The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c12.18

c12.18

The account of Megasthenes does not harmonise with the traditional Hindu system of caste. But it is difficult to believe that he was ignorant of the latter and failed to portray it with even a distant approach to exactitude. None could have lived even for a short while in India without knowing the salient features of caste. Unless he has been hopelessly distorted, Megasthenes cannot be held to be describing caste. What he seems to do is to observe the dominant occupations and to give his own impressions of the actual division of the population. As a Greek he approaches the question largely, though not exclusively, from the angle of the state. Everywhere he mentions how a particular caste stood in relation to the state. Here lies the chief value of his account. He may have erred in thinking that the classes were endogamic groups, though it is not impossible that the members of a class generally married only among themselves. It must be emphasised that, of the words used by the classical authors, γένος and φῦλον alone connote the ideas of race and family. Both are borrowed from the language of Greek social organisation and theory; *γένος* is used by Plato in the Republic. The terms really mean class or tribe. The two other words *μέρος* and *σύστημα* do not imply race at all. They can be used for any groups, organic or mechanical.¹ We cannot be sure of the exact words employed by Megasthenes, for the discrepancies in the four accounts attributed to him prove them to be summaries rather than quotations. In this connection ‘class’ is a better translation than ‘caste.’ Megasthenes indicates that there was a ruling class in India, small in numbers but dominating the rest of society through its talents and force of character. It filled the higher ranks of the civil and military services. It was the nobility, the aristocracy of the kingdom. It stood aloof from the large class which furnished the soldiery of the realm. It is again clear that the state employed large numbers of workmen in its factories and put itself in touch with other classes of people who performed certain services.