Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c12.s1.8

c12.s1.8

Magadhan rulers and chancellors like Vassakāra (Varshakāra) and Kauṭilya, were not over-scrupulous in their methods. Tradition credits some of them with the use of Machiavellian diplomacy in disintegrating kingdoms and republics, and invention of engines of destruction which worked with deadly effect. But they had the sagacity to evolve an administrative system in which princes royal, ministers of state as well as leading men of villages had their due share. Foreign diplomats and pilgrims in the fourth century B. C., as well as the fifth and seventh centuries A. D. speak of their sense of justice, their hospitals, charitable institutions and public works. They believed in ceaseless endeavour with the object of realising the dream of a united Jambudvīpa (Greater India) integrated by political as well as spiritual ties. In the *Māgadha* bards, the rulers of Girivraja and Pāṭaliputra had a body of devoted men who could rouse popular enthusiasm in a cause in which they believed. These singers and chroniclers have left a legacy which is invaluable to the student of ancient history.