History

The Tradition of Kshaatra in India: Infighting among our Ancient Republics

Buddha approved of and loved both the system of republics as well as the system of monarchy. He himself came from a republics establishment; he belonged to the Śākya-gaṇa. The republic that lay close to it was the Kolīya-gaṇa. There was a huge quarrel between the Śākya-gaṇa and the Kolīya-gaṇa with regard to sharing the waters of the River Rohiṇī.

The Tradition of Kshaatra in India: Weakness of the Gana-Tantra System

Samudragupta had a wife named Dattadevi. Ramagupta and Chandragupta Vikramaditya were their sons. We are fortunate to know their names and other details from the coins that were minted in that era. A great economic, cultural, and social revolution took place in the Gupta Age. We can see in history how the span, the vastness, and the kṣātra (of the Gupta Age) protected people in all stages of life, from all walks of life.

The Tradition of Kshaatra in India: Samudragupta, the Torchbearer

The multi-volume History and Culture of the Indian People, a definitive work authored by numerous scholars, contains the most accurate and clear history of the Guptas. R.C. Majumdar, the General Editor of the volume titled The Classical Age, and K.M. Munshi, who has written a foreword to the volume have held that the glory of the Gupta Era was extraordinary. Indeed, Munshi has written that this extraordinary glory was possible because of Dharma.

The Awareness of Kshaatra in the Shungas

Pushyamitra Shunga tried to liberate Bharata’s lands under Greek occupation. The Greek invasion that began with Alexander continued till the time of Menander. The same Menander came to be known as Milindara later. Buddhists texts mention his name. The dialogue between Nagasena and Menander is recorded in the Pali (Magadhi) text ‘Milinda Panho.’ For a prolonged period—nearly three hundred years—the Ionian incursions were a recurring feature.

The Myth of the Kalabhras Showers Doctoral Degrees

Among the enduring myths in which the Dravidianists repose unshakeable faith, the story of the Evil Kalabhras stands foremost. So, who were the Kalabhras? The answer from the pristine-pure Dravidian scholarship says that they were a race who robbed everything that belonged to the Tamils including their very Tamil-ness (Tamil identity), and plunged the Tamil Country into a Dark Age. But when Dr.

The Tradition of Kshaatra in India: Ashoka’s Decline

Among Ashoka’s numerous children, Tivra, Mahendra, Kunala, and Jaluka were prominent. The Vāyu and other Purāṇas contain several details about this. Among them, Kunala ruled the kingdom after Ashoka. After his eight-year rule, the next generation took charge. Brihadratha was one among them. Some opine that he was the grandson of Ashoka. However, historical studies reveal otherwise. Samprati Chandragupta was a grandson of Ashoka and his son was Brihadratha. All of them were uniformly weak rulers, bereft of kṣātra.