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Essay on Political Forms Of Ancient India
| Date: |
02-05-02 3:20am |
| Subject: |
History |
| Word Count: |
1622 |
| Page Count: |
6.49 |
Political forms of Ancient India
Political
forms of Ancient India
The Indian sub-continent was the home
of one of the earliest civilizations of man. In the history of ancient
India we see many forms of society ranging from urban civilization of Indus
Valley to the Classical Age of Gupta Dynasty. During this period
we see a hierarchy of centralized and decentralized government.
Some of which were highly organized in their political structure and government
while others were merely weakened by internal problems and division of
power.
Indus Valley Civilization was one of the
world's oldest and greatest civilizations which took shape around 3000
BC to 2500 BC in the valley of the Indus River. Remains of more than
100 cities, towns, and villages of the Indus Valley civilization have now
been found from north of the Hindu Kush down the entire length of the Indus
and beyond into peninsular India. Harappa and Mohenjo Daro are the two
urban centers of Indus Valley civilization and the excavation of these
sites reveal standardization and ordered society and ten centuries of relatively
stable conditions.
The city was amazingly well planned with
broad main streets and good secondary streets. The houses of these
cities were solidly built of bricks and many were multi-storied and equipped
with bathrooms and lavatories. The high quality of the pottery, along with
hoards of gold and silver found at Indus Valley sites, suggest great accumulation
of wealth. Each city was laid out on a grid plan with a high citadel and
a lower city of domestic dwellings. Urban planning is evident in
the neat arrangement of major buildings contained in the citadel, including
the placement of a large granary and water tank or bath at right angles
to one another. The lower city, which was tightly packed with residential
units, was also constructed on a grid pattern consisting of a number of
blocks separated by major cross streets. The cities had an elaborate public
drainage system. Sanitation was provided through an extensive system
of covered drains running through the length of the main streets and connected
by chutes with most residences.
All these archeological evidences uncovered
a strong centralized authority. The urban civilization of Indus Valley
suggests a complex planning that undertook the region and the people lived
up to the standard of the time. The Indus civilization appears to
have declined rapidly in the early 2d Millennium BC. Archeological remains
further indicate intermittent and devastating floods around this time and
possible invasions by the Aryans, whose epics refer to their conquest of
walled cities.
The Aryans are said to have entered India
through the fabled Khyber pass, around 1500 BC and gave rise to another
civilization in Indian history, the Vedic period. The Aryans are
believed to have developed the Sanskrit language and made significant inroads
into the religion of the time. All these factors were to play a fundamental
role in the shaping of Indian culture. The Aryans did not have a
script but they developed a rich tradition. They composed the hymns of
the four vedas, the great philosophic poems that are at the heart of Hindu
thought.
The Aryans were divided into tribes, which
had settled in different regions of northwestern India. Tribal chiefmanship
gradually became hereditary, though the chief usually operated with the
help of advice from either a committee or the entire tribe. Tribal chiefs
bearing the title Raja or king were at first little more than war-lords,
and their principal duty was protection of their tribes. The power
of the king positioned with the higher authority of the priests.
Vedic kingship was the natural outcome
of the conditions surrounding the Aryans. A king was the leader of
the people in the war of aggression and defense. He is called the
"Protector of the people". A study of the Rigveda shows that the
king was no longer merely a leader of a primitive tribe, but occupied a
position of per-eminence among the people. The protection of the
people was the sacred duty of the king. In return, he expected and
received loyal obedience from his subjects in the sense of a tribute to
the king.
With work specialization, the internal
division of the Aryan society developed along caste lines. Their social
framework was composed mainly of the following groups: the Brahmana (priests),
Kshatriya (warriors), Vaishya (agriculturists) and Shudra (workers). The
Brahmanas were referred to as the receivers of gift. The Vaishyas
had to pay tribute for the lands that they got from the Kshatriya nobles.
It was, in the beginning, a division of occupations; as such it was open
and flexible. Much later, caste status and the corresponding occupation
came to depend on birth, and change from one caste or occupation to another
became far more difficult. Later on, marriages became strict, and
no Vaishya or Shudra was allowed to become a Brahmana or Kshatriya or even
to take up the profession of teaching or fighting.
The Aryan tribes failed to unite against
non-Aryan due to lack of strong political foundation and the unstable nature
due to their internal caste system. The weak character of the empire
came from the rigid caste system that divided people and created unstable
feelings among them. These were some of the reasons that formed the
Vedic empire far less organized than the Indus Valley Civilization.
Statecraft evolved as a new system of government
following the Vedic period. The solidarity of the tribal state and
the political power of elite warriors gave rise to a new style of kingship.
It aimed at the creation of more professional armies and more dependent
upon the king. The statecraft aimed at acquisition of territories
rich in natural resources and tax-paying peasants rather than booty or
territory for tribal expansion.
The political history of India, during
the greater part of the period, mainly revolves round the rise and growth
of the kingdom of Magadha, one of the four leading states which existed
about 600 BC. Magadha’s king, Ajatashatru, was a ruthless ruler and
caused the decline of Magadha empire. The Magadha empire was overshadowed
by the more powerful empire, Maurya, which slowly began to take control
of Magadha empire.
By the end of the third century, most of
North India was knit together in the first great Indian empire by Chandragupta
Maurya. Under his control, trade flourished, agriculture was regulated,
weights and measures were standardized. Money first came into use.
Taxation, sanitation and famine relief became the concerns of the state.
His son and successor, Bindusara, extended the Mauryan empire over virtually
the entire subcontinent, giving rise to an imperial vision that was to
dominate successive centuries of political aspirations.
The greatest Mauryan emperor was Ashoka
the Great (286-231 BC) whose successful campaigns culminated in the annexation
of Kalinga (modern Orissa). The Mauryan empire reached its climax
under Ashoka’s rule. For the first time, the whole of the sub-continent,
leaving out the extreme south, was under imperial control. The military
administration of the empire was very efficient, being vested in six boards
of thirty members. So also was the municipal administration of Pataliputra,
the seat of the empire. The empire was divided into provinces, each
under a viceroy. Taxes collected on land, trade, and manufacture
of handicrafts were the other major sources of income during this era.
The state brought new lands under cultivation and developed irrigation
facilities. Under the Mauryans, the entire sub-continent was criss-crossed
with roads.
Ashoka later converted to Buddhism, but
did not impose his faith on his subjects. Instead, he tried to convert
them through his new policy, called Dharma, inscribed on rocks and pillars
in the local dialects. The highly structured politics along with
high spiritual beliefs such as Ahimsa from Budhism led to the advanced
and centralized nature of the Mauryan empire which flourished under the
great rulers of its time.
Following Ashoka's death in 232 BC, the
Mauryan empire started disintegrating. This was an open invitation
to invaders from Central Asia to seek their fortunes in India. This
period saw the rise of several smaller kingdoms that did not last very
long. The last ruler of the Mauryan dynasty was Brithadratha. He
was killed by his own commander-in-chief Pushyamitra Sunga in 185 BC.
Pushyamitra Sunga became the ruler of the Magadha and neighboring territories.
With the fall of Mauryas, India lost its political unity. The northwestern
regions comprising Rajputana, Malwa and Punjab passed into the hands of
the foreign rulers. The descendants of Pushyamitra Sunga were not
able to maintain the stability of their empire. The power of the
Sungas gradually weakened and the regions were absorbed within the dominions
of the conqueror.
The greatest empire in the fourth century
AD was the Gupta empire, which ushered in the golden age of Indian history.
This empire lasted for more than two centuries. It covered a large part
of the Indian subcontinent, but its administration was more decentralized
than that of the Mauryas, but more centralized than Sungas. The theory
of the divinity of kings became more popular during the Gupta period.
Alternately waging war and entering into matrimonial alliances with the
smaller kingdoms in its neighborhood, the empire's boundaries kept fluctuating
with each ruler.
The age of the Guptas is the Classical
period of Hindu culture and learning.
This period also saw the peaceful coexistence
of Brahmins and Buddhists and visits by Chinese travellers like Fa Hsien.
The exquisite Ajanta and Ellora caves were created in this period.
This age registered considerable progress in literature and science, particularly
in astronomy and mathematics. The most outstanding literary figure of the
Gupta period was Kalidasa whose choice of words and imagery brought Sanskrit
drama to new heights.
The invasions of the White Huns
signalled the end of this era of history, although at first, they were
defeated by the Guptas. After the decline of the Gupta empire, north India
broke into a number of separate Hindu kingdoms and was not really unified
again until the coming of the Muslims.
During the course of Indian history of
civilization we see a pattern of alternating centralization and decentralization
form of government. In its period, Indus Valley Civilization was
considered to be highly centralized in its authority and maintained a complex
system. In contrast, The Vedic Period failed to display higher organization
due to several factors, such as, caste system, tribal republics, and incapability
of expanding their territory. However, the Indian history incarnation
of centralized form of government during the period of Mauryan empire.
Sunga empire, again, failed to succeed and did not reach up to the level
of Mauryan empire due to division of power. Finally, the Gupta empire
took the Indian civilization to the Classical Age which proved a successful
and victorious empire. Thus, we see a cycle of successful empire
during the Indian history civilizaion.
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