Public Administration in Ancient India c6.6

c6.6

The chief points which are important in considering the relation of a territory to the State are its size, climate, and nature of the soil. These three constitute what may be called the natural environment of a State, and it will not perhaps be out of place to say a few words here in regard to each of them. Throughout the long period of Indian history the size of the territory of a State varied with the circumstances. Some Kings ruled over only a few square miles of territory, while others controlled extensive empires. When the Āryas first settled in the Punjab, each tribe occupied a small extent of territory. The nature of the country, intersected as it was by large rivers and mountain spurs, favoured the establishment of a large number of separate and independent communities. But with the growth of the national forces, the size of the territory tended to grow. The extent of territory had also an important bearing on the constitution of the government. So long as the territory was small, the form of administration was more or less democratic; but as the size of the territory grew large, it was found necessary to adopt a system in which political powers were concentrated in the hands of the Head of the State assisted by a Council of Ministers and a trained bureaucracy. The strength of a large State became manifest to the people when they saw how easily Chandragupta, with his vast resources, succeeded in inflicting a defeat on Seleukos Nikator, as contrasted with the ease with which Alexander had only a few years before devastated and conquered the small States of the Punjab.