Hindu Administrative Institutions c12.s1.2

c12.s1.2

It is generally taken that in India the village or a grāma formed the unit of administration. But it is very difficult to lay down what then constituted a village. Baudhāyana and Gautama speak of a village as a place where righteous men throng. Baudhāyana says a righteous man shall seek to dwell in a village where fuel, water, fodder, sacred fuel, kuśa grass, and garlands are plentiful; access to this must be easy, and many rich people should dwell in it, it ought to abound in industrious people, and where Aryans (honest and honourable men) must form the majority. It should have a strong defence against robbers and other disturbers of peace.¹ Every village was as Baudhāyana conceived it should be, and it continued to thrive and prosper undisturbed by the political or other vicissitudes. A village is reckoned by Kauṭalya as constituting 100 to 500 families. Each of them has well-defined boundaries and affords common defence against dangers, internal or external. The state could, if necessary, erect more villages in sites suited for the purpose. It should again undertake the repairs of old, decayed and dilapidated villages.¹ House sites of various measurements according to social position and the number of members in the family are to be provided for all classes both in towns and in villages.²