From Kingdoms to Transregional States: Exploring the Dynamics of State Formation in Pre-modern Odisha

In what is today known as Odisha and in its adjoining areas, the closing centuries of the first millennium ce and beyond were marked by the shift from usual kingdoms to larger and more complex state systems, spread over several subregions/regions (maṇḍalas). The socio-economic and cultural processes—ranging from agrarian growth and the rise of markets, merchants and towns to the shaping of a region-specific caste system and vernacular language and literature—which sustained these political developments and the new requirements such as the elaboration in the structure of administration and legitimation constitute the subject matter of this article. The transregional states under discussion are somewhat comparable with imperial formations insofar as they were conquest states and perpetuated unevenness and differences between spaces, peoples and cultures across the constituent spatial segments. However, in terms of their territorial dimensions and resources, they fell short of the empires and therefore may be seen to be located between the usual kingdoms and celebrated empires.