The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c17.146

v1.c17.146

An officer, not included in the list of the Ratnins but often mentioned in the texts of the period, was the Sthapati; and we learn that it was the Sthapati of Dushṭarītu who restored him to the kingdom of the Sṛiñjayas after he had been expelled thence by his subjects. He may have been a governor of part of the kingdom; but the more likely interpretation of the term is ‘chief judge,’ an official who doubtless combined executive as well as judicial functions. Later however in the Sūtras we hear of a Nishāda-Sthapati which may mean a ‘governor of Nishādas,’ apparently the ruler of some outlying aboriginal tribes, who had been reduced to subjection and placed under the royal control.