political thought

[Kamal Adhikary]

Just a trivial note, did not Prithvi Naryaran say 'a yam' between two 
stones, rather than a 'pumkin' between two stones? May be there is 
another text that gives a different imagery. kamal

_______________
Kamal R. Adhikary, Ph.D.
Internet Coordinator, Asian Studies
UT, Austin, Texas 78712
Tel:512-475-6034
Email:kamal at asnic.utexas.edu

On Thu, 13 Jun 1996 witzel at HUSC3.HARVARD.EDU wrote:

> 
> 
> One early, perhaps not the earliest, response comes from neighboring Nepal 
> -- always conscious of te fact that it is a "pumkin between two 
> stones, the Company (now India) and China"  (King Prthvi Narayan Shah) 
> 
> This is the (unpublished?) Gorandaakhyo Malimlucah "The Bandits called
> Goranda" (British) probably written in 1821 after the Anglo-Nepali war of 
> 1814-16.
> 
> This Nepali text criticizes the merchant people (Goranda, cf. Murunda)
> from overseas for their treachery and the danger they pose to Hindu states
> such as Nepal which Prthi Narayan called the "true Hindu country/
> Hindust(h)an (yo asil hindusthaan ho). (Note also the 19th c. Nepali
> diplomatic correspondece, in Sanskrit, with the states of Rajasthan). 
> 
> The estimation of the (19th c. enlarged) Bhavisya Purana is not very 
> different: the merchant people from overseas, reigned by the queen 
> Vaktavati.
> 
> (janapada is as old as the late Vedic texts, and prajaa is found in 
> Dharma texts (Manu, also Kautilya) and medieval texts dealing with the king 
> and his subjects; exact passage can be excerpted easily).
> 
> 
> Michael Witzel
> Sanskrit Department
> Harvard University 
> witzel at husc3.harvard.edu
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Wed, 12 Jun 1996 PMEHTA at hdc.harvard.edu wrote:
> 
> > 
> > Could someone provide refernces on the following topics?
> > 
> > Is there any work on Indian conceptions of "sovereginty" in the 
> > eigteenth century (something like Ronald Inden's work on the 
> > rashtrakutas)?  What would be some of the original sources one 
> > can consult on this matter?
> > 
> > When does one find the earliest  Indian political critiques of 
> > the British Empire.  What are the significant ones before 
> > 1850's?
> > 
> > What are good sources on the historical transformation of two 
> > concepts:  praja (Gandhi uses it frequently in the Gujarati 
> > edition of Hind Swaraj) and janapada.
> > 
> > many thanks
> > 
> > pratap mehta
> > department of government 
> > harvard university
> > pmehta at hdc.harvard.edu
> > 
> > 
> 
>