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State and Government in Ancient India c23.s2.t2: Powers of the King

State and Government in Ancient India c23.s2.t2

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Powers of the King

c23.s2.t2.1

Kings were, as usual, the centre of all military, political, administrative and judicial powers. They no doubt governed with the assistance of a ministry, but the ultimate responsibility of a final decision rested with them. They were often their own commanders-in-chief and used to lead important military campaigns, as was done by Samudragupta, Chandragupta II and Skandagupta. All viceroys, governors and important military and civil officers were appointed by, and responsible to them. The secretariat at the capital worked under their personal direction and supervision, and the provincial governors and their officers were under their control and guidance. They distributed titles and favours in recognition of meritorious service or literary and artistic works of distinction. To all appearance, kings were thus almost autocratic rulers, but in reality the case was considerably different. They shared their powers with ministers and other high officers who, though not theoretically responsible to the people, were expected to control the king, if he was acting against the established laws and customs.¹ Large powers were also delegated to local bodies like the village Panchāyats and town councils, which became fairly efficient and powerful after *c.* 400 A. D. Almost all functions of the government, except that of determining foreign policy and declaring and terminating a war, were discharged through the agency of the local bodies, where the representatives of the locality had a powerful voice. No doubt, there was no central popular assembly like the modern parliament; nevertheless people did not suffer from the evil consequences of autocracy owing to the above delegation of large powers to the local bodies. Smṛitis and epigraphs of our period emphasise that a good king should be particularly careful in winning popularity among his subjects by respecting their wishes and promoting their welfare,² and there is every reason to believe that the rulers lived up to this ideal. The Chinese pilgrim Fa-hien seems to be paraphrasing the language of some of the inscriptions of our age when he describes how the people under the Gupta rule were virtuous, happy and prosperous, and had no occasions to complain against the autocracy or high handedness of the government.

c23.s2.t2.2

¹ Purohita (chief priest), Senapati (commander-in-chief), ministers, ambassadors and spies are referred to as constituting 'The Great Fivefold Group' in early Tamil literature, *Muduraikkanji*, ll. 499, 510. They must obviously have exercised considerable influence over the king.

c23.s2.t2.3

² Cf. प्रजासंरंजनपरिपालनोधोगसंततसत्रदीक्षितस्य । *I. A.*, V. 51 *I. A.*, V, 51; see also *E. I.*, VII, 235

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