The Sting of Greed
Listening to Justice Santosh Hegde today on his thoughts on the Constitution during the 74th Republic Day, triggered a revisit to the Indian history of being ruled by Maharajas and then being a colony of the British. Justice shared that Indians adapted themselves quick to the colonial rule because they were always ruled by chieftains and Maharajas. Administratively, this is so true.
Diversity in culture and religion always had us being ruled by one king or dynasty politically. Maharajas and Rajas had varied levels of responsibility perhaps and their status was more acceptable to us since they were ‘native kings and princes’. Many of them had their fathers and forefathers rule over their kingdoms and heirs to the thrones and their rule was acceptable. Their military was formed by the common man, they had to defend their kingdoms and their borders. Their courts were maintained by the common men, their administrative decisions were considered final and they collected taxes from their citizens to keep their treasures afloat and abundant and this was the most important form of revenue.
Diplomacy was foremost for the common man those days when it came to matters of the kings and their allies and this diplomacy was continued by certain kings and chieftains to the Colonial empire. Those who maintained great diplomatic skills survived under the colonial rule and continued to exist to this day, perhaps with lesser splendour and magnificence. Protocol and etiquette existed in India from early times under the Maharajas and the same continued with the British. ‘Durbars’ and colonial call for meetings in assembly halls were no different for the Indian. The difference was in the custom, the language, the tradition and most importantly the religion and piety of people.
While Maharajas promoted art, music, dance, temples and religious foundations, the colonial rule destroyed the very sentiments of the people by insulting the patronage given by the Maharajas. Royalty, had a new definition and wealth was the focal ‘point of authority’ for the colonial rulers; while wealth and splendour defined the beauty of the Indian royalty. Armour and weaponry saw a lot of advancements and major military power became ‘greed’ for the colonial rulers.
What was beyond it all, commented Justice Hegde: GREED! Greed for the lucrative spices, textiles and other resources of the country, greed for power, greed for political control. This created discontent amongst the Indians. Marginalisation of the Maharaja who was revered to be an incarnation of God, coupled with mass destruction of the culture and places of worship to the rituals of the common man, infused anger in the common man and the remnant kings and princes. A new form of leadership emerged due to this in the form of national leaders leading to the freedom struggle and the formation of the Indian Constitution in 1950s. A great insight indeed from the Justice and a triggered interest to read on how the Maharajas revived their stripped positions centuries later.
