Hindu Administrative Institutions c10.s4.6

c10.s4.6

In more than one place in this thesis it has been remarked that it is always hazardous to judge things ancient Indian by modern standards. Edwardes is seen to push the theory of evolution too far. In human affairs progress is possible as well as retrogression, and Kauṭalya has to be judged by what he has laid down, understood in accordance with his age and not with our notions of evolution or analogies from Mughal India. The administration of justice under the Mughals could by no means have been the product of evolution from Mauryan justice. Our examination shall be strictly on the basis of the *Kauṭalīya* texts and the prevalent notions of justice in Hindu India derivable from the *Dharmaśāstras* and *Arthaśāstras* checked now and again by glimpses which we get of practical administration in ancient India.