The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c12.1

c12.1

Nowhere is the problematic character of kingship clearer than in the Indian case. At first sight, though, it is taken very much for granted and other possibilities are hardly considered. The so-called republics of ancient India receive only marginal attention in the texts. The interest they have aroused seems to owe more to the temptation of looking for ancient precedents of modern ideas than to their intrinsic importance. What is more important is that, as will become clear further on, the difference between these republican oligarchies and monarchies—even though Kauṭilya contrasts the first with his ideal monarchic state—is a matter of degree rather than of principle. The relevant divide is another one than the difference between monarchy and republic.¹