Jain Journal 2004 10

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 14

SATYA RANJAN BANERJEE: POLITICAL AND SOCIAL THOUGHTS
IX. 48). In order to collect secret news for the king the Nagaraghātas used to dress like a sage and collected information from the people of the road. Besides the spics, the king himself used to go out secretly to collect public opinion about his administration. It is said in the text (XIII. 5) that Jayasimha used to go out for this purpose.
The condition of the country depended on the good administration of the king. The aim and ideal of a good king was to establish the Ramarajya. The Chaulukya king had that ideal in his mind (VII. 4). In the Kumārapālacarita (VIII. 28) it is stated that people were living calmly and happily. The law and order of the country was maintained and there were no thieves in his kingdom. (VII. 28.). This truthful character of the then Indians was also recorded by the Mohammedan conquerors of India. Idrisi in his Geography (written in the 11th century) summed up the foreign opinions in the following manner:
"The Indians are naturally inclined to justice, and never depart from it in their actions. Their good faith, honesty, and fidelity to their engagements are well-known, and they are so famous for their qualities that people flock to their country from every side."
Incidentally, it can be mentioned that this truthful character of the then Indians was also recorded by later foreign writers. Marco Polo, for instance, in the thirteenth century noted as follows: "You must know that these Brahmins (the term used by him was Abraiaman) are the best merchants in the world, and the most truthful for they would not tell a lie for anything on earth." Similarly, in the fourteenth centruy Friar Jordanus told us that the people of lesser India (South and Western India) "were true in speech and eminent in justice". Max Müller cites another example. "In the fifteenth century", says Max Müller, "Kamaleddin Abd-errazak Samarkandi (1413-1482), who went as ambassador of the Khakan to the prince of Kalikut and to the king of Vidyanagara (about 1440-1445), bears testimony to the perfect security which merchants enjoy in that country". Max Müller futher says that from the records of the Aini Akbari written by Abul Fazal, the minister of the emperor Akbar, in the sexteenth century this truthfulness of the then Indians was remarkable. "The Hindus", says
4. Max Müller, Indian, what can it teach us? p. 56.
5. Max Müller, India, what can it teach us?, p.56
6. Ibid p 56.
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