The 18 Communities of Medieval Telangana
Ashtadasa-praja · Ashtadasa-varna · Ashtadasa-samaya
The "18 communities" were a collective socio-political and fiscal body in medieval Telangana villages that made joint decisions regarding local taxation and religious endowments. While many inscriptions mention them as a unified group, the most comprehensive breakdown of these specific communities is found in the Kandukuru inscription (A.D. 1316) and is supplemented by records from Nagulapadu (1303), Matedu (1310), Mellacheruvu (1312), and Tekmal (1308).
Inscriptions like those at Nagulapadu and Mellacheruvu demonstrate that these communities acted as a unified political and fiscal body, obtaining the king's permission to divert a portion of their professional taxes (such as the mada-badi or siddhaya) to endow local temples for spiritual merit.
✦ The 18 Communities
Based on the detailed tax schedules and service roles recorded in the sources, the eighteen groups included:
✦ Inscription Records & Tax Data
Issued during the reign of Prataparudra. The "people of the eighteen samayas" granted a vritti for the god Mallinatha.
- Komatis (Merchants): One-fourth (padika) per house
- Idigas (Toddy-sellers): One-fourth for one share
- Shepherds & Akkasalas (Goldsmiths): Two visas for two vrittis
A grant made with the permission of the "18 communities of Tekumbedla".
- All 18 communities: One mada-badi-patuka for every mada (cash income from land tax) gifted to the god Bhoganatha
Records a unified decision by the communities of Marutedu.
- People of 18 Varnas of Marutedu: Gift of 5 visas in every mada of the siddhaya (fixed tax) due to the king, for the gods Mallesvara and Kesava
A record under Prataparudra detailing community contributions.
- Komatis (Merchants): One mada
- Salevaru (Weavers): Six chinnas
- Gollas (Shepherds): Four chinnas
The most exhaustive fiscal record of the "18 sects of people" (asta-dala-praja). The 18 communities and the Karanams agreed to various taxes for the god Ramanathadeva.
- Land Tax: One chinna on each marturu of wetland (including sthana-manyas and Deva-brahmana-vrittis)
- Standard loom: One chinna
- Wool-loom (mala-magga): One addugu
- Oil mill: One chinna
- Smiths, barbers, stone-cutters: Two chinnas per house
- Niruvidis (Water managers): Two chinnas and one addugu
Merchants: 1 mada | Weavers: 6 chinnas | Shepherds: 4 chinnas
✦ Key Observations
Terminology: The three terms — Ashtadasa-praja, Ashtadasa-varna, and Ashtadasa-samaya — were used interchangeably, though praja ("subjects") is most common in Telugu inscriptions.
Fiscal Negotiation: These records show that taxation was not merely extraction. Communities collectively petitioned the king to redirect their professional taxes toward local temples, turning fiscal obligation into religious endowment.
Beyond Classical Varna: The system includes Brahmins alongside shepherds, soldiers, and leather-workers as a single political body — a practical departure from the four-fold varna system.
Symbolic Number 18: The number is ritually significant (18 Puranas, 18 chapters of the Gita). Actual community counts could vary by village (16–20), with local substitutions based on economic needs.
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