Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c3: Foreword
Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c3
- Language
- English
Foreword
c3.1
India has long been proud of the republican institutions which existed in various regions of the Subcontinent in early times. These oligarchic or republican communities survived down to the Gupta period, and from time to time played an important part in the politics of northern India. Much has already been written about them, some of it very valuable, but some rather tendentious, prompted by an attempt to make ancient India appear as close to twentieth century ideals as possible.
c3.2
A dispassionate survey of the all too scanty sources still leaves much for India to be proud of, and the days are past when Indian scholars needed to impress the world with the fact that their country is capable of governing itself democratically, a fact which has been proved more than adequately by the events of the last twenty years. Therefore there has been a real need for a reassessment of the evidence on India’s ancient republics as objectively as possible.
c3.3
Dr. J. P. Sharma has met this need most ably, as far as the Vedic republics and those of the period of the Buddha are concerned. He has surveyed the relevant sources with a minuteness such as has not been applied to them hitherto, and has brought to bear scholarly and critical judgment on the data which they provide. Moreover, he has made many valuable comparisons with similar political institutions in other parts of the ancient and mediaeval world, and thus he has thrown light on many obscure aspects of the subject. Though in the course of his research he has found it necessary to reject some of the views which have in the past prevailed, and to cast doubt on many passages in his sources which have hitherto been accepted as giving authentic data, he has nevertheless greatly deepened our knowledge of the subject. Among positive contributions, he is particularly to be commended for his detailed analysis of the data on the *sabhā* and *samiti* and on the origin of the republican tribes of eastern India.
c3.4
I believe that this very original study will become a standard work on the subject, and I trust that Dr. Sharma will follow it with a further study of the republican peoples of India in later times.
c3.5
A. L. BASHAM