Hindu Administrative Institutions c13.4

c13.4

From the head of a family the primitive Hindu became the chief of a tribe and soon the leader of a small state. This began to grow in extent and with that the office of the monarchy and the dignity of the institution. In the epoch of the *Brāhmaṇas* we find *mahārājas*, or great kings, *adhirājas* and *sārvabhaumas*, titles superior to that of *mahārāja*. The *sārvabhauma* is the overlord of the whole land known to them at that time. Thus in the period of the *Brāhmaṇas*, the idea of an empire had come to stay. Nanda Vardhana establishes an empire in Magadha about the fifth century before the Christian era. What we now understand by the centralized form of administration, takes root, to shoot forth into a tree with fruits and flowers. But the principle of centralization was foreign to the Hindu tradition, and consequently it had a short lease of life. Under the Mauryas to a small extent and possibly under the Guptas, the principle of decentralization gained currency with the result the emperors of these epochs recognized rightly the existence of small states, dependent or independent, free or unfree. Thus force of circumstances continued to bring transformation in the forms of the constitution.