What was the political Conditions during the Gangas Rule in India?

(i) Administrative System

During the Gangas rule, the King was at the apex of the administration. He was styled as ‘Maharaja dhiraja’ and ‘Dharma maharaja dhiraja’ King was the main source of all the powers.

He was the absolute and supreme authority in the Kingdom. But he was not a despotic king because he used to consult his ministers, generals and learned men on all important issues of the kingdom. The son of the king was known as “Yuvaraja” or crown prince.

(ii) Administrative Divisions

The Gangas rulers had divided their kingdom into several administrative units called “Nadu “. A “Nadu” consisted several villages.

From the “inscriptions” we find the names and sizes of different “Nadus” e.g. the Havalana Nadu 300 villages the Ganga Nadu, 6,000 Villages the Belthur Nadu, Panne Nadu and Pulavayi Nadu 100 and Muo Nadu 60 Villages.

(iii) “Nadus” Administration

The Nadus were administered by the officials appointed by the King. Occasionally there were feudatory chieftains.

It shows that the entire policy was based on the feudal system. The chieftains had autonomy over their respective “Nadus” but they could not change the tax ratio without the prior approval of the King

(iv) Administrative Officials

(a) Heggadesri: “Heggades” were the in charge of the districts.

(b) Sunka-Heggade: “Sunka-Heggade” was an officer who collected the revenue.

(c) Srikarana-Heggade: “Srikarana- Heggade” was also an officer who collected the revenue.

(d) “Gounda” “Gounda”or “Gouda”was the headman of the village and he was responsible for its administration.

In this way, it was the Gangas who were first to lay down an administrative system in Kamataka. They struck the gold coins with the impression of elephants on the obverses and a floral design on the reverse.