Taxation and Revenue Collection in Ancient India

Taxation and Revenue Collection in Ancient India
Author: Sanjeev Kumar
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 145
Release: 2016-05-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1443894338

This is the first book to study taxation and revenue collection through a detailed analysis of public finance and financial administration in four major Indian texts, namely Mahabharata, Manusmriti, Shukranitisar and Arthashastra, as philosophers trained in the Indian classic tradition and scholars working on ancient Indian wisdom mostly prefer a more abstract approach. India has a long tradition of at least two millennia of active philosophizing in the fields of logic, ethics, epistemology and metaphysics, though many in the West feel hesitant in according it the title “philosophy” in their sense of the word. Furthermore, few in India have taken it beyond philosophy towards active knowledge. This book re-visits and re-interprets the contexts of these texts with logic and objectivity to bring the pearls of knowledge found within into the present day, showing that Sanskrit is still the lingua franca of intellectual dialogue in India.

Rastram

Rastram
Author: S. Kalyanaraman
Publisher: Srinivasan Kalyanaraman
Total Pages: 556
Release: 2011
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780982897119

Rastram, supranation, is about a golden page in the history of human civilizations. It is an opportunity to realize almost 2 millennia of dharam-dhamma values enshrined in the hearts of over 2 billion people along the nations of the Indian Ocean Rim. This is a compilation of insights, analyses and excerpts from works of by many savants and scholars about Hindu history. Rastram is a federation of peoples' republics - a supranational covenant as the true foundation of an organized Indian Ocean Community (IOC) -- a counterpoise to European Community. This IOC should remain open to all nations of Indian Ocean Rim. The states located along the rim from South Africa to Tasmania is a Community which has the attributes of Rastram. The Hindu historical traditions and the amended UN Law of the Sea help use the potential to create a 6 trillion dollar GDP and to provide for enhanced welfare of over 2 billion people. Along the 63,000 mile long rim, work can start on Trans-Asian Highway and Railway Projects and strengthen the bonds of civilizational heritage.The 1994 modified Law of the Sea extends territorial waters into 200 nautical miles from the baseline as economic zones. This historical account of Hindu history is an attempt to delineate the wealth of nations, along the Indian Ocean Rim. Together, these nations neighboring the Ocean, can chart out a path for establishing Rastram in dharma-dhamma continuum. This account provides the portraits from Hindu history on the travails of a nation caught in the throes of civilizational clashes onslaughts during mediaeval periods of barbarism and loots of 17th to 20th century periods of a British Colonial empire and the 21st century in a swarajyam Hindusthan by post-colonial marauders, suffocating the potential for forming a Rastram. This account is clearly NOT intended to be a chronologically organized Hindu history for two millennia until 2000 CE. Portraits are presented of political economy on the banks of Hindu civilization in modern epoch for the last two millennia. It is a record since the turn of the Common Era, informed by earlier five millennia of history of Sanatana Dharma in Bharata Rastram. trans. 'I am the Rastra moving people together for abhyudayam...) Hindu history is presented as a quest for the establishment of such a Rastram.IOC a supranational foundation to remove vestiges of colonial loot, to make such a loot unthinkable and materially impossible and reinforce democracy of all nations along the IOC rim as janapada (peoples' republics) for peoples' welfare (abhyudayam) governed by the inexorable, Hindu sanatana traditional ethic: dharma-dhamma.This book is a tribute to George Coedes who concluded, after a study of fourteen centuries of history of Southeast Asia: " the importance of studying the Indianized countries of Southeast Asia- which, let us repeat, were never political dependencies of India, but rather cultural colonies - lies above all in the observation of the impact of Indian civilization on the primitive civilizations... We can measure the power of penetration of this culture by the importance of that which remains of it in these countries even though all of them except Siam passed sooner or later under European domination and a great part of the area was converted to Islam...we may ask ourselves if the particular aspect assumed by Islam in Java was not due rather to the influence that Indian religions exercised over the character of the inhabitant of the island for more than ten centuries...The literary heritage from ancient India is even more apparent that the religious heritage. Throughout the entire Indian period, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the Harivamsa, and the Puranas were the principal, if not the only, sources of inspiration for local literature, to which was added the Buddhist folklore of the Jatakas, still makes up the substance of the classical theatre, of the dances, and of the shadow-plays and puppet theatre."

Edinburgh Companion to the History of Democracy

Edinburgh Companion to the History of Democracy
Author: Benjamin Isakhan
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2012-10-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 074865366X

Takes a fresh look at the history of democracy, broadening the traditional view with previously unexplored examples. This substantial reference work critically re-examines the history of democracy, from ancient history to possible directions it may take in the future. 44 chapters explore the origins of democracy and explore new - and sometimes surprising - examples from around the world. Each of the 9 parts introduces the period, followed by 3 to 7 case studies.

Perspectives on Indian Society

Perspectives on Indian Society
Author: Dr. Binoy Kumar
Publisher: K.K. Publications
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2021-09-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

PERSPECTIVES ON INDIAN SOCIETY India is a hierarchical society. Whether in North India or South India, Hindu or Muslim, urban or village, virtually all things, people, and social groups are ranked according to various essential qualities. Although India is a political democracy, notions of complete equality are seldom evident in daily life. Societal hierarchy is evident in caste groups, amongst individuals, and in family and kinship groups. Castes are primarily associated with Hinduism, but caste-like groups also exist among Muslims, Indians, Christians, and other religious communities. Within most villages or towns, everyone knows the relative rankings of each locally represented caste, and behaviour is constantly shaped by this knowledge. Individuals are also ranked according to their wealth and power. For example, some powerful people, or “big men,” sit confidently on chairs, while “little men” come before them to make requests, either standing or squatting not presuming to sit beside a man of high status as an equal. Hierarchy plays an important role within families and kinship groupings also, where men outrank women of similar age, and senior relatives outrank junior relatives. Formal respect is accorded to family members—for example, in northern India, a daughter-in-law shows deference to her husband, to all senior in-laws, and to all daughters of the household. Siblings, too, recognize age differences, with younger siblings addressing older siblings by respectful terms rather than by name. The book is a must for sociology and anthropology teachers, NGOs, researchers and students. Contents: • The Unique Caste System in Hindu Society • Hallmarks of Hindu Society • Rural Social System • Modern Status of the Caste System • Economic and Political Systems of Society • Religion and Society • Indian Society and Modernization • Feminism, Tradition and Modernity • The Pressure to Modernize and Globalize • Culture and Economic Development: Modernization to Globalization