Title: Understanding the idea of state from Indic tradition

Authors: Harsh Meena

Addresses: Department of Politics and International Studies, Pondicherry University, Puducherry-605014, India

Abstract: The current paper discusses the very idea of the state in Indic traditions. The state as an institution has different ways of development in the western and non-western worlds. Even the western notion of the state is the most common reference point to understand the state in the contemporary world. The paper attempts to deconstruct the hegemony of the western idea of the state and explore the evolution and the structural complexities yet richness of the state in Indic tradition. The paper has three parts. The first part explores the phase of knowledge construction. In contrast, the second part deals with the very nature of the state and politics in ancient India, and the last section discusses the republican traditions and models of states in ancient India.

Keywords: state; Indic traditions; ancient India; Janapada; Vedic Rashtra.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHRCS.2025.149273

International Journal of Human Rights and Constitutional Studies, 2025 Vol.12 No.4, pp.349 - 357

Received: 13 Jan 2024
Accepted: 13 Feb 2024
Published online: 22 Oct 2025 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article