Our main sources of information about the social life of the people are the accounts left by the celebrated Chineses travelers Fahien and Hiuen-Tsang. About the Indian society during the Gupta Age, Fahien writes that the people led simple and honest lives. The Ahimsa sentiment was strong in Middle India. The people generally abstained from meat and liquor. Only the Chandals did not observe these rules of high morality and they had to live apart from the general public in special quarters assigned to them outside the city. Hiuen Tsang remained in India for about fifteen years during which he visited almost every province of his country. He was much impressed by the customer and manners of the people of Takashila. Shatadru and Strungha. But he condemned the people of Gandhara, Simhapura, Takka and Jalandhar. In general however, he praises the character of the people of India. He says the people were honest, truthful, fair and hospitable. He was much impressed by the charitable disposition of the people of India. He found a large number of charity houses, rest houses and benevolent institutions which provided food and medicine free of charge to the needy people. Hiuen Tsang writes that the people of India lived together on good terms and the criminal class was small. The punishments were severer than under the Guptas. The roads were less safe than in the time of Fahien. Hiuen Tsang had to face bandits more than once. Religion had great impact on the social and cultural life of the people. The revival of old brahmanical faith during the Gupta age intensified the division of the society into four castes. But in practice, considerable freedom was allowed in the choice of profession. There are numerous examples of Brahmans and Kshatriyas adopting the occupation of the classes below them and the Vaishyas and Sudras following those of above them. Inter marriages between the castes and Varnas were not common. Inter racial marriages took place thus assimilating the foreign element in the Indian society. Untouchability, however, continued in a rigid form. Hiuen Tsang writes that butchers, executioners, scavengers, hunters and fishermen were living in dwellings outside the cities. The population of India consisted mostly of the soldier communities. The people were sturdy and well built and valued their heroic traditions. The contemporary literature throws light on the status of women in those days. The girls were married [...]
Archive for May 22nd, 2009
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Indian Democracy Heading Towards Two-Party System
May 22nd, 2009 
Aman Before and After Freedom In the twentieth century Indian subcontinent have witnessed an age of revolution the aim of which was to root out the Western colonialism and the ages-old feudal system and establish a such kind of rule so that the poor and the down-trodden will get justice or in other words to establish a democracy to its true terms. It was a time of a struggle between the capitalists and the communists. Indian freedom struggle was basically led by those people who were communists in true sense or by those who were following the ideologies that were very near to the Marxism. It was a misfortune that the task remained incomplete as the leftists failed to lead the Indian freedom struggle and Congress succeeded in grabbing the ruling power in its hands. It must be noticed that most of the Congress leaders were capitalists or the federals. Capitalists controlled Congress created such a constitution that was aimed to establish the capitalism in a long term. In 1952 the first Lok Sabha elections were held and Congress got the majority seats to form a government. Failure Congress has always remained the main ruling party that has always followed the monopoly-favorable policies. It ruled India from 1957 to 1995 thought its monopoly was challenged thrice in 1967, 1977 and 1989 respectively. When in the late nineties its monopoly broke BJP came into power by playing the religious card. The Leftists could not present itself as a strong political option and the BJP came into power that proved out to be more dangerous to the unity of the nation in the future. Alliance-Age According to communism’s scientific point of view, though democracy always looks impartial but it always favors the capitalism and capitalists always have their control over the ruling party. In such kind of situations the workers are always exploited that gives rise to unrest among the common masses. In amidst of social unrest and with the advancement of capitalism, various political groups rise to power at state and regional levels. These groups are generally those classes that have failed to grab some power at the central level. By proving their power at state levels they demand some kind of power-sharing at the centre level. If they do not get their desired results then they form alliances. India is going through suck kind of phase as many small [...]
