State and Government in Ancient India c21.23

c21.23

There is sufficient evidence to show that this policy was generally followed. In their expeditions of conquest, the Pāṇḍava heroes were content with submission and tribute; there was no annexation. The Jātakas hardly know of any wars of annexations. When the king of Kośala invaded Kāśi, the minister of the latter kingdom said to his king, "Sir, you need not be afraid; there will be no molestation; your kingdom will continue to be yours; only you will have to submit to the suzerainty of the invader." The Muslim travellers of the 8th and 9th centuries were also struck by this peculiarly human method of conquest that they saw in the Deccan. "When a king subdues a neighbouring state," says Sulaiman, "he places over it a prince belonging to the family of the fallen king, who carries on the government in the name of the conqueror. The inhabitants will not suffer it to be otherwise."