State and Government in Ancient India c8.s2.59

c8.s2.59

From *c.* 1000 A. D. originality disappeared from most of the branches of Indian learning, and the science of polity was no exception. From *c.* 1000 A. D. to 1700 A. D. a number of compendiums were written giving a comprehensive treatment of Dharma in its different branches; *rājanīti* or politics also formed a section of most of these works. As important works of this class, we may mention *Abhilashitārthachintāmaṇi* (1st four chapters) of Someśvara, *Yuktikalpataru* of Bhoja (*c.* 1025 A. D.), *Rājanītikalpataru* of Lakshmīdhara (*c.* 1125 A. D.), *Rājanītikāṇḍa* of Devaṇa-bhaṭṭa (*c.* 1300 A. D. ), *Rājanītiratnākara* of Chaṇḍeśvara (*c.* 1325 A. D.), *Amuktamālyada* of king Krishṇadevarāya of Vijayanagar dynasty, *c.* 1525 A.D. *Nītimayukha* of Nīlakaṇṭha (*c.* 1625 A.D.) and *Rājanītiprakāśa* of Mitramiśra (*c.* 1650 A.D.). Most of these works are written from the theological rather than from the political point of view. Thus the *Rājanītiprakāśa* devotes as many as 100 pages to the description of the coronation ceremony. The *Nītimayūkha* gives detailed instructions to the king as to how he should cleanse himself, shave and bathe, what he should do if there are bad dreams and omens, and what different *śāntis* he should perform to avert different calamities. We have got sections in these works dealing with ministers, forts, treasury, foreign policy, war, etc. But there is nothing new about them. We usually get only a collection of quotations from earlier writers bearing upon these and similar topics.