Indian Political Thought

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O.P. Gauba's Indian Political Thought attempts to examine the major concepts and the prominent vocabulary of the ancient as well as modern Indian political thought in a critical and comparative perspective.

Under ancient Indian thought, it inquires into the nature of Dharmashastra, Arthashastra, and Buddhist traditions with special reference to the views of Manu, Mahabharata, Kautilya, and the Buddhist philosophy. Then under modem Indian thought, it proceeds to identify the various streams of political thought. Each stream of thought is introduced with the theoretical issues involved in its approach, and the contribution of partici la thinkers thereto. It particularly focuses on the liberal stream, the idealist stream, the humanist stream, exponents of the Islamic thought, the socialist stream, the feminist stream and the critics of the caste system.

Special attention has been paid to the social and political thought of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Dadabhai Naoroji, M.G Ranade, Gopal krishna Gokhale, Swami Dayanand, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Sri Aurobindo, Veer Savarkar, Swami Vivekanand, Rabindranath Tagore, M.N. Roy, Syed Ahmad Khan, Iqbal, Jinnah, Narendra Dev, Japaprakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia, Pandita Ramabai, Jyotiba Phule, Dr. Ambedkar, and Periyar, apart from Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Contribution of each thinker and school of thought is sought to be examined objectively and impartially. Written in a concise and lucid style, this book is equipped with some unique, reader-friendly features such as flow-charts, comparative charts, explanatory diagrams, on-the-spot definitions, historical references and crisp quotations in boxes. It is designed to cater to the needs of the students of Indian Universities as well as the general readers.

Dr. O.P. Gauba studied at D.A.V. College, Dehradun and the University of Delhi. He obtained B.A. Degree in Literature and Philosophy, M.A. Degrees in Sociology and Political Science from Agra University, and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Delhi. He taught in the University of Delhi from 1967 to 2004. Presently he is fully devoted to academic writing. Apart from Indian Political Thought, his important works include Western Political Thought, An Introduction to Political Theory, Social and Political Philosophy, Key Concepts in Political Theory, Political Ideas and Ideologies: Understanding Political Theory-Major Concepts and Debates; Contemporary Political Ideologies; Reading Gandhi, Dimensions of Social Justice, and Constitutionalism in a Changing Perspective. He is also the author of a host of university-level academic books and several unique reference works in Hindi.

This short introduction is intended to examine the major concepts and the prominent vocabulary of the ancient as well as modern Indian political thought. It is important to note that while ancient Indian political thought is distinguished by its unique identity, the vocabulary of modern Indian political thought largely manifests an ingenuine combination of the ideas of Indian as well as Western origin. I have tried to represent both types of thought in a critical and comparative perspective. A lot of research in this field is yet to be done by the upcoming scholars interested in this subject. It is their responsibility to secure a befitting place for the Indian thought in the panorama of global political thought.

This book is divided into fourteen chapters. Chapter one outlines the distinctive features of Indian political thought. Chapters two to five inquire into the nature of Dharmashastra, Arthashastra, and Buddhist traditions of ancient Indian political thought with special reference to the views of Manu, Mahabharata, Kautilya, and the Buddhist philosophy. Chapters six to twelve examine the major themes and thinkers of modern Indian political thought. These include the liberal stream, the idealist stream, the humanist stream, exponents of the Islamic thought, the socialist stream, the feminist stream and critics of the caste system. Finally, chapters thirteen and fourteen are devoted to the social and political thought of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru which is not confined to any particular stream. Each stream of thought is introduced with the theoretical issues involved in its approach, and then proceeds to focus on the contribution of particular thinkers. Thus the chapter on the Liberal Stream undertakes an indepth study of the thought of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Dadabhai Naoroji, Mahadev Govind Ranade, and Gopal Krishna Gokhale.

Other important thinkers studied under various streams are: the Idealist stream-Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Lala Lajpat Rai, Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Sri Aurobindo, and Veer Savarkar; the Humanist Stream-Swami Vivekanand, Rabindranath Tagore, and M.N. Roy; Exponents of the Islamic Thought-Syed Ahmad Khan, Muhammad Iqbal, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah; the Socialist Stream-Acharya Narendra Dev, Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia; the Feminist Stream-the long tradition of feminist concern in the Indian thought with special reference to Pandita Ramabai; Critics of the Caste System-Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Babasaheb Ambedkar, and Periyar.

Attempt has been made to focus on each thinker's contribution to the tradition of social and political thought, and evaluate it objectively and impartially. I have also endeavoured to enrich and elucidate its content by introducing some unique, reader-friendly features such as flow-charts, comparative charts, explanatory diagrams, on-the-spot definitions, historical references and crisp quotations in boxes.

It is hoped that with these distinctive features this book will receive a favourable response of the academic community. The new edition of this book is an improved, updated and slightly enlarged version of the original edition. The chapters on the Buddhist Tradition, the Feminist Tradition, and the Introductory note on Modern Indian Political Thought have been substantially revised. Constructive suggestions will be most welcome.

**Contents and Sample Pages**