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Book No. – 50 (History)
Book Name – Political Violence in Ancient India (Upinder Singh)
What’s Inside the Chapter? (After Subscription)
1. The Vedic Prelude
2. The Renunciatory and Ethical Turn
3. Kingship in the Jaina and Buddhist Traditions
3.1. The Wheels of the World Victor and World Renouncer
3.2. Buddhism and the Problem of Political Violence
4. Ashoka and His Piety Propaganda
4.1. Goodness and Nonviolence in the Moral Empire
4.2. Justice and Capital Punishment
4.3. Ashoka’s Legacy
5. Kingship in the Sanskrit Epics: The Mahabharata
5.1. The Political Landscape
5.2. Kingship, Punishment, and Order
5.3. Dharma and Doubt
5.4. The King’s Dharma
5.5. Kingship. Dharma, and Unhappiness
5.6. The Problem of Violence
5.7. Kingship and Renunciation
6. Politics in the Ramayana
6.1. Rama-Good King and God-King
6.2. Kingship, Violence, and Love
7. The Two Registers of Dharma
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LANGUAGE
Foundation
Political Violence in Ancient India – Upinder Singh
Chapter – 1
Table of Contents
- Rajgir has a history of over two and a half millennia, with a picturesque landscape of dense forests and seven undulating hills.
- Known by different names, Rajagriha was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Magadha, while Girivraja refers to its hill-girded location.
- Rajgir is associated with legendary figures like King Jarasandha, Krishna, and historic kings Bimbisara and Ajatashatru.
- The Buddha meditated on Vulture’s Hill in Rajgir, and the first Buddhist council was held in the area, possibly in front of the Sattapanni caves.
- Rajgir is also linked to Jaina saints, with the birthplace of Muni Suvrata and Mahavira spending many months here.
- Jaina ascetics lived in the Son Bhandar caves in the 3rd and 4th centuries, indicating the region’s strong Jainaassociation.
- Rajagriha was the capital of Magadhan kings, who used violent means to enhance their political power, and also a place of thinkers emphasizing renunciation and nonviolence.
- The earliest states included kingdoms (rājyas) and oligarchies (gaṇas or saṅghas).
- Rajagriha epitomizes monarchies, while Vaishali represents oligarchies, with power shared among aristocrats.
- The Lichchhavis of Vaishali, part of the Vajji confederacy, had significant political power, and Mahavira was born in the Vaishali suburbs.
- The second Buddhist council was held in Vaishali a century after the Buddha’s death.
- Vaishali is also connected to the Ramayana, where Rama, Lakshmana, and Vishvamitra visited the city before going to Janaka’s court.
- Cities and states emerged in a belt from Gandhara in the northwest to Anga in the east, including central India and the Deccan.
- The sixth and fifth centuries BCE saw the rise of the sixteen great states (mahājanapadas), consisting of both kingdoms and oligarchies.
- Brahmanical, Buddhist, and Jaina texts provide accounts of rulers, their wars, and political history, often denouncing rulers they opposed.
- Stories of violent succession conflicts, including assassinations, patricide, and people’s revolts, are common in these texts.
- Bimbisara, king of the Haryanka dynasty of Magadha, was known for his army and was killed by his son Ajatashatru, who later sought absolution from the Buddha.
- The successors of Ajatashatru are described as patricides, but Jaina tradition depicts his successor Udayin as a devoted son and follower of Jaina teachings.
- The Haryanka dynasty ended with a popular revolt that elevated Shishunaga to the throne, which also ended violently.
- Shishunaga’s dynasty ended violently, leading to the Nanda dynasty.
- Mahapadma, the first Nanda king, is said to have destroyed the Kshatriyas, asserting power over the hereditary military elites.
- Dhanananda, the last Nanda ruler, was described as militarily powerful, cruel, and unpopular, with Brahmanical texts criticizing the low origins of the Nandas and Mauryas.
- The use of force by men from below broke the power of the old military aristocracies, extending political control through aggressive military campaigns.
- The exploration of political ideas in the historic period begins in the sixth century BCE, with earlier texts like the Vedas providing a prelude to classical Indian political thought.
The Vedic Prelude
- The Vedic world is filled with conflict, war, and violence, with the god Indra symbolizing the strong warrior ethos in the Rigveda.
- Indra is depicted as a powerful figure who defeats enemies like the serpent demon Vritra with his thunderbolt.
- The āryas in the Rigveda engage in continuous battles with each other and with other people, referred to as dāsas and dasyus.
- Embedded within the Vedic texts are early expressions of Indian political ideas and abstract political theorization.
- The concept of ṛta governs nature, the gods, humans, and sacrifice, while dharma is associated with maintaining the foundation of the world and beings, especially through sacrificial rituals and royal authority.
- In later Vedic texts, dharma becomes more focused on kingship and the rājasūya consecration ritual.
- The varṇa system emerges, dividing society into four hereditary classes: Brahmanas (priests), Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaishyas (merchants), and Shudras (laborers).
- A cosmogonic hymn in the Vedas describes the sacrifice of Purusha, with different varṇas emerging from different parts of his body, symbolizing social hierarchy.
- The varṇa system was foundational to Brahmanical social discourse, lasting for centuries despite the rise of class and caste identities.
- Early Vedic texts discuss conquest, political paramountcy, and empire, with the tribal rājan (chieftain) evolving into a hereditary king whose power surpassed that of tribal assemblies.
- The Kuruks are thought to represent the first state in India, as tribal chieftains transformed into monarchical rulers.
- The emergence of monarchical states was tied to the varṇa hierarchy and changes in kinship relations and the household.
- Rituals such as abhiṣeka (king’s anointment), rājasūya, vājapeya, and aśvamedha symbolized the king’s centrality, sovereignty, and the sacralization of violence.
- The relationship between sacerdotal (brahma) and secular (kṣatra) power was understood in Vedic texts, representing a hierarchy of mutual dependence, tension, and conflict.
- Kings and chieftains were viewed as warriors, protectors of Brahmanas, and performers of sacrifices in the Vedic texts.
- In the Upanishads, Kshatriyas and kings were also recipients and participants in the esoteric philosophy, which emphasized liberation from the cycle of saṁsāra.
- The Upanishads focused on the concepts of the ātman (eternal self) and brahman (world soul), with little focus on ethics or nonviolence (ahiṁsā).
- Some suggest that Vedic sacrifice was a reform replacing cyclical violence with a more linear process, though the ritual still justified and promoted violence, especially against enemies outside the tribe.
- Vedic rituals were concerned with euphemizing violence, such as eliminating human sacrifice and using vegetal substitutes for animals, and strangling animals to avoid cries during sacrifices.
- The Upanishads and Aranyakas redefined and interiorized sacrifice, but the principle of nonviolence was not central to Vedic thought.
- As early historic states and private property emerged in north India during the sixth and fifth centuries BCE, debates on violence and nonviolence expanded beyond the ritual context into political and social domains.
- The term dharma evolved from a ritual concept to a political and ethical one, addressing questions about the originsof kingship, the duties of kings, and the relationship between kingship and violence.