The Rajamandala (or Rāja-maṇḍala meaning "circle of kings";[1] मण्डल, maṇḍala is a Sanskrit word that means "circle") was formulated by the Indian author Chanakya (Kautilya) in his work on politics, the Arthashastra (written between 4th century BCE and 2nd century CE).
[4][5][6] The term draws a comparison with the mandala of the Hindu and Buddhist worldview; the comparison emphasises the radiation of power from each power center, as well as the non-physical basis of the system.
[5] The terminology was revived two millenniums later as a result of twentieth-century efforts to comprehend patterns of diffuse but coherent political power.
Metaphors such as social anthropologist Tambiah's idea of a "galactic polity",[7] describe such political patterns as the mandala.
[9] The "Rajamandala" concept of ancient India was the prototype for the Mandala model of South East Asian political systems in later centuries, established by British historian O. W.