The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c5.33

c5.33

The date, authenticity and value of each piece or class of evidence will be discussed as it is used in the following chapters. But a word may be said on the relative value of the data available. The inscriptions must form the basis of any study of Hindu political institutions. Here some very remarkable personages proclaim their aspirations, motives, and achievements. Here the actions of numerous kings, officers, private individuals or groups are recorded by contemporaries, with reference to the social, economic and political circumstances of the times. The epigraphic records are supplemented by coins of which the legends, though brief, sometimes settle doubtful dates, introduce new names and titles and occasionally illuminate an obscure political situation. The few seals which have so far been discovered are equally useful. The remains of old buildings, towns, caves or tanks sometimes serve as valuable illustrations. Next in value stand the accounts of foreign observers, Greek, Chinese and Arab, which, in the case of the last two classes of writers, have been transmitted at first hand. The Greek notices, preserved only in later extracts, cannot be accepted at their face value but they are, none the less, very useful. The next place must be assigned to the few Hindu chronicles or biographies, such as the Harṣacarita of Bāṇabhaṭṭa, the Rājatarangiṇī of Kalhaṇa and the Vikramāṅkadevacarita of Bilhaṇa, which throw a flood of light on the structure and working of political institutions. Finally, there is the vast range of Hindu literatures, Sanskrit, mixed Sanskrit, Pāli, Brahmanic, Buddhist and Jaina, religious, legal, political, secular; from which administrative gleanings have to be made. Owing to the uncertainties of the dates of Hindu literary productions which sometimes range over centuries and occasionally transcend a whole millenium, and from the theoretical character of a good many of them, the value of this kind of evidence is largely supplementary, comparative and illustrative. However, it does sometimes reflect the actual state of things or paint an ideal not far removed from reality. It is unfortunate that the epigraphic records and foreign accounts do not begin until the fourth century B.C. For the preceding centuries one has to rely entirely on literature.