A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c6.26.1

c6.26.1

Such, then, are the lines along which the methodical treatment of Hindu political theories has to proceed. We have, in conclusion, to add a few words concerning the dates of the various original authorities that have been utilised in the preparation of this volume. The beginnings of political speculation among the Hindus, it will be observed later, occur in the Vedic Saṁhitās and the Brāhmaṇas. Regarding the dates of these works, the opinions of scholars vary so widely that it is impossible to mention one commanding general acceptance. On the whole, however, it appears desirable to place the works in question in the latter half of the second millennium before Christ and the earlier half of the first. The two following stages in the history of Hindu political thought, those of growth and maturity, are represented by a rich variety of systems consisting of the Brahminical Dharmasūtras as well as the Manusamhitā and the Mahābhārata, the Buddhist canonical and post-canonical treatises, and the literature of Arthaśāstra. The Dharmasūtras are assigned by Prof. Jolly to the fourth, fifth and sixth, centuries before Christ.† The Manusamhitā is placed by Bühler in the period between the second century B. C. and the second century A. D. ‡ The Mahābhārata, in the opinion of a leading Western authority, belongs to the period from the second century B. C. to the second century A. D., or with a wider margin, from the fourth century B. C. to the fourth century A. D.