Gansanghraj
Democracy, people's rule or civilian rule, has existed in India even in ancient times. The very term Indians used for 'democracy' is 'gansanghraj' meaning "people's assembly rule".
The gansangh was a local administrative body wherein people made decisions together for the good of the village, or in some case, a regional kingdom. Scriptures like Arthashastra, Ashtadhyayi, and Mahabharata mention them. For example, in the latter, within the "Shanti Parva" section, the wise Bhisma provides King Yudhishthira with knowledge on how these republics their power, wealth, and defense through collective leadership and discipline. In Chanakya's Arthashastra, refers to gansanghrajs as non-monarchial sanghs.
The leader of a gansangh was called a 'sangh-mukhya' ("assembly chief".) The Mahabharata notably names Lord Krishna as a sangh-mukhya of the Andhaka-Vrishni Sangh (a confederation of Yadava clans.)
Today, India is the world's largest democracy. There are countries more democratic, meaning there are more freedoms (i.e., right to bare many arms, right to publish obscene materials) but India is the largest-functioning democracy.
Vedic Background[edit]
In the Vedic Era, there were the sabha ("council") and samiti ("committee") bodies of making decisions. The prior consisted of leaders debating ideas and the latter of non-leaders doing so. The Atharva Veda mentions Sabha and Samiti as daughters of Prajapati.
Related articles[edit]
External resources[edit]
- "Gana Sangha: The Democratic Rule of Ancient India" (July 29, 2022) By Pranav Gogwekar