The ancient and medieval architecture of India: a study of Indo-Aryan civilisation

FEDERATION

OF

VILLAGES

25

TheKing's

Road,

whichranfrom

Fatal

iputrato

thenorth-

west frontier

of India,

was the

main

highway of

commerce,

linking

togetherthe

hundreds

ofsingle

villages

plannedon the

principles

of the

Silpa-sastras,

which

lay between

the seat of

thecentral government

and

the farthest

confines

oftheempire.

Itwasnot the

workof

Chandragupta's

government,but

ofthe

Indo-Aryanvillage

communities.

Andthere

canhardlybe

any

doubt that the

construction

of the great

irrigation

works of

Chandragupta'stime,

and all

the regulations

for using

them

and keeping

them in

order, were natural

developments

of the

traditional

organisation

of these

con;imunities, and

not any

new departurein

theeconomic life

ofIndia.

Forimperial

administrative

andpolitical

purposesvillages

inancient

and medieval India

were grouped

togetherin tens,

twenties, hundreds,and

thousands,eachgroup

acknowledging

aRaja—the

over-lordorchiefofatribe

—whosedutyitwas

to

protectthevillage

landsandthe public

roadsunderhiscontrol

from

robbers andto defendthem

fromotherenemies,in

return

forwhich eachvillage

orgroupof villages paid hima

certain

vali,ortribute.

Buttheprincipleofmutualobligation

between

therulers and

ruled was recognised to suchan

extent that in

casetheofficersof

theover-lord

who

wereresponsibleforpublic

safety

failedtodetectandpunishoffenders,theoverlord himself

was

expected to make good from his treasuryanyloss which

individuals or the community might suffer. Whether

this

obligation

was generally fulfilled by the central authority is

another

matter—the fact that this wasoneof theimplications

innoblesseoblige

shows

thatthedemocraticprincipleofgovern-

mentwasfullyunderstood in ancient India.

Thedutyofloyaldevotiontothesupremeauthority,whichis

always

stronglyinsistedupon

in the sacred literatureofIndia,

wassomethingquitedifferenttotheWesternnotionofthe

divine

right
ofkings. The

principleofconstitutionalgovernmentfor