The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c3: Contents

The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c3

Language: English

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CHAPTER | PAGE --- | --- I. | Introduction ... ... | 1 II. | The Age of the Ṛigveda (Books I— IX) | 17 III. | Gleanings from Later Vedic Literature | 33 IV. | Gleanings from the Sūtras ... ... | 57 V. | The Epics . . ... ... | 76 VI. | The Jātakas ... ... ... | 114 VII. | Pre-Mauryan Administrations .. | 154 VIII. | The Mauryan Administration .. | 176 IX. | After the Mauryan Empire ... .. | 215 X. | The Dharma Śāstras, the Arthaśāstras and other Literature .. ... ... | 236 VI. | The Gupta Empire and After .. ... | 282 XII. | The Later Dharma Śāstras, Purāṇas and other Literature ... ... | 322 XIII. | The Seventh Century A.D. ... ... | 343 XIV. | From the Eighth to the Tenth Century A.D. ... | 385 XV. | Kaśmīr and Chambā ... ... ... | 419 XVI. | The Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries A.D. ... | 441 XVII. | Conclusion .. . ... | 469

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| Bibliography . . ... | 515
| Index . . . . . | 530
| Corrigenda . . . . . | 579

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the *Gesta Romanorum*, the *Legenda Aurea* of Jacobus de Voragine, and the *Speculum Historiale* of Vincent of Beauvais. These were the books that fed the imagination of the Middle Ages, and they were the books that the Church, in its wisdom, provided for the instruction and edification of the faithful.

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But the Church did not merely provide books; it also provided the means of their dissemination. The monastic scriptoria, where monks labored in silence to copy the sacred texts, were the precursors of the printing press. And when the press finally arrived, it was the Church that first harnessed its power, using it to spread the word of God to the corners of the earth. The Gutenberg Bible, the first major book printed in Europe, was a testament to the Church's commitment to the written word.

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Yet, even as the Church championed the spread of knowledge, it also sought to control it. The *Index Librorum Prohibitorum*, or List of Prohibited Books, was a tool used by the Church to suppress ideas it deemed dangerous or heretical. This tension between the desire to educate and the need to control would define the Church's relationship with literature for centuries to come.

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It is a complex history, one that is marked by both enlightenment and suppression. But it is a history that cannot be ignored, for it is the history of the very foundation of Western civilization. The Church, in its role as the guardian of knowledge, has shaped the way we think, the way we write, and the way we understand the world around us.