Saturday, 30 January 2016

The State in Ancient India

What is the state in ancient India.
Today our lesson on the state in ancient india.


The ancient Indian political thinking considered state as a necessary
institution for the protection of human life as well as for the achievement of
higher ideals. The following were the major functions of the State as according to
ancient Indian political thought:

1. Law enforcement: As a civilized entity, the ancient Indian state recognised
the need and effect of rules and regulations for leading civic life. Accordingly,
they have developed a sound system of law making, law enforcement and
adjudication. With its own methods of separation of powers and checks and
balances, the system proved to be one of the most efficient, the human kind
has ever seen. People were not the source of law. They were not sovereign to
make laws. The sources of law were the four sources of dharma, vyavahara
(evidence) charita (history, customs and practices), and raja saasana
(proclamation by the soverign king). There shall be criminal, civil and
mercantile law.

2. Administration: Ancient India had generally republican form of government.
However, Kautilya proposed a system which is centralized in character. The
bureaucracy as proposed by Kautilya had as many as 30 divisions, each
headed by an Adhyaksha. Unity of Command and Unity of direction, as
propounded by the modern management theories were well followed by
Kautilya. Bureaucrats were provided with a fixed salary apart from other
benefits. Kautilya also arranged spies to detect corrupt officials and booked
them. According to him, “just as fish moving under water cannot possibly be
found out either as drinking water or not drinking water, so government
servants employed in the government work cannot be found out while taking
money for themselves”. Some of the major works of the bureaucracy involved
quality control of goods, currency system and the system of weights and

measures. The traded goods carried a state stamp as a mark of quality and legal measures.
3. Protection of people, territory and sovereignty: Protection of peoples, their
territory and sovereignty was the major objective of the state. The ancient
Indian state performed the duties efficiently and effectively by developing its
own machineries for the same. The Mauryan state maintained a citizen’s
register also. They had a system of passport and visa also.

4. Social order and equity: Maintenance of culture, traditions and practices
were important for the life of a civilization. That is exactly what the ancient
Indian state was performing.

5. Administration of a constitution: The ancient Indian state was based on the
sound principles of administration, whether it they were written or not. A
constitution was fundamental to the governance of a state. There shall be
constitution for the state at the state level. There shall be constitution for the
various associations at their levels. The later should confirm to the former.

6. Social development: A static society is bound to perish. Growth is the first
and last proof for life. The ancient Indian state recognised this fact.
Modernisation and development were not alien concepts to the ancient
Indian state.

7. Amalgamation of religious concepts: The ancient Indian state was successful
in effecting an amalgamation of ancient Hindu philosophy into the state craft
without converting the state into a theocratic entity devoid of reason. While
Hinduism as a way of life influenced the state, it did not destroy the secular
nature of administration.

8. Tax administration: Often, some of the western political thinkers like T. H.
Green and Henry Maine chose to depict ancient Indian State as a
mechanism for tax administration, out of their inability to appreciate the
Indian system from outside their times. Finance is definitely one of the most
important elements of the state even today. It means that ancient Indian
political system maintained a sound system of finance administration which
was very essential for the survival of a state. The observation of the western
thinkers could be taken as a complement rather than a mis-appreciation.
The particular nature of the ancient Indian tax system was the fixed time,
rate and the mode of payment. Citizens paid toll tax. Farmers paid one sixth
of their produce as tax. Hermits also paid taxes. There were taxes for
pilgrims also. Every trade or services were to pay taxes including dancers,
soothsayers and ever prostitutes. Use of public roads and water ways also
entertained taxes.
Thanks for reading.

No comments:

Post a Comment