Kadamba Empire

  General Description   The Kadamba dynasty ruled over a region that largely falls within the boundaries of the modern-day Indian states of Karnataka and Maharashtra. ^[1] An absolute start date could not be found in the specialist literature. However, much is known about this polity’s monarchs. Most notably, Kakushtavarma, widely regarded as the greatest Kadamba king, concluded marriage alliances with prominent ruling families (thus extending Kadamba influence over much of the subcontinent) and created an internal police force to ensure the safe movement of people from one part of the empire to another. ^[2] After Kakushtavarma, the empire was temporarily split among his heirs, each division with its own capital: Halsi for the north and west, Triparvata for the south, and Uchchangi for the east. ^[3] The empire was partly reunited a generation later under Ravivarma. ^[4] However, the polity disintegrated rapidly under Harivarma, and much of its territory was seized by the Chalukyas of Badami in the 540s CE. ^[5]
Population and political organization
In imitation of the Satavahanas, the Kadambas referred to their leader as dharmamaharaja ^[6] The dharmamaharaja was assisted at court by a royal council and the crown prince, and in the provinces he was represented by viceroys and governors. ^[6]
No population estimates for this period could be found in the specialist literature.

[1]: (Moraes [1931] 1990, 47) George Moraes. 1990. The Kadamba Kula. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services.

[2]: (Murthy and Ramakrishnan 1978, 47) H. V. Sreenivasa Murthy and R. Ramakrishnan. 1978. A History of Karnataka. New Delhi: S. Chand.

[3]: (Murthy and Ramakrishnan 1978, 49) H. V. Sreenivasa Murthy and R. Ramakrishnan. 1978. A History of Karnataka. New Delhi: S. Chand.

[4]: (Murthy and Ramakrishnan 1978, 48) H. V. Sreenivasa Murthy and R. Ramakrishnan. 1978. A History of Karnataka. New Delhi: S. Chand.

[5]: (Kadambi 2007, 178) Hemanth Kadambi. 2007. ’Negotiated Pasts and Memorialized Present in Ancient India’, in Negotiating the Past in the Past: Identity, Memory, and Landscape in Archaeological Research, edited by Norman Yoffee, 155-82. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press.

[6]: (Kamath 1980, 38) Suryanath Kamath. 1980. A Concise History of Karnataka: From Pre-historic Times to the Present. Bangalore: Archana Prakashana.