administration

In about 200 years of rule, Kadambas have contributed much to the Indian culture. They were the followers of vedic religion. The administration was based on Hindu Dharma Shastras. The king was not dictator. The kings devoted much of their time towards the welfare of the subjects. The nobles and priests held influential positions in the court. The cabinet was constituted with the chief minister, commander of the forces and the chief priest A five member council of ministers called Manevargade, Tantrapala, Pradhana, Kramukha Pala and Sabha Karya Sachiva, was established. The Chief Minister and his council used to advice the king on administrative matters. In the inscription of Madhatu we came to know that the officials called Rahasyadhikruta’s were the private secretaries of the king. The army of Kadambas had the Chaturanga Bala.

provincial administration
For the convenienceof the administration, the kingdom was divided into provices and a noble man belonging to the royal family was the head of such provices. These provinces had other units of adminstration called Kampana. Land revenue was the main income of the state. The state looked after the maintenance of roads, irrigation tanks and other public works. Agriculture and commerce were encouraged. The land was fertile and peace was established

Social Conditions
Mostly people lived in villages Joint family system prevailed. The right of the property descended from father to son.However daughters became heirs when there was no male issue. People were interested in varieties of ornaments and cloths. There was no scope for intercaste marriages. Marriage was limited to his own gotra. The vVarnashrma and Sati were practiced. As an instance the Sati system performed by Ravivarma’s wife can be cited.

Economic Condition
Economic prosperity was there. Though agriculture was the main occupation there were rich traders and craftsmen too. Weaving, preparing of ornaments, and oil extraction were other important professions. Gold and silver coins of different varieties were in circulation. Hayavadana Rao thinks that the Kadambas were the first to mint the Padma Tanka coins. Though the Kadamba kingdom was a kingdom of villages, cities like Govaka Puri, Belgaum and Banavasi were developed, villages were administered by the Gowda (headman) and citiews by the Pattanaswamy (civil administrator).

Literature and Education
Temples and mutts were the chief educational centers. There was scope of people of all the classes to get education. Kadambas encouraged Kanndas and Sanskrit.Everybody had a chance to get the education he liked, free of cost. But it ws imparted only among higher class. Literature reched its height of glory. Shanthinatha’s Sukumara Charita, Nagavarma Charya’s Chandra Chudamani and Chandraraja’s madanatilaka were the chief works of this period.Prakrit was the administrative language and Sanskrit and Kannada gradually occupied the position Apart from the incriptio of Chandravalli and Malavalli, the rest are in either Kannada or Sanskrit. The temples, mutts, ghatakas, and agraharas were the chief centers of learning. All sections of society had opportunity to receive education. But only a few belonging to the upper class made use of it. Generally all could not have access to it. Kannada and Sanskrit were patronized during the time of Kadambas and literature had reached its zenith during their time.