POL SC HELP
UG Series
Rashtra & Rajya
(In Indian Political Thought)
NEW FYUGP SYLLABUS
BA HONS. POLITICAL SCIENCE 1ST SEMESTER-2022-23
Ideas & Institutions in Indian Political Thought
Rashtra Vs Rajya: in a Nutshell
Concept of Rashtra in Indian Political Thoughts
Concept of Rajya in Indian Political Thoughts
WHAT IS
Nation, State and Nation-state in modern political thoughts
IN
STORE? Differing account of Indian Nation
Rashtra Vs Rajya
Probable Questions
Rashtra & Rajya
In Ancient Indian Political Thoughts
Rashtra Vs Rajya: Gist
• Rashtra and Rajya, Sanskrit words, may roughly be translated as Nation and State,
respectively
• But meaning and imagination of these terms, especially Rashtra, have been very
different from nation & state in western worldviews
• Rashtra, roughly denoted people, sacred territory, a realm, dominion or jurisdiction
bound by common consciousness and Dharma
• Whereas nation generally denotes large groups of people claiming common bonds like
Descent(ethnicity), language, religion, culture and historical identity inhabiting a
particular country or territory
• There is no such great variance in the meaning of Rajya and state, both denotes highest
political institution having sovereignty over a fixed territory
• Nation & nationalism has been the most potent ideology in modern times for human
Collectivity, more than religion, language, race, and ethnicity
• Idea of India, which is still not settled, is directly linked to meaning of Bharat Rashtra and
people of different linguistic & regional culture associate their identities with Indian
Rashtra/nation
Rashtra in Ancient Indian Political
Thought-1/2
• Word Rashtra appears for 10 times in Rigveda, whereas Rajya Appears only once
• In the Rigveda, it meant the realm, dominion or jurisdiction where the command or order holds
• Rashtra is used in the Vedic literature to describe the national identity of the people of
Bharatvarsha, a contiguous landmass between the snow-packed mountain peaks of the Himalayas
in the north and the deep sea in the south. It is also a land of the Seven Rivers, the Sapt Sindhu.
• Rashtra is replete with a sense of spirituality, divinity, sacredness, and motherhood. It’s a land
that bears traces of gods and footprints of heroes.
• The Rashtra is benevolent, it strives for everybody’s ‘abhyudayam’ (development).
• Rashtra is not a mere political entity. It transcends its physical attributes. It is rather a creed.
• A Rashtra is not closed, selfish, and individualistic. With the mantra of ‘vasudhaiva kutumbakam’,
it respects pluralism and considers the entire world as a family.
• Rashtra considers each animate and inanimate object of this world and each and every element
of the entire cosmos to be connected to and part of the divine Consciousness in a quantum way.
Rashtra in Ancient Indian Political
Thought-2/2
• Rashtra of the Indic civilization is the personification of a mother and God.
• The Atharva Veda declares: ‘mata bhumiputroahamprithvyah’, meaning this earth is my
mother and I am his son. “I am the beholder of the Rashtra,” proclaims the Rig Veda,
“benefactors of the gods, and first among the worshipped.”
• Rashtra was spiritual consciousness and as such is beyond the realm of mundane(
routine) intellectual inquiry
• Rashtriyata (Nationalism) was Dharma with freedom of mind, body, and spirit as well as
Self realization as its core principle. It had a divine power that does not strive to hurt or
subjugate others.
• In the Prithvi Sukta of the Atharva Veda, there is a prayer mantra that says — “O Mother
Earth, destroy those who want to subdue my Rashtra by Shastra (weapon) and/or by
Shastra (knowledge).”
• In different linguistic and regional culture, different words represented Rashtra; , in
Bangla-‘Jati’, In Assamese and Odiya the word is ‘Desh’; in Kannada, ‘Desham’; in Tamil,
‘Dessam’, and ‘Rashtra’ in Marathi, and Gujarati
Rajya in Ancient Indian Political thoughts
• In Vedic Literature State was represented by many words- Rajya, Janpad, pur,
Sāmrājya, Bhaujya, Svārājya, Vairājya, Pārameṣṭhya, Māhārājya, Rashtra,
• In Buddhist Political Thoughts State was represented was Rattha (country), Rajja
(kingdom) or Vijita (subjugated territory).
• State originated to end ‘Matsya Nyaya’ and establish peace, order, and dispense
Justice.
• Danda denoted combined force of the state, Dharma the ultimate sovereign
which bound the state.
• Organic conception of state: 7 limbs of state ( Arthasashtra, ManuSmriti,
Mahabharata)- King, Ministers, Army, Territory, Forte, Treasury, Allies
• Essential elements of Rajya/state: Fixed Territory, King/Government, Sovereignty,
capability for inter-state relation
• Types of States: Kingdom, Aristocracy, Oligarchy, Republic
Nation, State, and Nation-State
In Modern Political Thoughts
Nation: Meaning & Definitions
• Large groups of people claiming common bonds like Descent(ethnicity). language,
religion, culture and historical identity inhabiting a particular country or territory
and aspire to have a sovereign political formation
• "Psychological bond that ‘define’ a people and differentiate them from others-
subconscious conviction of belonging to one community-imagined
communities.“(Benedict Anderson)
• "A nation is a historically constituted, stable community of people, formed on the
basis of conman language, territory, economic life and psychological make-up
manifested in a common culture".(Joseph Stalin)
• Nation is not same as race or ethnicity; nation are abstract and imagined
community, not real; nation may be multi-ethnic, malit-racial, multi-cultural
• Nations not having their state: East Timorese, Kurds, Tibetans, Chechnyans
Palestinians,etc.
• Nations may be spread into more than one state: The "Arab nation" embraces
more than a dozen states, while the nation of the Kurds takes in large chunks of
four states.
• Multi-national states: erstwhile USSR, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and all the great
empires- Mughals, Hapsburg, Ottoman, British, etc.
State: Meaning & Definitions
• Political institution having sovereignty over a fixed territory, and population
residing within that territory, having an effective government, and capacity to
enter into relations with other states as equal.
• Political community that successfully claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of
physical force(violence or coercion) within a given territory (Weber)
• Kind of political subdivision of globe
• Highest political institution of a fixed territory and population residing therein
• Represent political independence & autonomy of people residing in a territory
• Denote the ‘body politic’, politics, or ‘the political’- politics is what pertains to State
• Thus State is defined as having:
• a defined territory and boarder
• a permanent population
• Sovereignty: both internal & external
• an effective government
• the capacity to enter into relations with other states.
Nation-State
• A state whose population considers themselves as a nation
• When territorial boundaries of a nation is same as that of the state
• When a nation has its own state
• All modern states which are members of UN are considered as
Nation-state
• Emerged first in 19th & 20th Century Europe, when Linguistic and
Ethnic nations got their own state
• De-colonized states of Latin-America, Asia, and Africa were also called
nation-states
• In true sense, very few countries can be defined as Nation-State
Rashtra Vs Rajya
Nation Vs State
Rashrta/Nation vs Rajya/State
Rajya/state Rashtra/nation
• Political and territorial conception-political
construct with elements of land, people, • Cultural & spiritual Conception
government and sovereignty, and abides by a
Constitution • Group of people claiming common
Descent, language, religion, culture and
• Sovereign political institution representing history and aspiring to have sovereign
people residing in a territory
political formation
• More tangible entity- territory, population,
govt, army, institutions • Intangible concept- imagined or
• State may be multi-national abstract community
• Nation may have multiple states
• ‘hard’ part of Nation-State • ‘Soft’ part of Nation-state
• Older concept, existed since ancient Greek • Nation newer concept, emerged in
times modern Europe; Rashtra an ancient
• Statism: Doctrine that state intervention is concept
the most appropriate means of resolving
political problems, or bringing about • Nationalism: Ideology of affection,
economic and social development. State loyalty and support to one’s nation
representing ‘General Will’ of the people and
popular Sovereignty
Differing account of Indian
Nation
Hindu Rashtra vs critique of nation and Nationalism
Conception of Hindu Rashtra: Savrakar
• Savarkar gave his idea of Hindu Rashtra in his book Hindutva: who is a Hindu(1923)?
• Hindu rashtra: Holy land Land from Indus to the seas, Himalaya to cape Comorin -Bharatvarsha-
resided mainly by Hindu whose ethos are represented by Hindutva
• Hindu Rashtra is integral part of Hindutva( Hinduness)
• Savarkar defined Hindu as one who
• 1. who regards the Land from Indus to the seas, Himalaya to cape Comorin -Bharatvarsha- as his or her
fatherland/motherland ( Ptribhumi- पितभ ृ ूमि)
• 2. is descended of Hindu parents
• 3. considered this land Holy (Punyabhumi- िुण्य भूमि)
• To him, Hindutva has 3 elements/components
• 1. Territorial identity: Hindu Nation(Rashtra)- Hindus of the Bharatvarsha
• 2. Racial Identity( Jati): through centuries of historical existence of living together, Hindus have certain racial
features which distinguish them from other races
• 3. Cultural Identity: a distinct Hindu culture- way of life, worldview, rituals, customs, social practices,
traditions, festivals, art/craft, literature; can easily be distinguished from Muslim or Christian culture
• makes a difference between a Hindu nation( Hindu Rashtra) and Hindu State( Hindu Rajya)
Relativist vision of Indian Nation: Partha
Chatterjee
• Partha Chatterjee (1947), an Indian political scientist and anthropologist, explained his idea of Indian Nation
in his books The Nation and Its Fragments, Nationalist thought and the colonial world, and truths and lies of
nationalism
• He differentiated people-nation( how people themselves feel sense of being part of larger community of
same type of people) and nation-state( normative grand narrative of people of a state being a nation)
• To him, meaning, imagination, Consciousness of people-nation has evolved differently in different linguistic
& regional culture of India
• Two grand narratives on people-nation (Pluralist and Hindu Rashtra) vs multiple regional/linguistic
imagination of people-nation( Rashtra, Jati, Desham, Des,etc.)
• grand narratives on nation-state: Tracing the grand empire- Maurya, Gupta, Mughals, British/colonial, post-
colonial- difficult to define nation which was linked to these state formations
• Both the grand narratives of people-nation also face challenges as both visualize a unified Indian Nation with
multiple regional streams
• How to reconcile the Indian nation-state or the grand narrative of people-nation to multiple regional
imagination of people-nations?
• By true federalism, in which each people-nation joins Indian nation as equal with equal
rights/recognition/jurisdiction
Benedict Anderson (1936 – 2015), wrote ‘Imagined Communities (1983), defined nation as imagined community
formed by acceptance of a mainstream culture by print capitalism
Thinkers of Nation & Nationalism
Ernest Gellner (1925 –1995), British Political philosopher; wrote Nation and Nationalism
(1983)-defined nationalism as " a political principle which holds that the political and the
national unit should be congruent”; nation denoted unified formal education system, cultural
homogenisation, industrialisation, and urbanisation; nationalism created nations.
Anthony D. Smith (1939 – 2016): wrote ‘Nationalism(1994); defines nation as "a named population
sharing a historic territory, common myths and historical memories, a mass public culture, a
common economy and common legal rights and duties for its members” ; nation result of triple
revolution- capitalism, secularism, bureaucratic and cultural centralisation
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (1883-1966), wrote Hinditva: Who Is a Hindu? -1923
Gave the concept of Hindutva, Hindu, and Hindu Rashtra
Partha Chatterjee (1947) an Indian political scientist and anthropologist;
wrote The Nation and Its Fragments, Nationalist thought and the colonial
world, and truths and lies of nationalism; called nationalism in post-colonial
states as derivative discourse; gave the concept of relativist view of Indian
nation
Probable Questions
• Q.1: Discuss the concept of Rashtra in Indian Political Thought;
• Q.2: How Rashtra and Rajya have been envisioned in Indian civilisation and Indian
Political Thoughts
• Q.3:How the concept of Rashtra and Rashtriyata in Indian political thought is different
from the concept of Nation and nationalism?
• Q.4: Discuss the different strnads of Indian nation imagined and contested in different
streams of political thoughts in India.
• Q.5: Bring out the commonality and differences between concept of Rashtra in Indian
Thoughts vs concept of nation in western political thought.
• Discuss the nature of Indian nation and Indian Nation-state
References
• A.S. Altekar, "Origin and Types of the State" in State and Government
in Ancient India. Motilal Banarsidass, Banaras. 1949 pp. 12-23
• Partha Chatterjee, "All Nations are Modern" in The Truths and Lies of
Nationalisms: As narrated by Charvak. Permanent Black. 2021. Pp.5-
25
• Nationalism and Nation-State egyankosh
(https://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/20086/1/Unit-16.pdf)
• Pol Sc help videos
• Nation-state : https://youtu.be/wR5Hxft8X7U
• Indian Nation-state: https://youtu.be/sriTWBnYe_w
• Political Thoughts of Savarkar :https://youtu.be/mj_xHGSfdog
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