In the 76th year of our Independence, the Prime Minister’s statement welcoming G-20 delegates to “the mother of democracy” is plastered on billboards across the nation’s capital. Is this claim a boast without substance? Haven’t we all learned at school that Greece is where democracy originated?
With all due respect to the Greeks, both countries may have a point. Contrary to the linear narrative that democracy was invented in ancient Athens before being rediscovered and spreading around the globe in modern times, we must accept that democratic government was more common in the ancient world than many believe, even if the proportion of the population participating in Athenian democracy may have been more extensive than other places.
India’s claims are shrouded in antiquity. Some see allusions to democratic forms of government in the Rig Veda, for that most ancient of sacred texts does mention something very similar to popular government (with references to equitable resource distribution, amicable discussion, and resolution of disputes). The Rig Veda has mentioned Gramini, the village head employed by the king for civil and military purposes; while the Atharva Veda refers to the institutions of sabha, samiti, babhapati and a sabkasad (primarily performing judicial functions). Nonetheless, there is really no corroborating material evidence to authenticate a claim of “democracy”. On the other hand, Dr. Ambedkar’s arguments in favour of such practices flourishing in the Buddhist era, a period contemporary to the Greek city-states and their republics, stand up rather better.
