Police Administration in Ancient India

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There have been very few studies worth the name on police administration in ancient India. It is therefore gratifying to note that Dr. Kamal Kishore Mishra has for the first time, made a comprehensive and analytical study of many of the obscure problems relative to in early periods.

The story of the birth of policeman in India is as thrilling as the emergence of the early man who in the course of centuries used his power of reasoning and thought to tide over the vicissitudes and sufferings over thousands of years which ultimately helped him to develop the society as it is today. The ability of the society to confront successfully the various challenges both from nature as well as from internal and external forces is more or less dependent on its power to maintain its internal order, which in turn depends on how its police system functions. An organised police force is therefore only a projection of the society which is nothing but the sum-total of the proper functions of all individual members of the society. Organised police no doubt helps: the individual in discharging his duties and carrying out his own construction work uninterruptedly. But, all told, the fact remains that the main source of strength remains the people and it is from them that the organised police force must draw all their sustenance.

It is interesting to note that in ancient India, local responsibility and mutual co-operation constituted the main principle on which the police system was based. The village formed the basic unit of administration, security and peace involving collective responsibility, shared by every resident, of which we have a graphic description in Kautilya's Arthasastra. The present work is the latest study in the series and succeeded in presenting an interesting study. We may or may not agree with all the views advanced by him, but it cannot be denied that the book will make a positive contribution to the administrative history of the early period, and the new researchers in the field would undoubtedly be greatly benefitted.

**Contents and Sample Pages**