elaborate regulations is conclusive proof that the Maurya Empire in the 3rd century B. C. was in constant intercourse with foreign states, and that large numbers of strangers visited the capital on business." Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador at the Mauryan court, has left valuable accounts of India's conditions, political and social, prevailing 4 centuries before the Christian era :—

"Those who have charge of the city are divided into six bodies of five each. The members of the first look after everything relating to the industrial arts. Those of the second attend to the entertainment of foreigners. To those they assign lodgings, and they keep watch over their modes of life by means of those persons whom they give to them for assistance. They escort them on the way when they leave the country, or, in the event of their dying, forward their property to their relatives. They take care of them when they are sick, and, if they die, bury them. The third body consists of those who inquire when and how births. and deaths occur, with a view not only of levying a tax, but also in order that births and deaths among both high and low may not escape the cognizance of government. The fourth class superintends trade and commerce. Its members have charge of weights and measures, and see that the products in their season are sold by public notice. No one is allowed to deal in more than one kind of commodity, unless he pays a double tax. The fifth class supervises manufactured articles, which they sell by public notice. What is new is sold separately from what is old, and there is a fine for mixing the two together. The sixth and last class consists of those who collect the tenths of the prices of the articles sold."

The military officers, Megasthenes goes on to say, "also consist of six divisions, with five members to each. One division is appointed to co-operate with the admiral of the fleet; another with the superintendent of the bullock-trains, which are used for transporting engines of war, food for soldiers, pro

vender for the cattle, and other military requisites. The third division has charge of the foot-soldiers, the fourth of the horses, the fifth of the war-chariots, and the sixth of the elephants."

In addition to the municipal and military officers, there was a third class whose duty it was to superintend agriculture, irrigation, forests, and the general work of administration in rural districts. "Some superintend the rivers, measure the land, as is done in Egypt and inspect the sluices by which water is let out from the main canals into their branches, so that everyone may have an equal supply of it. The same persons have charge also of the huntsmen, and are entrusted with the power of rewarding or punishing them according to their deserts. They collect the taxes, and superintend the occupations connected with land, as those of the wood-cutters, the carpenters, the blacksmiths and the miners. They construct roads, and at every ten stadia set up a pillar to show the by-roads and distances."

Be

Megasthenes' observations on the humaneness of war times are very illuminating. "For, whereas, among other nations it is usual, in the contests of war, to ravage the soil, and thus to reduce it to an uncultivated waste, among the Indians, on the contrary, by whom husbandmen are regarded as a class that is sacred and inviolable, the tillers of the soil, even when battle is raging in the neighborhood, are undisturbed by any sense of danger. * * sides, they (the warriors) never ravage an enemy's land with fire, nor cut down its trees. They never use the conquered as slaves."* This high state of civilization was possible only because the Hindus carefully observed the laws of war sanctioned by their Shastras (scriptures). The Law-giver Apastamba, says: "The Aryans forbid the slaughter of those who have laid down their arms, of those who beg for mercy with flying hair or joined hands and

*All quotations from Megasthenes are from MacCrindle's Translation, quoted by Abhedananda.-H. T. M.

of fugitives." Bodhayana lays it down: "Let him not fight with those who are in fear, intoxicated, insane or out of their mind, nor with those who have lost their armor, nor with women, infants, aged men and Brahmins." And Vashishta says: "The wives of slain soldiers were always provided for."

For a full thousand years, from the time of Megasthenes, 3rd Century B. C. to that of Houen Tsang, 7th Century A. C., we meet with a host of pilgrims to India, who testify that: "The people were happy, prosperous, enjoying peace and justice. Agriculture flourished, the fine arts were cultivated." In his diary -(translated by Samuel Beal), Houen Tsang, gives the following description of the administration of India:

* *

"As the administration of the country is conducted on benign principles, the executive is simple. * The private demesnes of the crown are divided into four principal parts: the first is for carrying out the affairs of state and providing sacrifical offerings; the second is for providing subsidies for the ministers and chief officers of the state: the third is for rewarding men of distinguished ability; and the fourth is for charity to religious bodies, whereby the field of merit is cultivated. In this way, the taxes on the people are light, and the personal service required of them is moderate. Each one keeps his own worldly goods in peace, and all till the ground for their subsistence. Those who cultivate the royal estates pay a sixth part of the produce as tribute. The merchants who engage in commerce come and go in carrying out their transactions. The river passages and the road barriers are open on payment of a small toll. When the public works require it, labor is exacted, but paid for. The payment is in strict proportion to the work done.

"The military guard the frontiers, or go out to punish the refractory. They also mount guard at night round the palace. The soldiers are levied according to the requirements of the service; they are

promised certain payments, and are publicly enrolled. The governors, ministers, magistrates, and officials have each a portion of land assigned to them for their personal support."

Thus it is a matter of historical record that by the beginning of the 11th century, India was enormously rich. Her wealth had been an object of much talk and envy among the nations of the world. Mohammed of Ghazni raided India as many as seventeen times (1000-1025 A. C.) and carried away immense wealth. But "the wealth that Mohammed carried away from India was insignificant, compared to what remained there. His raids were confined chiefly to the northwestern provinces; only for two brief periods did he penetrate into the Doab between the Ganges and the Jumna, and only once in Gujrat, Kathiawar. The whole of Central India, which had for so long remained the center of great political activities under the Nandas, the Mauryas and the Guptas; the whole of Eastern India, covering the rich and fertile tracts which comprise the modern provinces of Bengal and and Assam; the whole of the South had remained untouched."* And people looked "with admiration on the extent and magnificance of the capital of the Kingdom of Canauj, and of the inexhaustible riches of the Temple of Somnath.”

The first Mohammedan dynasty began its rule at Delhi in 1206 and from that time on, whatever they acquired, the Mohammedan rulers spent within the bounds of India-which means, that the immense wealth of the Indian continent was not then being drained away. Only twice was India raided with any degree of success between 1206 and the Battle of Plassey (1757) when the British began to acquire rights of sovereignty in India: in 1398 Tamerlane sacked Delhi and carried off "very great" booty; and in 1739 Nadir Shah raided Delhi and went back to Persia, "laden with treasure of incalculable richness,

*"England's debt to India," by Lajpat Rai.

including the world-famed peacock throne of Shah Jehan."

How enormously rich India must be as a whole if Delhi alone yielded such incalculable wealth? The fertile Gangetic plains, Bengal, Orissa, Madras, Deccan, Gujrat which had lain beyond the Mohammedan invaders' grasp fell miserable victims to the British power which penetrated from within.

Now we shall present an array of unimpeachable evidences. Mount Stuart Elphinstone says: "The general state of the country must no doubt have been flourishing. Nicolo di Conti, who travelled about 1420 A. D. speaks highly of what he saw in Gujrat, and found the banks of the Ganges covered with towns amidst beautiful gardens and orchards, and passed four famous cities before he reached Maarazia, which he describes as a powerful city filled with gold, silver and precious stones. His accounts are corroborated by those of Barbora and Bartema, who travelled in the early part of the 16th century." Marco Polo (1292 A. C.) has described the high state of maritime activity going on in India. Nor do we get a discouraging picture of India under Mohammedan or Hindu ruler until the end of the 18th century. In his "View of Interests of India," Colonel Fullerton asserts: "Although most constantly engaged in war. the improvement of his country and the strictest administration formed his (Hyder Ali's) constant care. Manufacturer and merchant prospered

*

cultivation increased, new manufactures were established, wealth flowed into the kingdom * the slightest defalcation by the officers of the revenue was summarily punished. He bequeathed to his son, Tipu Sultan, an overflowing treasury, a powerful empire, an army of 300,000 men * * and great territories." Moore's estimate of Tipu's administration (1782-99) is equally glowing. "When a person travelling through a strange country, finds it well cultivated, populous with industrious habitants, cities newly founded, commerce extending, towns increas

*