[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [Public Administration in Ancient India](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.banerjea-1916) › c19.71 # Public Administration in Ancient India c19.71 Public Administration in Ancient India c19.71 - **Language:** English ### [c19.71](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.banerjea-1916.c19.71) While the rulers of different parts of India fought with one another for supremacy, the country remained constantly exposed to the danger of foreign invasions. The history of these invasions shows us in a clear light the weak points of the political system of Ancient India. The most important of the early invasions—if it was not the earliest—was that of Alexander the Great in 327 B.C. He remained in the country not more than twenty months all told, and although every step of his advance was stubbornly resisted, he succeeded in reducing the greater part of the Punjab and the whole of Sindh. Such an achievement appears to us all the more surprising when we remember that the people were of a martial temperament and were well inured to arms. The people, indeed, who then inhabited the Indus valley were, according to Greek writers, “of so great a stature that they were amongst the tallest men in Asia, being five cubits in height, or nearly so,” and “in the art of war they were far superior to the other nations by which Asia was at that time inhabited.” But neither their martial spirit nor their efficient military organisation was of any avail for the preservation of their national independence, for the political condition of the country was eminently favourable to Alexander’s designs. The Punjab was then divided into a number of separate States, and instead of presenting a united front to the invader, these States, in most instances, fought him singly, with the result that they were overcome with comparative ease. Whenever some sort of concerted opposition was offered to Alexander’s advance, as was done by the Malloi and the Kshudrakas,¹ he found it extremely difficult to overpower the resistance. As Mr. McCrindle rightly remarks, “if Alexander had found India united in arms to withstand his aggression, the star of his good fortune would have culminated with his passage of the Indus.”² - [Previous: c19.70](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.banerjea-1916.c19.70) - [Next: c19.72](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.banerjea-1916.c19.72) - [Up: c19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.banerjea-1916.c19) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.banerjea-1916.c19.71](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.banerjea-1916.c19.71) · Pramāṇa