sub ordinate ruler) named Sarangadeva or Kesari of the Somavamsi family is said to have probably ruled Sarang Garh in Odisha. Bardhamman was ruled by a Samanta king, Ichai Ghosh or Iswani Ghosh of the Kayastha community, which his descendents held as a zamindari.

In the Nepali realm of the Maharaja of Licchavi, samantas held feudal domains and played a major part at court. Samantas played a role in other Nepali kingdoms as well. Dr Regmi writes that in Nepal the Samanatas adopted high sounding titles such as Maharaja and Maharajadhiraja at a time when they were just Samantas (vassals). An example is an inscription in which a Samanta of Changu area, named Amsu Varma, adopted the title of Maharajadhiraja. They were not seen giving up the title of Samanta even after adopting a higher sounding title. One such example is Mahasamanta Maharaja Sri Karmalilah. Regmi compares this situation with the Indian side, where the title of Maharaja was used by both the king as well as his feudatories, such as the feudatory of Sasnaka in Midnapore, Sri Samanta Maharaja Samadatta, who ruled Dandabhukti of Utkala.

This compound Indian title refers to a territorial vassal or governor (a person who provides military support and governs a territory) under a king or monarch in exchange for certain guarantees) in South India. This should not be confused with the titles given in the colonial British India.