GIFT OF JANE KFATHER PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN ANCIENT INDIA MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED LONDON BOMBAY CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO DALLAS SAN FRANCISCO THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. TORONTO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN ANCIENT INDIA A THESIS APPROVED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON FOR THE DEGREE OF D.Sc. ECON. BY PRAMATHANATH BANERJEA M.A. (CAL.), D.Sc. ECON. (LOND.) FORMERLY PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE AT THE CITY, RIPON AND SCOTTISH CHURCHES COLLEGES OF CALCUTTA, FELLOW OF THE ROYAL ( ECONOMIC SOCIETY, AND AUTHOR OF A STUDY OF INDIAN ECONOMICS* MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON 1916 \. COPYRIGHT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS GLASGOW : PRINTED AT BY ROBERT MACLEHOSE AND CO. LTD. PKEFACE THE object of this book is to give within a small compass all the important facts relating to the administrative system of Ancient India. To make the account complete, a few of the political ideas of the early Hindus have been briefly noticed here. The period mainly dealt with in this work is the millennium 500 B.C. to 500 A.D., but, occasionally, references have been made to earlier and later periods. Nothing has been said here which is not supported by reliable evidence. Sanskrit passages have been transliterated in accordance with the system adopted at the Geneva Congress, which system has also been applied, with some accommodations, viz. sh for s, ri for r, in citation of Sanskrit terms and expres- sions ; but, for the convenience of non-Sanskritists, all proper names have been transliterated, except for indications of vowel length, in the simple and ordinary way. The author desires to take this opportunity to offer his best thanks to Dr. L. D. Barnett, Mr. H. B. viii PREFACE Lees-Smith, M.P., Prof. Rhys Davids, Dr. F. W. Thomas, Mr. B. M. Barua, and Mr. H. S. Parara for valuable suggestions received from them. He is specially thankful to Dr. Thomas and Mr. Parara, who have also assisted in seeing the book through the press. CONTENTS CHAPTEE I INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER II THE STRUCTURE OF SOCIETY 15 CHAPTER III THE TERRITORY or THE STATE ... - 29 CHAPTER IV THE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF THE STATE - - . 34 CHAPTER V THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT - - - 42 CHAPTER VI - POLITICAL DIVISIONS . - 54 CHAPTER VII THE KING - CONTENTS CHAPTER VIII PAGE ASSEMBLIES AND COUNCILS CHAPTER IX THE MINISTERS CHAPTER X THE SUBORDINATE EXECUTIVE CHAPTER XI LEGISLATION - CHAPTER XII THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE - CHAPTER XIII PUBLIC FINANCE CHAPTER XIV FOREIGN RELATIONS CHAPTER^jXV THE MILITARY ORGANISATION CHAPTER XVI CONQUEST AND DEFENCE CONTENTS xi CHAPTER XVII PUBLIC WORKS CHAPTER XVIII INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE - - - - 257 CHAPTER XIX RELIGION ------.__ 275 CHAPTER XX LOCAL GOVERNMENT ...... 28g APPENDIX INDEX - . CHAPTER I INTEODUCTOEY IN Ancient India, the different branches of knowledge were grouped under four heads, namely, Philosophy, 1 the Vedas, Economics, and Politics. Of these, Politics was regarded as a very important if not the most important subject of study. The Maha- " bharata says, When the Science of Politics is ne- glected, the three Vedas as well as all virtues decline." 2 The method of study pursued in ancient times was somewhat different from that generally adopted at the present day. Politics was treated more as an art than as a science in other in ; words, guidance 1 " Chanakya says, Anviksikl (Philosophy), Trayi (the Vedas), Vartta (Economics), and Dandaniti (the Science of Government) are the four sciences." Arthasastra, Bk. I. ch. 1. The Mahabharata, the Kamandaki, and the Sukraniti follow Chanakya's classification, and use almost identical words. According to the school of the Manavas there are only three sciences the Vedas, Economics, and Politics ; the school of Brihaspati reduces the sciences to two, namely, Economics and Politics, while that of Usanas regards the Science of Government as the only science, all other branches of knowledge being dependent on it. 2 " Majjet trayi dandanitau hatayam sarve dharmah praksayeyuh." Mahabharata, Santi Parva, Sec. 63, si. 28. 2 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN ANCIENT INDIA CHAP. the practice of actual administration, rather than the construction of a complete and consistent system of political theories, was the object mainly aimed at in the study of the subject. Chanakya, for instance, " defines Politics as the science which treats of what is right in public policy and what is not, and of power l and weakness." According to the Sukraniti, a " knowledge of the science enables rulers to gain victories over their foes, to please their subjects, and 2 to be proficient in statecraft." The mode of treat- thus more than theoretical ment was practical ; and one result of this was that the conclusions were expressed in the form not of scientific principles but of moral precepts. Our sources of information regarding the systems of administration which prevailed in India in the ancient times and the political ideas and ideals which moulded and shaped those systems, are various. Briefly speaking, they are : the Vedas, the Hindu Epics, the Smritis, the Pura-nas, the religious books of the Buddhists and the Jainas, historical and dramatic literature, accounts of foreign travellers, epigraphic records, and lastly, a few treatises which deal specially with Politics. In the Rig-Veda, many passages are met with which allude to the colonisation of the country by the Aryas, and speak of the sanguinary wars of the Aryan conquerors with the non-Aryan inhabitants 2 1 Arthasastra, Bk. I. ch. 1. Ch. I. sis. 6-7. i INTRODUCTORY 3 of the country. But nothing is said about the system of administration, and very little information, beyond a few scattered hints, can be obtained from the earlier portion of Vedic literature about the political condition of India during the earliest period of her history. The later Vedic works, however, such as the Aitareya Brahmana, the Satapatha Brahmana, and the Atharva-Veda, are more informing in this respect. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are not historical in the modern sense of the works term ; but they give us a graphic and fairly accurate picture of the life of the Aryas in what is known as the Heroic Period of Indian history. The stories found in these Epics are largely based on real occurrences, and although the main themes of the Epics are the wars of the heroes, both of these great works present us with glimpses of the political condition of early Hindu society and of the relations between the rulers and the ruled, while not a few chapters of the Maha- bharata are specially devoted to an exposition of the duties of kings and of the rights and obligations 1 of subjects. 1 In the Mahabharata, a mythical account is given of the source of the Science of Politics. It is said that Brahman composed by his own intelli- gence a treatise consisting of a hundred thousand lessons. In it were treated the subjects of Virtue, Wealth, and Pleasure. A large portion of it was devoted to the subject of Government, that is to say, the growth, conservation, and destruction of States. This book discussed in detail the duties of the king, of the ministers, and of the people, and other kindred matters. It was first studied by Siva and abridged by him for the benefit of mankind. Further abridgments were made by Indra, Brihaspati, 4 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN ANCIENT INDIA CHAP. The most ancient among the Smritis were in prose, and are known as the Dharma-sutras. Only a few fragments of some of these works have yet been discovered. The Dharma-sastras appear to have been later redactions in verse of the earlier Dharma- sutras. 1 The most important of the Smriti works at present known are those attributed to Gautama, Apastamba, Vasishtha, Bodhayana, Vishnu, Manu, Yajnavalkya, and Narada. Their purpose is to Sukra, and others. Mahabharata, Santi Parva, Sec. 59, si. 28, etc. The " origin of the name of the science is described thus : Brahman said, Because men are led by Government (danda), or in other words, Government leads or controls everything, therefore this Science will be known in the three worlds as the Science of Government (Dandaniti)." Mahabharata, Santi Parva, Sec. 59, si. 78. 1 Considerable doubts still exist as to the dates of composition of the Vedas, the Epics, the Smritis, and the Puranas. We do not propose to enter here upon a discussion of this controversial topic, but will content ourselves with a few remarks on the subject. The hymns of the Rig-Veda are considered to have been the earliest utterances of the Aryan race, and many of them go back to a very remote period, while the bulk of the Vedic / literature seems to have been composed before 1000 B.C. Weber placed the date of composition of the Ramayana in the third or Christ this fourth century after ; but nobody accepts view now. According to Prof. Jacobi, the Ramayana was composed in Kosala on the basis of ballads recited by rhapsodists throughout that district. Prof. Rhys Davids is of opinion that the date of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana as Epics must be later than that of the ballad literature preserved in the Nikayas. We are inclined to think that these Epics, originally composed in the form of akhyana poetry about the tenth or ninth century B.C. were several times enlarged and revised, until they assumed something like their present shape in the third or second century B.C. Barth rightly remarks, "the Hindu Epic is ancient, as ancient in the origin as the earliest traditions of the nation." Indian Antiquary, 1895, p. 71. The existing Code of Manu is perhaps not very old, but probably it was based upon a more ancient Dharma-svitra of the Manava school.