The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c18.125

c18.125

The majority of the inscriptions of this period refer to the Mahattaras or Mahattamas of a village. The two terms, though apparently representing the comparative and superlative degrees, have the same political significance, that of elders. Their repeated mention shows that generally the elders of a village were associated, it seems informally, with the regular servants of government in the management of rural affairs. Sometimes they rose high and obtained recognition at the courts of suzerains and feudatories. In one of the grants a Mahattama appears as the Dûtaka.¹