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{{ | {{Short description|Ancient Indian political term}} | ||
The '''Rajamandala''' (or '' | |||
[[Image:Mandala theory concentric circles.png|thumb|right|Intersecting circles of friends and enemies centered on a kingdom.]] | |||
The '''Rajamandala''' (or ''rāja-maṇḍala'' {{Literal translation|circle of kings}};<ref>{{Citation |author=Torkel Brekke |title=Between Prudence and Heroism: Ethics of war in the Hindu tradition |work=The Ethics of War in Ancient Asia |publisher=Routledge |year=2006 |page=124}}<br>{{Citation |author1=[[Hermann Kulke|Kulke]] |author2=Rothermund |title=A History of India |year=2004 |page=350}}<br>{{Citation |author=Upinder Singh |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |publisher=Pearson Longman |year=2008 |page=349}}<br></ref> [[Raja|''raja'']] and ''[[Mandala|maṇḍala]]'' mean "king" and "circle" in Sanskrit respectively) theory, also known as the '''mandala theory of foreign policy''' or '''mandala theory''', | |||
postulates<ref name=":0" /> that a neighboring state or neighbor of a natural friend is a natural enemy and that a neighbor of a natural enemy is a natural friend, resulting in alternating circles of enemies and allies centered on a given king's (''[[raja]]'') state. | |||
It appears in the ancient Indian work on politics, ''[[Arthashastra]]'' (written between 4th century BCE and 2nd century CE) by [[Kautilya]], traditionally identified with [[Chanakya]], and the theory has been called one of Kautilya's most important postulations regarding foreign policy.<ref name="avari-2007">Avari, Burjor (2007). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Y1e2V_4Um10C India, the Ancient Past: A History of the Indian Sub-continent from C. 7000 BC to AD 1200]'' Taylor & Francis. {{ISBN|0415356156}}. pp. 188-189.</ref><ref>{{Citation |author=Singh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=80q_hd7ASdEC |title=Kautilya: Theory of State |year=2011 |pages=11–13| publisher=Pearson Education India |isbn = 9788131758519}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Chakravarty|first=Amb (Retd) Pinak Ranjan|date=19 February 2016|title=Distinguished Lectures Details: Foreign Policy Challenges for National Development|url=https://www.mea.gov.in/distinguished-lectures-detail.htm?410|access-date=2020-10-06|website=Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Boesche|first=Roger|date=2003|title=Kautilya's Arthasastra on War and Diplomacy in Ancient India|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/content/crossref/journals/journal_of_military_history/v067/67.1boesche.html|journal=The Journal of Military History|language=en|volume=67|issue=1|pages=9–37|doi=10.1353/jmh.2003.0006|s2cid=154243517|issn=1543-7795|quote=Kautilya is most famous for outlining the so-called Mandala theory of foreign policy, in which immediate neighbors are considered as enemies, but any state on the other side of a neighboring state is regarded as an ally [...]|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Hali|first=Sultan M|date=22 August 2019|title=Chanakya's Mandala theory and Indian foreign policy|url=https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/08/22/chanakyas-mandala-theory-and-indian-foreign-policy/|access-date=2020-10-06|website=www.pakistantoday.com.pk}}</ref> | |||
==Terminology== | ==Terminology== | ||
The term draws a comparison with the [[mandala]] of the [[Hindu]] and [[Buddhist]] [[Mount Meru|worldview]]; the comparison emphasises the radiation of power from each power center, as well as the non-physical basis of the system. | The term draws a comparison with the [[mandala]] of the [[Hindu]] and [[Buddhist]] [[Mount Meru|worldview]]; the comparison emphasises the radiation of power from each power center, as well as the non-physical basis of the system. In particular, it postulates that a neighboring state or neighbor of a natural friend is a natural enemy and that a neighbor of a natural enemy is a natural friend, such that one can visualize a set of concentric circles emanating from any given state, with alternating circles including enemies and allies of that state respectively.<ref name=":0" /> | ||
The terminology was revived two | The terminology was revived two millennia later as a result of twentieth-century efforts to comprehend patterns of diffuse but coherent political power. [[Metaphors]] such as [[social anthropologist]] [[Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah|Tambiah]]'s idea of a "galactic polity",<ref>[[Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah|Tambiah, Stanley Jeyaraja]]. ''World Conqueror and World Renouncer : A Study of Buddhism and Polity in Thailand against a Historical Background''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976. {{ISBN|0-521-29290-5}}. Chapter 7, cited in Lieberman, ''Strange Parallels: Southeast Asia in Global Context c. 800-1830''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003-2009 {{ISBN|978-0521804967}}. P. 33</ref> describe such political patterns as the mandala. [[Historian]] [[Victor Lieberman]] preferred the metaphor of a "solar polity,"<ref>{{cite web | ||
|url = http://www.umich-cseas.org/faculty/biographies/lieberman.htm | |url = http://www.umich-cseas.org/faculty/biographies/lieberman.htm | ||
|title = Victor B. Lieberman | |title = Victor B. Lieberman | ||
| Line 17: | Line 23: | ||
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110722094127/http://www.umich-cseas.org/faculty/biographies/lieberman.htm | |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110722094127/http://www.umich-cseas.org/faculty/biographies/lieberman.htm | ||
|archive-date = July 22, 2011 | |archive-date = July 22, 2011 | ||
}}</ref> as in the | }}</ref> as in the [[Solar System]], where there is one central body, the Sun, and the components or planets of the Solar System.<ref>Lieberman, 2003, p. 33</ref> The "Rajamandala" concept of ancient India was the prototype for the [[Mandala (Southeast Asian political model)|Mandala model of South East Asian political systems]] in later centuries, established by British historian [[O. W. Wolters]].<ref>{{Citation |author=Craig J. Reynolds |title=Seditious Histories: Contesting Thai and Southeast Asian Pasts |publisher=University of Washington Press |year=2006 |page=40}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |author=Dougald JW O'Reilly |title=Early Civilizations of Southeast Asia |publisher=AltaMira Press |year=2007 |page=194}}</ref> | ||
== See also == | == See also == | ||
* [[ | * [[Mandala (political model)]] | ||
* [[Indian political philosophy]] | |||
* [[Chakravarti (Sanskrit term)]] | |||
* [[Greater India]] | * [[Greater India]] | ||
* [[Indosphere]] | * [[Indosphere]] | ||
* [[Geopolitics]] | * [[Geopolitics]] | ||
* [[ | * [[History of Indian foreign relations]] | ||
* [[The enemy of my enemy is my friend]] | * [[The enemy of my enemy is my friend]] | ||
Latest revision as of 12:21, 17 March 2026
The Rajamandala (or rāja-maṇḍala lit. 'circle of kings';[1] raja and maṇḍala mean "king" and "circle" in Sanskrit respectively) theory, also known as the mandala theory of foreign policy or mandala theory, postulates[2] that a neighboring state or neighbor of a natural friend is a natural enemy and that a neighbor of a natural enemy is a natural friend, resulting in alternating circles of enemies and allies centered on a given king's (raja) state.
It appears in the ancient Indian work on politics, Arthashastra (written between 4th century BCE and 2nd century CE) by Kautilya, traditionally identified with Chanakya, and the theory has been called one of Kautilya's most important postulations regarding foreign policy.[3][4][5][2][6]
Terminology[edit | edit source]
The term draws a comparison with the mandala of the Hindu and Buddhist worldview; the comparison emphasises the radiation of power from each power center, as well as the non-physical basis of the system. In particular, it postulates that a neighboring state or neighbor of a natural friend is a natural enemy and that a neighbor of a natural enemy is a natural friend, such that one can visualize a set of concentric circles emanating from any given state, with alternating circles including enemies and allies of that state respectively.[2]
The terminology was revived two millennia later as a result of twentieth-century efforts to comprehend patterns of diffuse but coherent political power. Metaphors such as social anthropologist Tambiah's idea of a "galactic polity",[7] describe such political patterns as the mandala. Historian Victor Lieberman preferred the metaphor of a "solar polity,"[8] as in the Solar System, where there is one central body, the Sun, and the components or planets of the Solar System.[9] The "Rajamandala" concept of ancient India was the prototype for the Mandala model of South East Asian political systems in later centuries, established by British historian O. W. Wolters.[10][11]
See also[edit | edit source]
- Mandala (political model)
- Indian political philosophy
- Chakravarti (Sanskrit term)
- Greater India
- Indosphere
- Geopolitics
- History of Indian foreign relations
- The enemy of my enemy is my friend
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Torkel Brekke (2006), "Between Prudence and Heroism: Ethics of war in the Hindu tradition", The Ethics of War in Ancient Asia, Routledge, p. 124
Kulke; Rothermund (2004), A History of India, p. 350
Upinder Singh (2008), A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century, Pearson Longman, p. 349
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Boesche, Roger (2003). "Kautilya's Arthasastra on War and Diplomacy in Ancient India". The Journal of Military History. 67 (1): 9–37. doi:10.1353/jmh.2003.0006. ISSN 1543-7795. S2CID 154243517.
Kautilya is most famous for outlining the so-called Mandala theory of foreign policy, in which immediate neighbors are considered as enemies, but any state on the other side of a neighboring state is regarded as an ally [...]
- ↑ Avari, Burjor (2007). India, the Ancient Past: A History of the Indian Sub-continent from C. 7000 BC to AD 1200 Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0415356156. pp. 188-189.
- ↑ Singh (2011), Kautilya: Theory of State, Pearson Education India, pp. 11–13, ISBN 9788131758519.
- ↑ Chakravarty, Amb (Retd) Pinak Ranjan (19 February 2016). "Distinguished Lectures Details: Foreign Policy Challenges for National Development". Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
- ↑ Hali, Sultan M (22 August 2019). "Chanakya's Mandala theory and Indian foreign policy". www.pakistantoday.com.pk. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
- ↑ Tambiah, Stanley Jeyaraja. World Conqueror and World Renouncer : A Study of Buddhism and Polity in Thailand against a Historical Background. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976. ISBN 0-521-29290-5. Chapter 7, cited in Lieberman, Strange Parallels: Southeast Asia in Global Context c. 800-1830. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003-2009 ISBN 978-0521804967. P. 33
- ↑ "Victor B. Lieberman". Professor of History, Department of History, appointed 1984. University of Michigan. February 4, 2005. Archived from the original (Biography) on July 22, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
Center for Southeast Asian Studies
- ↑ Lieberman, 2003, p. 33
- ↑ Craig J. Reynolds (2006), Seditious Histories: Contesting Thai and Southeast Asian Pasts, University of Washington Press, p. 40
- ↑ Dougald JW O'Reilly (2007), Early Civilizations of Southeast Asia, AltaMira Press, p. 194
Bibliography[edit | edit source]
- King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kauṭilya's Arthaśāstra, translated and annotated by Patrick Olivelle, Oxford University Press, 2013
- M. B. Chande (2004), Kautilyan Arthasastra, Atlantic, ISBN 81-7156-733-9, especially Book Six: Circle of Kings as the Basis, pp. 305–312
- John Keay (2000), India: A History, HarperCollins, pp. 170–172
- Hermann Kulke; Dietmar Rothermund (2004), A History of India (fourth ed.), Routledge
- Vikas Kumar (2010), "Strategy in the Kautilya Arthasastra", Homo Oeconomicus, 27 (2): 289–320
- Mahendra Prasad Singh (2011), "Kautilya: Theory of State", Indian Political Thought: Themes and Thinkers, Pearson, pp. 1–17, ISBN 978-81-317-5851-9
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)