Samatata, Samataṭa, Samātata: 10 definitions
Introduction:
Samatata means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, the history of ancient India. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.
In Hinduism
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: The Purana IndexSamataṭa (समतट).—Under Devarakṣita.*
- * Viṣṇu-purāṇa IV. 24. 64.
The Purana (पुराण, purāṇas) refers to Sanskrit literature preserving ancient India’s vast cultural history, including historical legends, religious ceremonies, various arts and sciences. The eighteen mahapuranas total over 400,000 shlokas (metrical couplets) and date to at least several centuries BCE.
Jyotisha (astronomy and astrology)
Source: Wisdom Library: Brihat Samhita by VarahamihiraSamataṭa (समतट) refers to a country belonging to “Pūrvā or Pūrvadeśa (eastern division)” classified under the constellations of Ārdrā, Punarvasu and Puṣya, according to the system of Kūrmavibhāga, according to the Bṛhatsaṃhitā (chapter 14), an encyclopedic Sanskrit work written by Varāhamihira mainly focusing on the science of ancient Indian astronomy astronomy (Jyotiṣa).—Accordingly, “The countries of the Earth beginning from the centre of Bhāratavarṣa and going round the east, south-east, south, etc., are divided into 9 divisions corresponding to the 27 lunar asterisms at the rate of 3 for each division and beginning from Kṛttikā. The constellations of Ārdrā, Punarvasu and Puṣya represent the eastern division consisting of [i.e., Samataṭa] [...]”.
Jyotisha (ज्योतिष, jyotiṣa or jyotish) refers to ‘astronomy’ or “Vedic astrology” and represents the fifth of the six Vedangas (additional sciences to be studied along with the Vedas). Jyotisha concerns itself with the study and prediction of the movements of celestial bodies, in order to calculate the auspicious time for rituals and ceremonies.
India history and geography
Source: archive.org: Personal and geographical names in the Gupta inscriptionsSamataṭa (समतट) is a place-name without suffix and is mentioned in the Gupta inscription No. 1. The Gupta empire (r. 3rd-century CE), founded by Śrī Gupta, covered much of ancient India and embraced the Dharmic religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Samataṭa is one of the frontier kingdoms which offered their submission to Samudragupta. Sen remarks that Samudragupta reduced the king of Samataṭa to the rank of a subordinate prince who had to part with most of his powers and was “allowed to rule over a much reduced dominion as a vassal of the emperor”.
Samataṭa is the only territory in Bengal to be referred to in the Allahabed Praśasti. The first epigraphic reference to Samataṭa is to be found in this inscription. Literally the name means ‘the shore country’ or ‘Level country’. “Samataṭa in the Gupta period denoted a territory lying to the east of the Brahmaputra”.
The Bṛhat-saṃhitā mentions Samataṭa as a country situated in the East. The Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang proceeded from Kāmarūpa southwards and after a journey of 1,200 or 1,300 li (6 li- 1 mile) reached the country of Samataṭa. According to him, this country was on the seaside and was low and moist and was more than 3,000 li in circuit. From Samataṭa, the pilgrim journeyed towards the West for over 900 li and reached Tanmolihti, or Tāmralipta, the modern Tamluk in the Midnāpur district. Samataṭa, therefore, must have been the South-eastern part of the Bengal presidency corresponding to the Dacca, Faridpur, Backerganj, Jessore and Khulna districts.
Samataṭa is known from the Baghaura Inscription that the Tipperah district was in Samataṭa. The Ārya-Mañjuśrī Mūlakalpa states that Samataṭa was situated to the east of the Lohitya. The Yādavaprakāśa equates Bhaurika with Samataṭa. Epigraphical evidence, however, shows that Samataṭa comprised the districts of Comilla, Noakhali and Sylhat. Its capital Karmmanta has been identified with Baḍ-Kāmatā, 12 miles west of Comilla district. After the rule of the Guptas, Samataṭa was successively under the Khaḍga, Candra, Varman and Sena dynasties.
Source: archive.org: The Indian Buddhist Iconography (history)Samataṭa (समतट) and Vaṅga were the two important centres of culture in Bengal (in the medieval period when Tantras flourished). Vaṅga included the present Dacca, Faridpur and Backerganj districts, while Samataṭa comprised the present Sylhet, Chittagong, Tipperah and Mymensingh districts. That Vaṅga and Samataṭa were the two great centres of culture in Bengal is borne out by the numerous Buddhist and Brahmanical images of the Tantric type discovered in the whole of this region. Numerous old inscriptions, remains of old buildings, coins and terracottas found in these regions, confirm the conclusion that from the Vaṅga-Samataṭa area radiated different streams of culture to the rest of Eastern India.
Source: What is India: Inscriptions of the Early Gupta KingsSamataṭa (समतट).—Varāhamihira places Samataṭa in the Eastern Division. But that does not help us to locate it properly. According to Yuan Chwang, Samataṭa was to the east of the Tāmraliptī and to the south of the Kāmarūpa country, and bordered on the sea. On the strength of these data and also the Bāghāurā image inscription, N. K. Bhattasali has satisfactorily identified it with the natural geographical unit “comprising the eastern half of the present Mymensingh and Dacca districts lying east of the Brahmaputra, the greater part of Sylhet, and the whole of the Tippera and Noakhali districts.” He further holds the opinion that Baḍkāmtā, twelve miles west of modern Comilla was the capital of Samataṭa.
Source: Shodhganga: Legacy of Buddhism in BengalSamataṭa (समतट) is another name for Vaṅga (viz., Bengal, Gauḍa).—Vaṅga was originally the name of the south-eastern part of the province, but it boundaries were not well defined, and other geographical names such as Samataṭa, Harikela,Vaṅgāla, were used for different parts, if not the whole, of it at different times during the pre-Muslim period. [...] Varāhamihira in his Bṛhatsaṃhitā distinguishes Gauḍaka from Pauṇḍra, Tāmraliptaka, Vaṅga, Samaṭata, Vardhamāna,etc.
Samataṭa is mentioned in the Allahabad Pillar Inscription of Samudragupta along with Ḍavāka, Kāmarūpa, Nepāla, Kartṛpura and others as a frontier state of the Gupta empire. The Bṛhatsaṃhitā refers to it as distinguished from Vaṅga. [...] Dr. B. C. Sen, on the ground of the statement of Hiuen Tsang that Samataṭa was bounded on one side by the sea, arrives at the conclusion that “the districts of 24 Parganas, Khulna, Buckdrgunj etc., standing near the sea, were incorporated into Samataṭa”.
The history of India traces the identification of countries, villages, towns and other regions of India, as well as mythology, zoology, royal dynasties, rulers, tribes, local festivities and traditions and regional languages. Ancient India enjoyed religious freedom and encourages the path of Dharma, a concept common to Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism.
Languages of India and abroad
Sanskrit dictionary
Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionarySamātata (समातत).—p. p.
1) Extended, stretched.
2) Continuous, uninterrupted.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Edgerton Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit DictionarySāmātaṭa (सामातट).—(?) , f. °ṭī, adj., geographical, with vācā, (language) of (? some country or region; probably corrupt): (Ārya-)Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa 332.7 (verse), see Harikelika.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary1) Samataṭa (समतट):—[=sama-taṭa] [from sama] Name of a country in eastern India, [Varāha-mihira’s Bṛhat-saṃhitā; Buddhist literature]
2) Samātata (समातत):—[=sam-ātata] [from samā-tan] mfn. extended, stretched, strung (as a bow), [Mahābhārata]
3) [v.s. ...] continuous, uninterrupted, [Horace H. Wilson]
[Sanskrit to German]
Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Partial matches: Tata, Atata, Sam, Cama, Sama.
Full-text (+2): Vanga, Khulna, Faridpur, Backerganj, Jessore, Bhaurika, Karmmanta, Dacca, Kamarupa, Davaka, Tamralipta, Tamluk, Tanmolihti, Pratyanta, Devarakshita, Sobharampur, Harikela, Vikrampur, Nala, Vangala.
Relevant text
Search found 6 books and stories containing Samatata, Samataṭa, Samātata, Sāmātaṭa, Sama-tata, Sama-taṭa, Sam-atata, Sam-ātata; (plurals include: Samatatas, Samataṭas, Samātatas, Sāmātaṭas, tatas, taṭas, atatas, ātatas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Jain Remains of Ancient Bengal (by Shubha Majumder)
Geographical as well as Geo-political unit of Zone II < [Chapter 2 - Geographical Setting of the Study Area]
Jainism in ancient Bengal according to the travel account of Xuanzang < [Chapter 3 - Historical Background of Jainism in Ancient Bengal]
Geographical as well as Geo-political unit of Zone IV < [Chapter 2 - Geographical Setting of the Study Area]
Buddhist records of the Western world (Xuanzang) (by Samuel Beal)
Chapter 6 - Country of San-mo-ta-ch’a (Samotaṭa) < [Book X - Seventeen Countries]
Chapter 5 - Country of Kia-mo-lu-po (Kamarupa) < [Book X - Seventeen Countries]
Chapter 1 - Country of Mo-kie-t’o (Magadha), part 1 < [Book VIII and IX]
Chaitanya Bhagavata (by Bhumipati Dāsa)
Verse 1.14.49 < [Chapter 14 - The Lord’s Travel to East Bengal and the Disappearance of Lakṣmīpriyā]
Brihat Samhita (by N. Chidambaram Iyer)
A Dictionary Of Chinese Buddhist Terms (by William Edward Soothill)