The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c21.123

c21.123

The position of the village as the lowest unit of administration need not be discussed again. But it may be emphasised that a village would naturally tend to develop a consciousness of its own. The ancient Hindu village bore some resemblance to that of China, Indo-China and Siam. The functional organisation, typified by the guild, could not have the same fixity and permanence or the same keen sense of autonomy. Nevertheless, as the inscriptions, coins, seals and literature alike prove, the guild became a real factor in the economic life of the community and appropriated some social and judicial functions. Add to all this the numerous castes and sub-castes with customs and usages of their own and it is clear that Hindu government, in the widest sense of regulation, was essentially a pluralistic one. The whole Hindu system of social and political organisation seems to have developed concurrently on the bases of race, occupation and region. There could be no question of unified loyalty and allegiance. Social development had been multilinear. Loyalty, like sovereignty, was split up. In the multitude of associations and organisations, the task of the state was (1) to secure and maintain those conditions of life in which each group could express itself in the best and fullest manner and without detriment to the rest and (2) to adopt all direct means for the furtherance of popular good and happiness.