Kings, ministers and the idea of one land

From the 6th century BCE, rulers took titles like rājā, mahārāja and samrāṭ. But a title is not the whole story. "What did people expect from a good king?" The old texts are clear:

• Kauṭilya's Arthaśhāstra: "Only if a king is himself energetically active, do his officers follow him energetically." A lazy king gets lazy officers.
• The Yajurveda's coronation oath: judge the strong and the weak fairly, protect the land from disasters, and do good to the people.

The Śhānti Parva of the Mahābhārata guides kings on ethics and justice. A king must:

• protect the people from enemies outside and disorder inside;
• judge cases such as abduction, robbery and theft;
• punish serious crimes severely.

"Could a king do whatever he liked?" No. Kingship usually passed from father to son, but there are references to kings being elected, and even thrown out. So royal power was not always absolute.

One land. Kings thought beyond their own borders, about the whole subcontinent. Words that show this: Jambudvīpa, Bhāratavarṣha, the aśhvamedha and rājasūya rituals, Prithivi, and chakravarti kśhetra (the domain of a universal ruler).

Examples across a thousand years:

• Aśhoka said his efforts brought big spiritual changes in Jambudvīpa.
• The Arthaśhāstra defines Prithivi as "the area lying between the Himalayas and the sea": the domain of a chakravarti.
• In the Sangam age, the Chera king Nedunjeral Adan was said to have conquered up to the Himalayas.
• In the 11th century CE, the Chola king Rajendra I took the title Gangaikonda ('who took the Ganga') after his conquests along the Ganga.

The seven limbs of the State. Kauṭilya saw the State as a living body with seven parts, the Saptāṁga. Think of it as a body that needs all its organs:

The State works only if all seven work together. As the Arthaśhāstra says, "one wheel does not move the carriage".

The council of ministers (mantri-pariṣhad). The king governed with a small body of senior statesmen who advised him. It usually included the treasurer, the chief tax collector, the chief legal adviser and the army commander. An Aśhokan inscription even shows the council taking decisions while the emperor was away, in the public interest.

One rock, three rulers, 700 years. The Junagadh rock near Girnar in Gujarat carries:

• Aśhoka's edicts in Prakrit (3rd century BCE), on dhamma and moral rule;
• a long Sanskrit record by the Western Satrap Rudradaman I (about 150 CE): his victories, and the repair of Sudarshana Lake;
• a record by the Gupta emperor Skandagupta (5th century CE): the lake restored again after severe damage.

The Maurya, Western Satrap and Gupta dynasties, all on one stone.