Democratic Elements in Ancient Indian Polity

SRI VENKATESWARA UNIYERSITY ORIENTALJOURNAL ,T'' s I t t, .a. Golden Jubitee Volume vol,. )ooil -)ooilv 1989 - 1991 C. RAJENDRAN DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES IN THE POLITY OF ANCIENT INDIA The word democracy is derived from two Greek words demos which means 'people' and kratio which connotes'rule'. Accordingiy democracy signifres a'peopie's rule' which is inspired by the ideals of equality and liberty. True democracy, as envisaged by Abraham Lincoln consists of a Government of the people, by the people and for the people, but this utopian ideal is seldom reaiised in actual practice in politicai history. WilI Durant (1953: 29L-293) identifies many factors which contribute to the degeneration of democracy, even in advanced countries like America. These include the territoriai expansion of the political unit, the complexity of administration, war and the general decline in the competence of the people. Other factors iike illiteracy, and absence of universal franchise and a free press may also stand. in the way of the operation of an ideal democracy' However, despite these numerous shortcomings in the working of a democracy, this system with its hypothetical assumption of the equaiity of man and the necessity of the 122 S.y.U. Oriental Journal,Vol. WII - )OXIV invblvement of all the citizens in the policy - making of the nation will certainly be preferred by civilized communities which accept the basic equality of man. India is reckoned to be the largest democracy in the world, but even educated Indians regard democracy as a notion adopted from the politicai thought of the West, which is universally accepted to have a 'strong democratic tradition' in contrast with most of the third world countries. But if we survey our own history, it can be readily seen that democratic ideals are certainly imbedded in India's own ancient political thought and they are by no means a-lien to our tradition. An attempt is made in this paper to explore how far the ideais of democracy are accommodated in the political thought of ancient India. The known political history of the Indian rulecontinent begins with the Mohenjodaro-Harappa civiiization which flourished in the early part of the Srd milienium. But the well-documented poiitical thought of ancient India begins only with the Vedic period when the Indo-Aryans came over to India and settled in her plains. The long political history of India saw the gradual evolution of empires and kingdoms from the relatively smaller units of tribes and guiids, characteristic of the Vedic and early post Vedic times. B.N. Puri (1968) distinguishes nine phases in the history of political thought and administration of ancient 14i"' Thev are the Vedic phase, the Mauryan phase, the PreGupta period, the Gupta period, the early phase of the South, lhe pre-Harsa and post-Harsa period, the middle phase of the South,'the iast empirical phase in the North and the iater phase of the South. Our main sources in the study of ancient Indian political thought are the Ved.ic literature, including the-Dharmoldst a works, the P6li scriptures of Buddhism , tbe Arthai-ott,o of Kautilya, the Mah'abhd,rata and the Rd,mdyana, the Nitis-ara of 6" D entoc ) ! ratic P rinc iPles 123 KEmandaka, the NTliudky1'myta of Somadevastiri, Iiterary works like those of lCalidasa, BhEravi, BEna, Dag{in, Vi(ekhadatta, Mdgh-a, etc. and innumerab}e inscriptions belonging to this long period' it is in the earlier phases of India's political history that rve see democratic elements in a predominant manner. Later political history shows the stabiiisation of monarchy rvhictr drastically reduced the involvement of the public at large in the decision making of the land, and also the stratification of the caste system. There is nothing implausible in this, since, as, Will Durant points out, 'like communism, real democracy tends to appear rather at the simple beginnings of a civilization than in its Iater stages of complexity, luxury and differentiation' '(1953:289). The tribal society of the Vedic period gave rvay to a centralised administration by the time of the Mauryan period, but iater on, this rvas replaced by a more deceniraliied structure in the subsequent periods. This synchronised with the rise of feudaiism in India, heralded ln tfre Gupta period, which was characterised by the dominance of a class of landlords who owned the land and coliected rent from peasants (Sharma: 1980: 213)' This witnessed the tranifer of the control over almost all sources of revenue, including pasturage, hides and charcol, mines for the production of salt, forced labour, and all hidden treasures and deposits' (sharma: 1980:2). This socio-political set-up prevailed in India without much the modern times and did not give much change upio ^d.emocratic values. Thus democratic principles ,.op.- for ,r. -or. pred.ominant in the earlier phases of India's political hi*tory than in the stratified later phases, *herein *orru.t.hy was accompanied by a deep-rooted feudal system of administration with its own hierarchy. Coming to the Vedic period of India's political history, we can see that it witnessed the emergence of kingshlp as a digaified and exalted institution. The vedic 124 S.V.U. OrientaL Journal' VoL WXll' XXXV divided into families' society was. e,ssentiaily tribal' being (1984:35) janmans, ,uo, u'aionos' According to Altekar to a village 'the Janmurr, ,.ui to have corresponded claiming a- common descent' and a consisting of people "vill;;;t joi"ned- together-by a bond of number of such Jana or a tribe kinship seem to f'""" Zo"*tltuted a vid'' its }ord was consisted of several such to ui{as' and used in the the kine' rhe- wold r6'ian also is ;;;;;;;;", mean "Rsuida to denote , kittg, but it should be taken to The iriU"i--.fri"i u"i'"ot an absolute monarch. to similarity .irr.t rr" of the Vedic society bears striking mentioned by C'A' Morgan which { ;frr; the tribal structute consisted of a number of cians' ItseemsthatintheearlyVedicsociety,theking is no though there *r, ptoUrUfy eiected (Varma: 1974:11)' to prove this' However' several conclusive the Vedic lilerattrre seem to allude to the ;;;;** in"tii;;;; eiectionoftheking'Thus,theAtharuavedshymn(VI'87t'he king 88), also ,""r, i.r" Sgued'a G'173) addressing assemb'Iy the .p"hn."ffy t"ffs ftiil that - 'for firmness'passage in the tiuiu .ruut", tuppo;"ts) ryu:' . Ar'other people elected maiatains that -u* 4;;rd"6. D4;i;;;--tv g:scribe& as 'being afraid' the king, U"t ii*-pJoel* . afraid (bib hatsauo&) ;itd i"it*, 5"4tike the waters were points A'parsag" in the {arupatha-Brd'hmaryo oi V-rtru. ,he is leadership alone becomes u ,*i"r whose out that to 'kings' referred accepted ly ofi.t ki"gt'' The other chiefs whose tribal here, in all p.oi'lifiti, signify -the urr"*Ufuge elected ttre t<ing' The Aiioreya'Brdhmana by Gods to iead t"i"* t" ifre election of Soma as the king the Nigharylu them in their U^iif*' It is significant that in (II.1?) explans tfr. *ota 'samilf .as'safigrdmo{yYo'and met and all probabiliiv i;;g"ifi"d the tribal council which wars. .t".t.a the tribal cirief who would lead. them in tribal refels to two theories about the Basham (1989:83) :*ti"nt India' one mystical and the of king;dp i" drigin u Denrccratic PrinciPles !" r25 other contractual. According to the former, the king, being reinforced by rituals tike the ldiaslta. sacrifice' *as"almost God-like. unquestioned authority of the kirrgship *us taken to be granted. This diefication of ,oyultyi.ures no room for democratic values. This theory was widely prevaient in the Kurus and Pafrc-alas, the tribes i" it e Gang6-Yamun? Doab, the centre of the Brahmanic culture. But elsewhere, especially in the eastetn part of India, the more prevalent vierv lvas the contractual theory which traced kingship to a 'primitive social contract' (basham: 1989: 83)' According to this theory, which was popular among the Buddhists and Jains, the institution of kingship was introduced by mankind to maintain law and order in the society when .moral degeneration set in a{ter a golden age' This story' putint-hemouthofBuddhahimse,}fca}lstheking iahi,sammata 'of the great eho'sen Grle'' The Slfinttporron af the fuIah&btaErata $8'12) refers to the institution of kingship tc aver.t politiical turmoil wherein the. strong.devoured the wmk, as is the xrnaetice alnong fish (mots] ony-aya). The eontract theory is implieit also in thestoryoru"""beingappointedthekingbythecreator conduct ur*a tH* p"ople themselves agreeing upon a code of and necessary taxes (Sd'ntiparuan, 67'18-28)' The king is said to have received the title rdTd the word because he pleased the people. The derivation of mja, rro* ihe verb raijayati, though etymologically not plausible, was certainly popular even among nonfuddhistic circles. KSlidasa also accepts this etymoiogy he and maintains that King Raghu became a riiTd'because pleased the people (r-ajd prakrtirffijand't)' TheVedicliteraturereferstosevera}typesof assembliescalleduid.athd,sabhd,ald'samiti,rvhichseem tohaveexercisedsomecontro]overtheking,thoughtheir exact function is not clear. According to Altekar iigaa,r+r), uidathd probably signified an assembly 126 S.y.U. Oriental Journal, Vol. Wil ' WN representing the entire tribe, including women- R'S. Sharma maintains (1952:429) that uidafhd transacted military business too. The exact nature of sabhd, *6 samiti is not clear. Scholars hold divergent views about their nature. According to one view, sabhd was a 'council of elders and powerful men', very much like the upper house of our own times, while samiti was something }ike the lower house, consisting of commoners. According to Atlekar, sabhd, was the village assemby and sarzzili the central assembly for the whole state (1984:140). There is no doubt of the fact that both sobhd and, samiti enjoyed immense prestige in Vedic times. The Atharuaueda (VII. 12.1) describes both of them as the twin daughters of Prajalpati. Another passage therein (XII.I.56) contains the fervent aspiration to speak in so&lro-s arrd samitis everywhere in the Iand. Sab/r.Z was aiso connected with dice and gambling too as indicated by the word sabhika. According to Bhattacharyya (1975:45) the sabhd was an assembiy of tribal administration, where, in the primitive times, the distribution of wealth was carried out through casting the lot, and it is this antiquarian practice which is ritualistically re-enacted through the dice-game in the Rdjasiya. The advisory and statutory functions of the sabhd and samiti can be inferred from a number of references in Vedic literature. Thus, according to the Rguedn (X.166.4) a true king was expected to pay visit to his samiti. The Atharuauedn (VI.88.3) contains, on behalf of an exiled king, at the time of his restoration, the prayer that samiti may'for ever be in agreement with him'. The curse pronounced upon a king misappropriating the property of a brahmin was that 'his sarnifi, should never be in agreement with him'(Altekar: 1984: 143). From these references, it is clear that the Vedic king could conduct administration smoothly only when he could arrive at a consensus with the popular assembly. It seems that during the Vedic period, an erring king could be deposed and expelled. Sometimes, a king 6( Derttocratic PrinciPles 127 as is evident from an thus exiled could be even re-elected Atharuaueda-had a Atharuauea, puttug" till'g'sl' The be sung at the time particular ny-" tffi'a'i) *t'ict' was to runs Iike this: 'The of the re-election;i tht king' rvhich wide glorious quarters people ete.t yo,, ti *1""f ip' the point in the body of the elect you. g. ."uttJ o" tf it high distribute the natural state and f,o*- ti-'*" t'igo'o"ly (1919:18) refers to the wealth' (Varma: fila)7)' Basu jurisdictions were not vested in fact that .ilnif u"altiml"at to the absence of the king. Thi-;;; be piobabiv due less democratic more or absolute po*"' i'I*" iti"'g i" the set uP of thu earlY Vedic societY' the greater role Democratic principles had a 'in were in ancient India' which .tribal states *hith't"i'tea were not democratic states They-"ttt*Ulius ruied by oiigarchies' elected by universal suffrage' ruled over by republic wherein . They were *o"- tiit" the Roman of the populace participatiot *lt-op*-!" a large section denote these (Basham: 198*6d- The *o'dt used to in the *iitu'ure mentioned frequentlv probablv garya' Garya Mattdbh-aro,o olu ii*gn" and rule was conducted by wherein meant u ,"p.'blit'o tt"t"t' 'many'' According to 'numbers', tdliying toie of the kingless politv'' Varma (rgz+,5ii'it i"u"t an 'individual a confederation of Sarygha, o" 1it" ott'u' hand signified (4'1'168'1) According to K6tydyana several ^u from ro-il' of f lurali sti-. gor"rnment, di stinct (Roy: I* ;;i;i" ""p,rJti... is vested in one ekar-aiya wheiein sovereignty bol]n garya ar.d samgha 1975:166). Sometimes' however' ,rr"a in the epic interchangeably' ^iu in the Most of tbese republics were located few verv thougtr a mountainous ;;d;;i the\orth-West' India too' Some of these of them U"to"g"l to the Eastern ,*pliblit' mentioned in the Mahd'bh6'rata' ;;;fit, ' ancient -'M;;;tia'uxus" elc' are Niharas' Yaudheyas' Madras' Astd.d.hyayi, M-arkaryQeya'pur'ana' tii;;;; 128 S.y.U. Oriental Journal'Yol' MXII - ffiIV I --Vaimakas' .{udumbaras, diriu, Basati, SE}vakas' these-tribal of Kukuras, Mallas, Andhakas, eL:' Many Varma fighting' stone in repubiics were martial and adept cailsthenathespartan'-ofuotlut'tlndia(19?4:40)'someof rvhich have been iil'. *p"fU.. frra thti' o*" 1oin1 some of rej9r.t9.some recovered now. Greek historians also the Licchivis and reoublican states ih; north India like "f the pre-Maurva period' .A federation 'i#-;".rutr"L"* of the Andhakas' Vrsnis' of five republics, co"'ittit'g glojus, presided over by l!g-r.Ia is Yddavas, Kukuras *a in the Mahibhdrata (Varma ]..974 40)' "X"-*""tioned these Though it would be wrong to describe were nature' they republican siates as fuliy democratic in absolute ..it"i"rv differeni from-monarchies in that the Power was sovereignty was not vested in an individual' To iliustrate' vested in a smali aristocratic class' the 8,ove3*etrt is known that' among the Yaudheyas' it".t"uUV oI wnom persons' each was corrt olled by a body of 5000 to the state (Atlekar: was required to present Ln eiephant in republic by 1984: 112)' Poiicy deeisions were taken say in such aristocracy and io**o" people had no became more gradually matters. However, political powet of the u*rJ-uu."d in theie ""pobli... while ininmany the ksatriya vested only republics, power *"t on all "tigi"ally later class who *"* if'" fo'i"a"tt of the state' power' The *.*U"r. of the f.guttiyu families -"'*u to sharer'aj any ag arya dlrtirr"tlon which Ama rako{ a makes between ii Aon"S"no is signifitult- i" thlt connection' The }atter ar' state as .ls"i{i"a It " *ot"-broad based republic republican witrr tue-rormer, referring to original ."'"t ,rittoo"cv was tsffined to a select SrouP: NorthThe administration of small republics of "rt"a ;;"d;;". from that of the Eastern India *;; h;;" been different the aristocracy Uigg"t ttutut. In the fgrmer, mem-bers of capital and the in constitutine tit"'|";iiui Attu*Ulv lived *"if""q*itly in the Assembly HaIl to transact business. 68 Democratic Principles I rt q YD A member of the aristocracy was cailed a rdjd and his son an upar-aja (Jataka I, p. b04)., The less privileged.lrr.". prgbably met in the village assembries nua-rome voice "rabig republics, on in local matters (Altekar: lg}4:124). The the other hand, were divided into provinces, each under a governor, recruited from the aristocracy. The sovereignty of the republics must have been vested in the central assembly, and the members varied in number in different states. Jaiswal (I.p.Sa) ."gg"t.1Uut there were upper and lower houses rn ihe r.priu'h"r, uut we are not in possession of any evidences in support of this conjecture. Altekar suggests (19g4:126) tfrat' ltese assemblies elected different generals for different .campaigns. It is significant that when Aiexander the great invaded India, the republic of Ambasthas elected three generals to lead their ""*ie..--aili;"i;,'"" inscription belonging to the Gupta period refers io a general being elected (purasiytoi Ay a yaudheya assembly. The central assemblies further controlled foreign affairs, entertained ambassadors and foreign princes, considered their proposals and decided upon policy matters like war and peace (Altekar: lgg4:126j. The administrative functions were carried out by an executive which was accountable to the central assembly on all matters. The presence of party system in the assemblies is attested by words ltke- d,uand.uo tri"at parties), uyuthramapo (inter-iarty rivalry), etc., occurring in grammatical treatises. Though we are not in possession of any actual account of the procedures in the assembly, we can have an idea of this fiom the.elaborate accounts of the Buddhist sarlghas which were evidently modeiled after the republics (Kosambi: lggg:186). Evidently the executive council was erected by the general assembly from among its members. The Buddhist monastic orders, modelled after the ganas of ancient India functioned essentiarly in a 130 S.y.U. Oriental Journal, Vol. KWI - )&OV democratic manner which is surprisingly close to the ideal democratic systems of modern times. According to Bani (1,974f,24), in the Buddhist samgha, "all the rules are common to monks and nuns..... All the property of the sanggha was open to the use of all brethren, from wheresoever they might come". The lofty ideal of the equality of man is recognised in this concept. Buddhist works like the Mah'auagga, and the Chullauagga give us copious accounts of the democratic procedures followed in the Buddhist samghas in the conduct of practically administration. There were provisions to move resolutions by individual members, and the motions could be passed after two or four readings. Free discussions and criticism were allowed. A resolution could be passed only with the requisite quorum being fulfilled and though Chullauagga refers to the provision of conducting business in anticipation of a quorum, with the subsequent passing of an indemnity act, high authorities denied the legality of such a procedure. According to P64ini, the person whose attendance completed the quorum in a garya is called gana*titho,' and in a sePBha, he is a samgha-titha. There were three methods of voting in the Assembiy, viz. secret, whispering and open. The ruie of majority was called yebh.uyyasikassa (Bani: 1974:326). A resolution became an act (hamma) when it was duly passed by a majority. Normally, a question once decided couid not be reopened again, though the sovereign assembly sometimes discarded the rule at times. Another method of settling disputes was through the appointment of committees. The republics and the salnghas gradually lost their independent stature because of a variety of reasons. References in the Mahdbhd,rafo indicate that many of these were attacked and overthrown by monarchies. It is significant that tine ArthatA*ro, which aims at the stabiiisation of monarchical power, views the 7( r31 Democratic princiPles )1. t1 -r. ll In fact, the whoie ol u .lupter in the Book 11 of the work is devoted to the teclniques of breaking up tribes and reducing them to vassalage. Agent provacatuers are required to sow seeds of dissension among the tribesmen (Basham: ,o ihut the tribal Assembly loses its unanimity 1989:98). Greek invasions also had a definite role in the disappearance of those tribal republics' Th9- cgnguest of samudragupta and the Huna invasion provided the frnal blows to them. contemporary republics with great intolerance. We do not find democratic elements in the later polity of India in the degree which they were manifested in iis ancient phase. The Vedi e sabh-a and samiti gradually disappeared. Even during Lhe Mahd'bhd'rata became an f,eriod, iabhla lost its statutory nature and(JAOS: XIII, ornamental assembly in substance. Hopkins pp.148.151)describedthechangethatoccurredtothe aisembly in the ePic Period thus: "The assembly of the people had become the people assembly of .the nobles. The military power of the- had quiie become the possession of the kils-s, in al| public *att"r, appertaining to the story (Mahd,bhdrata) ltself, the pries[J ut* as good as silent and the peop]e are suppressed" (quoted by Bhattacharyya: 1975)' Gradualiy ,line sabhla became a mere. assemblage of theministers,noblesand}earnedmenpatronised.bythe Kingship ki;g-;J iori all their democratic functions. have any becime hereditary and the assembly ceased to role on his selection. Nevertheless, it would be wrong to assert that public opinion had no role whatsoev:er i" tL: earlier postiedic period. Monarchy was certainly sensitive to popular opinion even after the d.isappearance of popular nature of the assembly. Basham (1989:89) cites the banishment of Siit Uv Rama, respecting popular misgivings of her 132 S.V.U. Orientol Journal, Vot. )WI - )mUV chastity ?s an instance of the extent to which the wil of the people influenced the king. This sensitiveness opinions if reflected even in to Xrr1,iiy",, lol"lr1.. which Arthabastra, expricitry maintains that the'king,s good is not that which preases him, but that rvhici-preases his subjects (I.19). Xaulilya also exhort. kG; io-er.," audience to the citizens without imposin-g ;";;; restrictions at the entrance, to avoid the rvraih oi trr" people. The recognition of the importance of the goodwill of the subjects, even in such , *o"k of poritical .*p'.ai..r"y underlines the silent but positive rore of trr. puoirJ *ilr in the stability of the kingdom. . It is significant that ancient Indian riterature c-ontains many rglgrelces 9f popular upheavefs ae;nst despotic rules. The Buddniit ,ldtano tales siu.?*, instances of despotic kings being oue*h.o*u"'b; -u.rrevolt (Basham: t1pl89_). fhe polifical story-i"-ifr-pf"y Mycchakaliha of sridraka, wriiten in the lJr""-p-"rtchristian era deals with the overthrow tl" i".p"t Pilaka and the enthronement of the popular "i Aryaka in ujjain after a bloody revolt. ReferenceJ to disposition arrd !1nj$mgnt of kings are found in the Brdhminas r"alfr. Mahd,bhdrafo also (Varma: Lg74: 26). B"";r;rE;;y" (1925: 156-161) suggests that the popular ro"."uig.rty rrra the subversion of monarchy to -potitical opi"ii"-'*".. features of the epic politicul lif", but, as varma righily observes (1,g74:26), we cannot tate'tn"..-Jpo"?ii. interventions of the popurace to any systematic exercise of political- power by the people'. However, such references definitely indicate the wilr of the peopre being ."n..i"a through direct action when situation demandei it. From the above, it can be rightly concluded that though later Indian hisiorv saw the rir" oi, fe,rdal sysi"and a hierarchical political set up with the common masses systematically removed from the process of decision making, the early society gives us a totally 7 s Dentocratic principles 133 different picture wherein governance percolated to more diverse sections of society. Our own decentralised planning and administrative set up will go a long way in recapturing these lost threads of democracy in the modern ] - times. BIBLIOGRAPHY Arthaidstra of Kautilyqed. T. Ganapathi Sastri, Brd volume, Bharatiya Vidya Prakashan, Delhi, 1984. Altekar A.S., S/afe and, Gouernment in Ancient Ind.ia, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1984. . Bandyopadhyaya, N.C., Economic life and progress in Ancient India, Calcutta, 1925. Bhattacharyya, Narendra Nath: Ancient Ind,ian A ituals and their social contents, Manohar Book I . Service, 1975. , Basham, A.L., The Wond,er that was Ind,ia, Rupa & Co., Delhi, 1989. Basu, Praphullachandra, Indo Aryan Polity, Allahabad, 19 19. Durant, Will, ?he Pleasures of Philosophy,"simon and Schuster, New York, 1953. Jaisrval, K.P., Hindu Polity, Butterworth & Co., Calcutta, : 1924. Kosambi, D.D., An Introd,uction to the stud.y of Ind,ian History, Popular Prakashan, Bombay, 1988. Puri, B.N., History of Indian Administration, voI.I, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 1968. 134 S.I4,U. Oriental Journal, Vol. )ffiill - )WilV Rgueda-samhitd. Roy, 8.P., Political id.eas and Institutions in the Malfrbhdrala, Punthi Pustak, Calcutta, 19?5. Sharma, R.S., /zdi an Feudalism (second edition), Macmillan India Limited, Nerv Delhi, 1980. 7: : e Varma,Y.P., Hindu Political Thought and its Metophysical Foundations, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi 1974. -+ c