220 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [N.S., XV, 
40. Nor is this the only evidence we possess in this c 
nection. A certain Lieut. vrai visited Sambalpur as far back 
as 1838 and specifically write 
‘* Touching the state of Sassheiadh it was (previous to its 
‘‘dismemberment) subdivided into 18 garhs or chieftainships 
‘held in fief of the Lord Paramount who resided at Sambalpur, 
“and called therefore Atharah Garh Sambalpur. Amongst these 
“ tribute or to furnish their quota of Paiks (m 
In spite of the weight which must png. to precise 
records of the kind just quoted clearly in full accord with 
current local tradition, there is no question but that this des- 
cription of the Sambalpur Atharahgarh,as comprising in addition 
to Sambalpur itself a number of extensive States outside and 
around it, is hag sagriee incorrect. Ido not deny the existence 
at one time of a large cluster of States in subordination to 
Sambalpur hia Patna. But the application of the term Atharah- 
garh to this confederacy is mistaken. is is an assertion 
which at first sight must seem presumptuo Here we have a 
list of 18 States based on local tradition pair on seeiisded evi- 
dence which goes back to 80 years ago. The tradition is 
st oh in every official record, we possess—in Gazetteers 
undertaking to attempt to prove that so many competent 
l It = t be denied ns the number 18 was, in gph early times, 
applied to confederacies of states. Two such cases are record. In 
st gdoms’ 
VIII of the pe Indica and No. 107 in Rei Babsice Hivelal’s Der. 
ipti ist of C. 
lage Com i e 
** quent features of Hindu States patito ig pee not on the clan system, 
*‘is that they are combined in confederacies and united under the 
in 
‘**Kanouj being drawn by 18 minor Rajas. This c confederacy did not 
‘imply any interference with Packer state affairs, only with general 
‘‘defence and o: But we have to note that these are both very 
ar Cc 
long prior to the arrival of the Haihaibansis in Chhattisgarh. They refer 
to something much more extensive than the petty group of states roun 
Sam th 
r, and 
toa sovereign who hold E jent t it y Bigs x 19 si in feo 
The Atharahgarh which we Pi in Tripuri, Ratanpur, Raipur, Bas 
ndi are, on the c toa ge of 1 18 units consttating in 
ontrary, co 
themselves an independent political entity. 
