The Classical Accounts of India c6.s2: 2. Political History and Allied Topics
The Classical Accounts of India c6.s2
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2. Political History and Allied Topics
c6.s2.1
A very elaborate description of the Indian expedition of Alexander has been given by classical writers, and they have, incidentally, preserved very brief but highly interesting accounts of the rulers and States with whom he came into contact, specially the Prasii and the Gangaridae But with the exception of this, the information on the political history of India is very scanty. The bare reference to the Indian Satrapy of Darius (1),² short accounts of the Nanda Kings (129, 172, 199) and the Maurya Emperor Chandragupta (193, 199), passing references to some Indo-Greek rulers (286-7, 303, 427, 449), and mention of some Indian embassies to Roman Emperors (282, 346, 451-3, 473-82),—these practically exhaust all the information supplied by the classical writers on the political history of India. There are some references to the history of India in remote antiquity (223), but they are of little value
c6.s2.2
² The figures within brackets refer to the pages in the Text
c6.s2.3
The knowledge possessed by the classical writers about the Prasii and the Gangaridae, ruling over the whole of North India to the east of the Beas river up to which Alexander advanced, was very vague and indefinite This applies even to their military strength, about which Alexander made extensive enquiries and must have secured fairly reliable accounts (172). In the first place, while they are represented as a united nation under a single king by Diodorus (172) and Curtius (128) Plutarch (198) refers to them as separate nations under different kings. Secondly, while the first two authors give the number of the cavalry and chariots of the kingdom, respectively as 20,000 and 2,000, Plutarch increases their number four times, and the number of elephants given by the three are, respectively 4,000, 3,000, and 6,000. Pliny (342) refers to a standing army of 600,000 (or 60,000?) footsoldiers, 30,000 cavalry and 9,000 elephants. When it is remembered that these numbers must have been recorded by contemporary writers on the basis of the information collected by Alexander, whom they accompanied, it is difficult to account for these discrepancies
c6.s2.4
More important than the historical accounts are the incidental references to the democratic and oligarchical forms of Government in various States in the Punjab and the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) Of particular interest is the reference to the Oligarchy in Nysa (20-1) and the Republics of the Cathaeans (47, 259), the Siboi (136, 174), Agalassians (175), Sabarcae (151), Sambastai (180), Mallians (64), Oxydracians (62), Abastanians (75), Xathrians (75), Ossadians (75), Sodrai (181), and many others not specifically named (47). Expressions are used which indicate that the Republics were fairly common in those days in India (226) Tauala (183) had a form of Government closely resembling that of Sparta, with two hereditary kings of two different families, and a Council of Elders ruling the whole State with paramount authority.
c6.s2.5
A great deal of light is thrown on the civil, military, and municipal administration, and special interest attaches to the reference to the vital statistics and care for foreigners (238, 268-9), about which very little is known from other sources.
c6.s2.6
The mode of fighting is referred to in connection with the campaigns of Alexander, and the military equipments of the Indian army are described by various writers (230) who speak a great deal of elephants (238, 413-16, 264) and horses (420)—two animals which figured prominently in warfare and also in ordinary pursuits of life. Reference is also made to trained ferocious dogs used for hunting purposes (127, 171)
c6.s2.7
A great deal is said of the King. We have a fine description of the capital city (224) and royal palace (415), and the routinelife and habits of the King (271, 388), such as his hunting expedition, rubbing of the body, hair-washing ceremony (280), his processions and festivals (280-81). Of particular interest are references to King's Amazonian bodyguards and constant plots against his life (271). There are references to criminal punishment (271, 455) and general aversion of the people towards litigation (270).
c6.s2.8
There has been much discussion regarding the views of the classical writers about ownership of land. All of them aver that the land belonged to the King, though a somewhat different view is found in Indian literature. As regards the payment of rent, the statement of Diodorus (237) was contradictory to the corresponding passage of Strabo which was originally translated as follows.—'The husbandmen till it on condition of receiving one-fourth of the produce".³ The new translation by Jones (264) tallies with the statement of Diodorus, namely, that 'besides the land-tribute the husbandmen pay a fourth part of the produce to the King'. But Bernard Breloer⁴ proposes that the phrase 'besides the land-tribute' is a wrong translation of the Greek text which really means, 'in the absence of special arrangement.' If we accept this interpretation, we may conclude, on the testimony of the classical writers, that the husbandmen paid one-fourth of the produce as rent, unless there were any special arrangement in modification of this normal rent.
c6.s2.9
³ M-II, 84
c6.s2.10
⁴ B Breloer, *Kautaliya Studien*, quoted by U. N Ghoshal in *The Agrarian System in Ancient India*, p. 30