State and governance in ancient Bengal
Helal Uddin Ahmed reads of bygone administration
Compared to other branches of social science, books on the history and evolution of public administration in Bangladesh are quite few and far between. Against this backdrop, the book under review, Prachin Banglar Rashtra O Proshashan, by Mohammad Jahangir Hossain can be termed as a pioneering work on the evolution of state and governance in ancient Bangla, the territory of which included the country we currently inhabit. In ancient times, the land of 'Bangla' comprised the territories of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. The Bengali-speaking people or Bengalees were the majority in that land. Its domination extended from Kamrup (Assam), Pataliputra (Patna) and Bhubaneswar (Orissa) up to the border with Iran. This was the ancient state-structure of Bangla which had evolved gradually since prehistoric times. This book by Dr. Jahangir retraces the lost footprints of the Bengalee nation's journey over time with the objective of finding out the roots of state formation in Bangla. It strove to bring to light the fossils of the then statecraft and governance in this territory by linking up evidences from ancient literary sources as well as archaeological relics of the time. The then state-system, administrative programmes, departments of central administration, civil and military bureaucracy, duties and responsibilities of the state employees, hierarchical levels in bureaucracy, their relationships and interactions with the masses, and relevant ingredients of ancient history have all been juxtaposed elaborately in this compact volume alongside highlighting findings from archaeological excavations in different areas. A sociological analysis was undertaken to identify the primary stages and characteristics of state formation and administrative framework of Bangla during the ancient era. Side by side with elaborations on the administration of Bangla, the book also attempted to construct an administrative history of the region. Debates have been provoked deliberately while filling up the gaps between various episodes on the basis of literary and archaeological findings. The opinions, building-blocs and ingredients presented in the book will no doubt provide an insightful glimpse to the readership about the depth and originality of the administrative history and culture of Bangla. The book has been divided into six chapters. The first chapter dwells on the society and habitat of Bangla during prehistoric times as well as the role of bureaucracy and communications in the state apparatus. The second chapter describes the governance system of community-based alliances and people's state in ancient Bangla. The third chapter traces the emergence of the concept of state and governance in Bangla mainly based on literary and archaeological evidences. The fourth chapter elaborates on the theme of a common ancestry of Bangla and Magadh in the context of historical evolution of the Indian subcontinent. The fifth chapter dwells on the Magadh cum Bangla-centric administration in ancient India starting with the Mauryan and Gupta era. The sixth chapter highlights the elements of governance and administrative philosophy contained in Kautilya's famous book 'Artha-shastra'. The seventh chapter covers the period of 'Matshyanay' (total anarchy) in Bangla during the 7th and 8th century, the advent and flourishing of Buddhist rule in the form of Pala dynasty and the collapse of the Sena dynasty during 12th-13th centuries in the face of Muslim invasion. The organized governance structure in ancient Bangla has been summarized in the eighth chapter while the ninth and concluding chapter recapitulates all materials in the book in a nutshell. The book has been presented in a very lucid and free-flowing language by an author, who had won the national TV debate championship back in 1982 while a student of Jahangirnagar University, earned PhD in mass communication and journalism from the University of Dhaka in 2005 and served as the Director General of Bangladesh Film Archive and Department of Films and Publications. This pioneering work on public administration of ancient Bangla by Dr. Mohammad Jahangir Hossain undoubtedly deserves favourable responses and attention from both academics and history enthusiasts alike.
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