Chandragupta Maurya and His Times c6.5

c6.5

The aloofness of the Indian village from high politics at the centre attracted the attention of Megasthenes who has described how the bulk of India’s population who were living on land as agriculturists were exempted from military service and were often found freely working, out in the fields, even in sight of a battle raging close by. He says: “Whereas among other nations it is usual, in the contests of war, to ravage the soil, and thus to reduce it to an uncultivated waste, among the Indians, on the contrary, by whom husbandmen are regarded as a class that is sacred and inviolable, the tillers of soil, even when battle is raging in their neighbourhood, are undisturbed by any sense of danger, for the combatants on either side in waging the conflict make a carnage of each other, but allow those engaged in husbandry to remain quite unmolested. Besides, they neither ravage an enemy’s land with fire, nor cut down its trees.” And again: “The Husbandmen appear to be far more numerous than the others. Being moreover exempted from fighting and other public services, they devote the whole of their time to tillage; nor would an enemy coming upon a husbandman at work on his land do him any harm, for men of their class, being regarded as public benefactors, are protected from all injury. The land thus remaining undamaged, and producing heavy crops, supplies the inhabitants with all that is requisite to make life very enjoyable. The husbandmen themselves, with their wives and children, live in the country, and entirely avoid going into town either to take part in its tumults or for any other purpose" [Frag. I, XXXIII]. These rural retreats of democracy kept the culture of the country in tact and free from all political disturbances.