the sources of ancient Indian political thought.
Indian Political thinking, one of the most developed political thoughts, represents the East
in the history of political thought. Indian political thought has its own distinguishing features.
It is closely linked to religion, social structure, ethics so much so that it becomes extremely
difficult to distinguish the political from others spheres of thought. Though Indian political
thought is often equated with Hindu political thought, there were other non-Brahminical
traditions which contributed to the evolution of political thought in India. Buddhists, Jains
and later Muslims came out with their own notions of good government, its duties and
obligations etc.
Ancient Indian Political Thought is not available in any single source or work. They are
scattered in different areas like social, religious and others. However, the main sources of
ancient Indian Political Thought are the following:
The Vedas: The vedas are regarded as the authentic works of Gods at the time of the
creation of the world and so are considered the original source of information.
ThoughVedas do not describe the political system that existed, information can be
drawn from the concepts like King, Kinship, Saints or Rishis etc.and their
dutiestowardsthe subjects. It is interesting to note that institutions like sabha and s
amiti that are prevalent even in the modern days have their roots in the Vedic period.
2. The Mahabharata: This Indian epic is considered a classic work on the art of
politics. Certain episodes like Shanti Parva provide outstanding information related to
political philosophy and administrative system and the political system of the time.
The entire art of statecraft, diplomacy, war ethics and strategies, state relations and the like
can be very well understood by making a reference to the Mahabharata.
3. The Arthasastra: This work authored by Kautilya is
againamasterpieceonpolity.According to Prof Altekar, it is mainly concerned with the
practical problems of governance and describes it machinery and functions both in times
of war and peace. This work of Kautilya also highlights issues like taxation, diplomacy,
war strategies and revolution. It is also a handbook of economics as well as administration
for the kings.
4. Works of thinkers: Some of the great works that act as major sources of the political
thought of ancient India are the Smrithis, Kamandakeya Neethisaara, Sukraneetrisara and
the like. Smrithis advocated that a king was the servant of the subjects and that is
was not wrong to kill a tyrant. A king was expected to be virtuous, gracious and
helpful. Similarly, Kamandakeya Neethisaara was also a source of ancient Indian
political thought. It was, in fact, a summary of Kautilya’s Arthasastra.
5. Inscription: Stone and copper inscriptions throw light on the contemporary political life of
the people and the administrative system of those days.
6. Account of Foreign Travellers: The writing of foreign travellers to India like
Megasthenes, Fahien, Huang Tsang and others provide great information about the
ancient Indian Society, administration, trade and industry and the like
7. Smritis: Smritis which were written long after Kautilya’s Arthasastra and repeat
what had already been said by other scholars, are also a useful source of information. They
supply additional information about the various political aspects. We get an idea about the
changing position of the king from these Smritis.
8. Kumandakiya Nitisara: This treatise written in 500 A.D is mainly a summary of
Kautilya’s Arthasastra, except that it provides some additional information about the king
and his family. It further informs us that by this time the king had become more powerful
and assumed real powers. The absence of any reference about the existence
of Republics in this work leads us to the conclusion that by this time republics had
declined any monarchy was the prevailing system of government.
