Samanta

Samanta 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. Provided by Wikipedia