System OF Governance During Vedic Period PDF

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1. SYSTEM OF GOVERNANCE DURING VEDIC PERIOD Rigveda 10 Mandalas 1028 Hymns 10600 Verses Shukla Yajurveda Yajurveda Religious Veda Krishna Yajurveda Pre-smriti Period System of Governance Samaveda Melodies 1875 Verses 2 Parts Atharavaveda 20 Kandas 730 Hymns 6000 Mantras Manusmriti Aprox. 200 BC 12 C...

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1. SYSTEM OF GOVERNANCE DURING VEDIC PERIOD Rigveda

10 Mandalas

1028 Hymns

10600 Verses

Shukla Yajurveda Yajurveda

Religious Veda Krishna Yajurveda

Pre-smriti Period

System of Governance

Samaveda

Melodies

1875 Verses

2 Parts

Atharavaveda

20 Kandas

730 Hymns

6000 Mantras

Manusmriti

Aprox. 200 BC

12 Chapters

2690 Verses

Achara-kanda

368 Verses

1010 Verses

Vyavhara-kanda

307 Verses

Manutika

Prayascitta

335 Verses

Smriti Period

Yajanvalkyasmriti

Commentaries on Manusmriti

Manu-sastra-vivarana

Manvarthamuktavali Post smriti Period Balakrida Commentaries on Yajanvalkya smriti

Mitakshra

Virmitrodya

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The system of governance in the Vedic period can be understood in three different time periods. Namely— 1. Pre-smriti period 2. Smriti period 3. Post-smriti period

PRE-SMRITI PERIOD OR VEDIC PERIOD The Vedic period (or Vedic age) (c. 1500 – c. 500 BCE) was the period in Indian history during which the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, were composed. During the early part of the Vedic period, the Indo-Aryans settled into northern India, bringing with them their specific religious traditions. The associated culture (sometimes referred to as Vedic civilisation) was initially a tribal, pastoral society centred in the northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent; it spread after 1200 BCE to the Ganges Plain, as it was shaped by increasing settled agriculture, a hierarchy of four social classes, and the emergence of monarchical, state-level polities. Scholars consider Vedic civilisation to have been a composite of the Indo-Aryan and Harappan cultures. The end of the Vedic period witnessed the rise of large, urbanised states as well as of shramana movements (including Jainism and Buddhism) which challenged the Vedic orthodoxy. Around the beginning of the Common Era, the Vedic tradition formed one of the main constituents of the so-called "Hindu synthesis".

The Vedas: The Vedas form the oldest literary works of the Aryans and occupy a very distinguished place in the history of the world literature. Vedas have been looked upon as the revealed words of God by millions of Hindus. In course of many centuries Vedas had grown up and was orally handed down from generation to generation. The Vedas were probably authored during 1800 BC and 600 BC. It consists of three successive classes of literary production. These three classes are: (i) The Samhitas or Mantras—these are collections of hymns, prayers, charms, litanies, sacrificial formulas. (ii) The Brahmans—a kind of Primitive theology and philosophy of Brahmans.

2

(iii)

The Aranyakas and Upanishads—they are partly included in the Brahmans or attached thereto and partly exist as separate work. They contain philosophical meditations of the hermits and ascetics on soul, God, world & man.

There are four Samhitas which are different from one another. Namely— (i)

The Rigveda Samhita: A collection of hymns. It has ten mandalas with a total of 1028 ‘Suktas’ or ‘stutis’ for the worship of gods like Indra, Surya, Agni, Yama, Varuna, Ashwini, Usha etc.

(ii)

Yajurveda Samhita: A collection of sacrificial formula. It has 40 mandalas. There are two distinct forms of Yajurveda namely. “Shukla Yajurveda” and “Krishna Yajurveda”. The “Shukla Yajurveda” contains the genesis while the “Krishna Yajurveda” describes the “Vasya” or the philosophy.

(iii)

Samaveda Samhita: A collection of songs mostly taken from Rigveda. It contained 1875 verses. A special class of priests known as ‘ Udgator’ was to recite its hymns.

(iv)

Atharvaveda Samhita: A collection of songs and spells. It has twenty mandalas with 731 ‘stutis’. It deals with magic, hypnotism, enslavement through mantra. It is regarded on a lower level than the other three Vedas. These four Samhitas formed the basis of four Vedas.

Every work belonging to the second and third classes of Vedic literature vis, the Brahmans, the Aranyakas and the Upanishads , is attached to one or another of these Samhitas and is said to belong to that particular Veda.

The Authorship of the Vedic Literature: The Hindus have a belief that the hymns were merely revealed to the sages and not composed by them. .For this Vedas are called ‘apaurusheya’ (Not made by man) and ‘ritya’ (Existing in all eternity). The ‘Rishis’ to whom they are ascribed are known as ‘Mantradrasta’. (One who received the mantra by sight directly from the Supreme Creator).

SMRITI PERIOD Smriti (Sanskrit: ) literally "that which is remembered," refers to a body of Hindu texts usually attributed to an author, traditionally written down but constantly revised, in contrast to Śrutis (the Vedic literature) considered authorless, that were transmitted

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verbally across the generations and fixed. Smriti is a derivative secondary work and is considered less authoritative than Śrutis in Hinduism, except in Mimamsa school of Hindu philosophy. Smriti is a Sanskrit word, from the root Smara (DDDD), which means "remembrance, reminiscence, thinking of or upon, calling to mind", or simply "memory". The word is found in ancient Vedic literature, such as in section 7.13 of the Chandogya Upanishad. In later and modern scholarly usage, the term refers to tradition, memory, as well as a vast post-Vedic canon of "tradition that is remembered". David Brick states that the original meaning of smriti was simply tradition, and not texts. Smriti is also symbolic synonym for number 18; from the 18 scholars who are credited in Indian tradition for writing dharma-related smriti texts (most have been lost). In linguistic traditions, Smriti is the name of a type of verse meter. In Hindu mythology, Smriti is the name of the daughter of Dharma and Medha. In scholarly literature, Smriti is also spelled as Smrti. ṛ The main smriti regulating the Hindu society are as follows— (1) Manusmriti (2) Yajnavalkya smriti (3) Naradasmriti (4) Visnusmriti MANUSMRITI The Manusmrtiṛ (Sanskrit: ) also spelled as Manusmriti, is an ancient legal text among the many Dharmaśāstras of Hinduism. It was one of the first Sanskrit texts translated during the British rule of India in 1794, by Sir William Jones, and used to formulate the Hindu law by the colonial government. Over fifty manuscripts of Manusmriti are now known, but the earliest discovered, most translated and presumed authentic version since the 18th-century has been the "Calcutta manuscript with Kulluka Bhatta commentary". Modern scholarship states this presumed authenticity is false, and the various manuscripts of Manusmriti discovered in India are inconsistent with each other, and within themselves, raising concerns of its authenticity, insertions and interpolations made into the text in later times.

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Manusmriti is also called the Mānava-Dharmaśāstra or Laws of Manu. The structure and contents of the Manusmriti suggest it to be a document predominantly targeted at the Brahmins (priestly class) and the Kshatriyas (king, administration and warrior class). The text dedicates 1,034 verses, the largest portion, on laws for and expected virtues of Brahmins, and 971 verses for Kshatriyas. The statement of rules for the Vaishyas (merchant class) and the Shudras (artisans and working class) in the text is extraordinarily brief. Olivelle suggests that this may be because the text was composed to address the balance "between the political power and the priestly interests", and because of the rise in foreign invasions of India in the period it was composed. YAJNAVALKYA SMRITI The Yajnavalkya Smriti is one of the many Dharma-related texts of Hinduism composed in Sanskrit.

It

was

dated

between

3rd

and

5th-century

CE,

and

belongs

to

the Dharmaśāstras tradition. The text was composed after the Manusmriti, but like it and Naradasmriti, the text was composed in shloka (poetic meter) style. The legal theories within

the Yajnavalkya

Smriti are

presented

in

three

books,

namely achara-

kanda (customs), vyavahara-kanda (judicial process) and prayascitta-kanda (crime and punishment, penance). The text is the "best composed" and systematic specimen of this genre, with large sections on judicial process theories, one which had greater influence in medieval India's judiciary practice than Manusmriti. It later became influential in the studies of legal process in ancient and medieval India, during the colonial British India, with the first translation published in German in 1849. The text is notable for its differences in legal theories from Manusmriti, for being more liberal and humane, and for extensive discussions on evidence and judiciousness of legal documents.

POST-SMRITI PERIOD Post-smriti period was basically regulated by the commentaries over the smriti. There were a number of commentaries over a single smriti. Commentaries on Manusmriti 1. Manu-Shastra-vivarana 2. Medhātithi

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3. Manutika 4. Manvarthamuktavali 5. Manvarthavivrtti Commentaries on Yajnavalkya Smriti (1) Bālakrīd ṛā (2) Mitakshara (3) Virmitrodaya (4) Dipkalika (5) Apararka-nibandha

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2. BRITISH ADMINISTRATION IN BOMBAY Bombay, now called Mumbai, Bombaim in Portuguese, is the financial and commercial capital of India and one of the most populous cities in the world. At the time of arrival of the Portuguese, current Bombay was an archipelago of seven islands. Between the third century BCE and 1348, the islands came under the control of successive Hindu dynasties. The Muslim rulers of Gujarat, who had been ruling current Thane and Vasai for a few decades, annexed the islands in 1348, which were later governed by the Gujarat Sultanate from

1391

to

1534.

Growing

apprehensive

of

the

power

of

the Mughal emperor Huma Yun, Sultan Bahadur Shah of the Gujarat Sultanate was obliged to sign the Treaty of Bassein with the Portuguese Empire on 23 December 1534. According to the treaty, the seven islands of Bombay, the nearby strategic town of Bassein and its dependencies were offered to the Portuguese. The territories were later surrendered on 25 October 1535. The Portuguese were actively involved in the foundation and growth of their Roman Catholic religious orders in Bombay. They called the islands by various names, which finally took the written form Bombaim. The islands were leased to several Portuguese officers during their regime. The Portuguese Franciscans and Jesuits built several churches in the city. The Portuguese also built several fortifications around the city like the Bombay Castle, Castella de Aguada (Castelo da Aguada or Bandra Fort), and Madh Fort. The British were in constant struggle with the Portuguese vying for hegemony over Bombay, as they recognized its strategic natural harbour and its natural isolation from land-attacks. By the middle of the 17th century the growing power of the Dutch Empire forced the British to acquire a station in western India. On 11 May 1661, the marriage treaty of Charles II of England and Catherine of Braganza, daughter of King John IV of Portugal, placed Bombay in possession of the British Empire, as part of dowry of Catherine to Charles. Even after the treaty, some villages in Bombay remained under Portuguese possession, but many were later acquired by the British. Administration of Bombay can be discussed in three different phases. Namely— 1. Phase I: 1668-1683 2. Phase II: 1684-1690

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3. Phase III: 1718-1726

FIRST PERIOD (1668 – 1683) In the year 1534 Portugal for the first time received the Island of Bombay by cession from the King of Gujarat, Sultan Bahadur. Bombay was controlled by them for more than a century. When King Charles II of England began his reign, the Emperor Aurungzeb was at the height of his power in India. In Surat the Company occupied merely the position of one of the big trading houses of the city which was controlled by Aurungzeb. In the year 1661 Portuguese King Alfonsus VI transferred the Island of Bombay to Charles II as a gift on the marriage of his sister Princess Catherine with the British King . At that point of time Bombay was a poor place and the population of Bombay was just 10 000, Bombay was a just small fishing, neglected Island town. Later Charles II transferred the Island of Bombay to the East India Company in year 1668 for annual rent of Ten pounds of gold. CHARTER OF 1668 Charles II gave the charter to the company to administer the Island of Bombay with full powers and jurisdiction requisite for the administration and dispensation of justice in Bombay. The company was authorized to make the laws on the basis of Laws of England. Thus with the charter of 1668, the status of East India company started to change. With this charter the trading company started its journey towards becoming a territorial sovereign. Thus Bombay came under the Surat Presidency; The Governor of Surat factory was the ex-officio Governor of Bombay. Gerald Aungier the Governor of Surat factory led the plans of judicial system in Bombay, he was the founder of Bombay. With his effort in the year 1670 in Bombay the first judicial system was established. Bombay was divided into two divisions. Namely— 1. First Division – comprised Bombay, Mazagaon and Girgaon and 2. Second Division- Mahim, Parel, Sion and Worli. 8

In each division a court consisting of five judges was started with English person as the head of each Court and Indians were also appointed as the judges. These courts quarterly, submitted copies to the Deputy Governor’s office, which were to constitute a superior court. From 1670 – 1672 the legal system was very elementary and admin of justice was given to traders with no knowledge of law and no salary for the judicial work done by them. In the year 1672 the legal system was reformed and George Wilcox became the judge. The Portuguese laws and customs were abolished and the English law was introduced by a Government Proclamation on August 1, 1672. The court was to have jurisdiction in all cases, civil, criminal, probate and testamentary. The court sat once a week and tried all civil cases with the help of Jury. Provisions were made for the speedy trials and quick decisions by the court. A fee of 5 percent was charged on each case which the court tried. For administration of criminal justice Bombay was divided into 4 divisions— 

Bombay



Mahim



Mazagaon



Sion

In each section, an English person was appointed as a justice of peace. He held preliminary examination of the witnesses against an accused and made a record which he sent to the Court which sat once a month to try criminal cases with the help of Jury. The judge was to be given a salary of 2000 Rupees a year. This judicial system was inaugurated by Aungier on Aug 8 1672. The Company had directed the court to maintain a register of all its proceedings and send an annual report to it. The civil cases were decided in 10 to 12 days. Justice was very cheap, with maximum charges amounting to 20 shillings. Debtors were kept in jail until they paid their debt. Jury would consist of 12 Englishmen, in criminal cases felonies like murder, rape, and witchcraft were punished with death according to the English law. 9

Although the judges were to be given a salary of 2000 Rupees a year, the company did not pay any salary to the Judge Wilcox and furthermore the company started to reduce the salary of judges, to maintain the subservience of the judiciary to the executive. In the year 1683 the company judicial system came to an end because of Keigwin’s rebellion on the Bombay Island and in the year 1684 the Keigwin’s rebels surrendered the Island to the company, thus marking the end of the first phase of evolution of judiciary at Bombay.

SECOND PERIOD (1684-1690) In the year 1684 the East India Company sent Dr. John from England to Bombay. Dr. John was expert in civil law. Under the charter of 1683, the company established an Admiralty Court in Bombay in 1684 which took control of all civil as well as criminal matters along with admiralty and maritime matters falling within the ambit of 1683, since after the Keigwin’s rebellion, no other court was established. That time Dr. John took some evidence against Governor Child and this made Governor Child upset and Governor did not believe the theory of equality before the law. He felt offended and did not like the judicial independence so in the year 1685, he reduced the powers of this court and limited it to try only maritime and admiralty matters, civil and criminal cases. A new court was established in Bombay called as King’s Bench of the common pleas. And Vaux became judge who was not aware about law. The court was to decide civil and criminal cases on the same lines as the court of 1672. Vaux was to be a member of the Bombay Council also. With this new court, both courts started to fight with each other regarding the jurisdiction of the court cases. As Dr. John was very liberal person and believed in equality before law, the executives who thought judiciary is under them did not like Dr. John, so in the year 1687 Executives Governor dismissed Dr. John from his position as a judge. After the exit of Dr. John, the Deputy Governor of Bombay took over as the judge of the admiralty court. But the Company objected to the appointment of one and the same person to two offices.

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Thus In 1688, Vaux became the Judge advocate by over-ruling the charter of 1683 which said that Judge advocate should be learned in civil law and although Vaux never learned any kind of law, he knew how to keep executives happy. In the year 1690 Bombay was attacked by the Moghul Admiral Siddi. After this attack the judicial system of Bombay came to an end from the period of 1690 to 1718.

THIRD PERIOD (1718-1726) After the gap of 30 years on 25th March 1718, again company started the court in Bombay which consisted of chief justice and 9 judges, 5 were British and 4 Indian judges. The court was authorised to decide all cases, civil, criminal and testamentary. The court handled all cases, followed laws of England and tried to pay attention to the caste and customs of each religion also. The court also worked as registration house also for the sale of immoveable property and charged fees also. The court sat once a week and decided all cases. British Judges enjoyed more powers and respect than the Indian judges. The Indians acted more like assessors than full-fledged judges. The courts work with speed, gave justice quickly and it was very cheap for everyone to go to court. Unlike the court of 1672, the court of 1718 did not use jury. Courts followed customs of Hindus as well as Muslims when trying cases and also considered international law and British law. It was common practice to give lashes as punishment to criminals. Robbers were whipped and branded with red hot iron. Everyone feared to do crime, justice was deterrent. At that point of time one interesting case is that the officials falsely charged innocent person and robbed his property by proving him guilty in court by producing fake papers and witnesses who were tortured. The case is known as Rama Kamati case. This trial proved that justice was rough and ready and there was miscarriage of justice. This kind of a judicial system continued to function ...