Village Administration – Ancient India
Chapter – 11
- Since earliest times, the village has been the pivot of administration in India.
- Its importance was significant during an era when communications were slow and industrialization was unknown.
- Towns played a relatively unimportant role in ancient Indian life; Vedic hymns often pray for the prosperity of villages but rarely mention towns and cities.
- The Jātakas highlight the prosperity of kingdoms by focusing on the number of prosperous villages, ignoring the presence of towns and cities.
- In the Vedic age, states were typically small, which further increased the village’s importance.
- Even when kingdoms expanded in later times, the village remained the natural pivot of administration in a rural society.
- In modern times, governors convene conferences of collectors to address administrative policies; similarly, kings like Bimbisāra held meetings with village headmen for important discussions.
- Villages were real centers of social life and crucial units in the country’s economy.
- They sustained the edifice of national culture, prosperity, and administration.