Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times

by K.P. Jayaswal

English
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'Hindu Polity,' in two volumes (Parts) the first on Vedic Assemblies and Republics, the second on Monarchy and Imperial Systems-is a sketch of the constitutional life of the Hindus.

Subject and The subject is great but its treatment has to be modest. The works of purva-suris had long been hidden; the path opened by them had long been lost. It had to be researched. In 1911-13 a probable line was laid to dig and discover the Ancients' highway in the field of Polity. In these pages that line has been deepened and widened. And the way of the Fathers is in sight.

Pioneer The author made a special study to find out what constitutional progress, if any, Ancient Indians had achieved. In 1911 and 1912 some results of the study were published in the legal journal the Calcutta Weekly Notes and the Calcutta monthly the Modern Review. A connected paper was read to the Hindi Literary Conference in 1912 and its translation published in the Modern Review, 1913, under the title, An Introduction to Hindu Polity'.

Before the publication of the Introduction there had been no work in any modern language on the subject. The Introduction fulfilled its purpose. Today the subject finds place in University teaching. And the author has had the satisfaction of seeing his results quoted and reiterated, with or without acknowledgment, almost every year; the subject has become popular; the truth has been recognized, accepted and it has rightly ceased to be his.

Preparation of the Present Vincent Smith suggested to the author to treat the subject of Hindu republics in detail, and several friends insisted on having the Introduction in book-form. Abou

Genres: History, India

415 pages, Hardcover

First published December 31, 2005

About the author

1881-1937

Reviews

[Revanth Ukkalam · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is an absolutely fantastic read and deeply illuminating to those who would like to understand Early Indian political systems and models of decision making. It is written with a throbbing heart of a liberal and there is an affinity to all things democratic. It was revelatory for me in how much it relies on textual material. From a scarce set (The Vedas up till the Vedanta, Tripitaka, Panini and the rest of the grammar school, Dharmashastras, Arthashastra, and the Itihasas), to be honest, the historian reconstructs entire layers of governance apparatus. However that very fact also becomes the Achilles Bone of the historian; the scholar shows very little awareness of epigraphy which is the primary means of acquiring knowledge of past economic and political systems: barring Ashoka and Rudradaman’s inscriptions I cannot reckon much reliance at all on this area. As a consequence while the book is indispensable for understanding of the Oligarchies, Ganas, and Samghas, on Monarchies, it is not the best of sources. Also, to regard all of this as Hindu Polity is outright erroneous. He succumbs to the very scourge of Indian historiography when he says the Polity was destroyed from 700 CE onwards and died pretty much a cruel death with the Mohammedans. Much worse, he claims that the Hindu Polity was revived by Shivaji. Jaiswal should have recognised his strengths to be those of the Sanskritist with the eye for the political. I must praise the quote the book begins with – the reason I even picked the book. ‘In Memory of the Republics: Vrishnis, Kathas, Vaishalas, and Shakyas who announced Philosophies of Freedom from Death, Devas, Cruelty, and Caste’. This line has all my heart.