Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c5.s1.38

c5.s1.38

³ Compare Vidyapati for the popular conception of an ideal Hindu monarch : he who is well versed in the science of punishment, enjoys pleasures, conquers the four quarters, kills all his foes in battle, offers oblations to the fire and sacrifices to the deities and distributes gold among the supplicants. *Vide* PP. 164, 166. Curiously enough both the Muslim and the Hindu terms for politics (*Siyasat* and *Danda-niti*) are identical in meaning and significance. It may be suggested, though there is little evidence at present to support the suggestion, that perhaps ancient Persia was the common source of both Hindu and Muslim political ideas from which both of them borrowed independently at different intervals.