Chapter Info (Click Here)
Book No. – 50 (History)
Book Name – Political Violence in Ancient India (Upinder Singh)
What’s Inside the Chapter? (After Subscription)
1. The Arthashastra: Politics as the Art of Material Gain
1.1. The Discipline of Political Economy
1.2. The State and Empire
1.3. Kautilya’s King
1.4. Calamities of King and State
1.5. Punishment, Pain, and Profit
1.6. Violence and Nonviolence in the Political Sphere
2. The Manusmriti: The King as Deity and Punisher
3. Bhasa: The Epics and the Political in Early Sanskrit Drama
4. Kingship in the Buddhist Tradition
4.1. The Buddhacharita: Kingship versus Buddhahood
4.2. The Ashokavadana: The King as Buddhist Patron
4.3. The Jataka: The Compassionate King
5. The Birth of the Royal Praśasti: Kharavela and Rudradaman
6. Visual Representations of Royalty
7. Kushana Kingship: Dynastic Cult?
8. Royal Religious Policy
9. The Justification of Political Violence
Note: The first chapter of every book is free.
Access this chapter with any subscription below:
- Half Yearly Plan (All Subject)
- Annual Plan (All Subject)
- History (Single Subject)
- CUET PG + History
LANGUAGE
Transition
Political Violence in Ancient India – Upinder Singh
Chapter – 2
Table of Contents
- In 187 BCE, Pushyamitra Shunga, the Brahmana commander in chief of the Maurya army, staged a military coup, killing king Brihadratha.
- Pushyamitra performed the aśvamedha, a Vedic horse sacrifice, symbolizing kṣatra (royal dominion).
- The aśvamedha was associated with claims to political paramountcy, believed to bring victory, fertility, and prosperity to the king’s realm.
- Rama and Yudhishthira had performed the sacrifice, but later Vedic texts suggest it had fallen out of practice (utsanna).
- Pushyamitra’s association with the aśvamedha and persecution of Buddhist monks are seen as a Brahmanical reaction against Maurya patronage of Jainism and Buddhism.
- The end of the Maurya empire coincided with invasions from the northwest, notably by the Bactrian Greeks and later Shakas, Pahlavas, and Kushanas.
- Between the 2nd century BCE and 1st century CE, the Bactrian Greeks gained independence from the Seleucid empire, founding the Indo-Greek kingdom.
- The Kushana kings extended their control from the Indus valley to Mathura, with Afghanistan as the center of their empire.
- Kshatrapas (viceroys of the Shaka–Pahlavas) ruled in western India, with the two main dynasties being the Kshaharatas and Kardamakas.
- The Chedi dynasty took control of Kalinga, while the Satavahanas emerged as a major force in the Deccan.
- The Chola, Chera, and Pandya kings held power in the south amid various warring chieftains.
- Between 200 BCE and 300 CE, invasions, inter-dynastic wars, and conflicts between states and forest tribes led to an increase in political violence.
- The discourse on kingship evolved at the turn of the millennium, with treatises on politics (arthaśāstra) detailing the use of force and violence by and against the king.
- A new genre of kāvya (literature) emerged, reflecting refined political thought.
- Royal inscriptions increased across regions and dynasties, with their eulogies (praśastis) presenting a more defined political ideology.
- The earliest clear representations of kings appeared in sculptural and numismatic art.
- The chapter focuses on the discussion and representation of the king’s force and violence in political discourse during these centuries.
The Arthashastra: Politics as the Art of Material Gain
- Kautilya, attributed author of the Arthashastra, is often compared with Machiavelli, author of Il Principe (The Prince).
- Chronologically, it is more accurate to describe Machiavelli as the Italian Kautilya.
- The works differ significantly in terms of conceptualization and detail due to their vast chronological and culturalgap.
- Ashoka became a victim of fame, depicted as a pious Buddhist king.
- Kautilya, on the other hand, became notorious as the proponent of realpolitik, where ends justify the means.
- The Arthashastra must be understood in its historical context, as its apparent amoral unscrupulousness reflects the political and material goals of the king.
- Kautilya sought to define politics from the perspective of the king, introducing pragmatic reasoning and arguing for the regulation of random violence in ancient states.
- The Arthashastra is written in compact prose, interspersed with verses, and is divided into 15 books (adhikaraṇas), 150 sections (adhyāyas), and 180 topics (prakaraṇas).
- There is debate over the date of composition of the Arthashastra. Some scholars link it to the Maurya period, while others argue it dates to the early centuries CE.
- Patrick Olivelle suggested the prehistory of the work may date back to the mid-first century BCE, with redactionsoccurring between 50 and 125 CE, and later between 175 and 300 CE.
- Due to the uncertainty of its exact date, it is best to treat the Arthashastra as a unitary whole and examine its ideasacross time, instead of attributing different layers to different periods.
- Kautilya is used as a short-hand for the multiple authors (likely including one named Kautilya) who contributed to the Arthashastra.
- The Arthashastra’s fame and the reputation of its author indicate that it addressed practical political concerns, influencing political thought in both the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.