Political Organisation: Pre-Mauryan

Political Organisation: Pre-Mauryan

The spread of Aryans in the east led to the establishment of new settlements in the Gangetic region. One important result of introduction of iron tools was the easy removal of dense forest cover from the banks of the Ganges. Sedentary agriculture had resulted in a permanent settlement of a clan in a particular area, thereby giving it a geographical identity. Retaining their acquired land required political organisation. The emergence of gana-sangha , chiefdom, has to be seen in this context. The clusters where particular clansmen were dominant came to be known as janapadas.

Gana-sanghas

There were two distinct forms of government at the time of Mahavira and Buddha: monarchical kingdom and clan oligarchies or Gana-sanghas. The Gana- sanghas provided a polity alternative to the kingdoms. Vedic rituals and the rules of varna were not followed. The Gana-sanghas consisted of either a single clan, such as the Shakyas, Koliyas and Mallas, or a confederacy of clans, such as the Vrijjis and the Vrishnis (a confederacy located at Vaisali). The Gana-sanghas had only two strata: the Kshatriya rajakula, ruling families, and the dasa-karmakara, the slaves and labourers. The dasa-karmakaras had no representation in the Assembly. The presence of various other popular religious cults in Gana-sanghas is in contrast to the socio-cultural system prevailing in kingdoms.

In Gana -sanghas, the head of the clan presided over the Assembly, comprising the heads of families. The clan’s head was not chosen following heredity. This Assembly discussed the matters relating to the affairs of the Gana-sanghas and if a unanimous decision was not possible, it was put to vote. There were advisers to the head of the clan. In later days, elaborate judicial procedures also evolved. The income of the Gana -sanghas was drawn from agriculture and cattle rearing, which was confined only to the Punjab and the doab, and to some extent from trade. For the chieftains of the north-west, the income primarily came from trade. Land was owned in common by the clan. They were cultivated by dasa-karmakara. There was only domestic slavery. The use of slaves in production was absent.