Rajamandala

Rajamandala 

Celebrated with the name "Kautilya", Chanakya was well renowned because of his sheer cunningness, which bears the meaning "liar". Being a person with great pride, ego and an ocean of knowledge, he has helped Chandragupta conquer Bharat in a decisive way.  A person with such wisdom has left a pile of texts for his descendants to follow and lead the world. The script called Arthashastra written by Chanakya plays the role of Geeta for the police, politicians and defense system of India. 

Rajamandala or Chanakya's Concentric Circle is one such theory documented in Chankaya's magnus opus, the Arthshastra devised to defeat his enemies by all means possible (Saam: persuade , Daam: purchase , Dand: punish and Bhed: exploit the weakness). The timeless theories of Chanakya are now exercised by Indian defense and political system to run the country.

 Rajamandala theory is an expression of a kingdom's internal and external dominion. It is purely based on the assumption that " your neighbor is your natural enemy and the neighbor's neighbor is your friend". It can be described as a set of concentric circles surrounding the center. The Center represents the ruler, and the concentric circles around the king represent the neighboring countries that play the part of enemy or ally. The immediate circle (kingdom) encircling the center (king) represents a natural enemy, the consequent circle encircling the previous circle is considered as the ally, and this sequence is followed by the subsequent circles. The concentric circle theory is basically conceptualized on "sandwiching the enemy". 

The said theory has a undeniable resemblance with the post independence relations of India with its's neighboring countries. As one can put it, India has always had a rivalry with it's neighbor Pakistan, and a strained relation with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Meanwhile India has always tried to build a bridge with the nations  having same intermediate neighbors. This gives a clear depiction of the Rajamandala theory amidst Indian and neighboring lands, with the first circle encircling India's immediate neighbor, the second encircling its extended neighborhood and the third encircles the whole global stage.

In this cyber era, the physical border enmity is overcome by the countries and has expanded to a new horizon. Now, it is not only about the country we share borders with but its also about the countries we didn't know even existed in Mauriyan era.  

The Rajamandala has played a major role in structuring the shape of the Indian sub continent, and this concept is still shaping the minds of our stake holders. However, the description above clearly states an act by Kautilya in order to enhance power and self interest. Whereas, war and peace are solely based on profit. This policy has been criticized by many for being ruthless and immoral but in fact it is being practiced everywhere.

Despite the criticism it is still believed that "Every neighboring state is an enemy and the enemy's enemy is friend".

Policing in India

Policing in India dates back to a long history consisting of traces and bits which need to be compiled together to narrate the whole story. It has been a practice since Vedic period which did not consist of a designated force of people; the traces of it can be found in the Rig Veda and Atharva Veda. In order to keep in check the unlawful elements of the society, the concept of "Dharma" (Later known as Law) was introduced by the peace loving people of the society. In Vedic India, as there was no authority like King in that era, God was considered as the supreme entity behind Dharma. The concept of "Dharma" was also mentioned in the Shanti Parva of Mahabharat as "There was neither kingdom nor the king, neither punishment nor the guilty to be punished. people were acting according to Dharma and thereby protecting one another" (Jois, M.Ram, Legal and Constitutional History of India, vol.1, p, 575).

The Harappa Civilization and Mauryan Period also showed the presence of policing in the then society.  One of the leading foundation for policing in India was put by Chanakya. Kautilya's Arthashashtra still plays a major role in defining the role and responsibilities of police and is regarded as the Gita (Holy book) of Policing in recent times. It had all the important concepts of policing that we are still struggling to imply in our system, which can be listed as:

• Community Policing : The villagers were responsible for detection and prevention of crime under the authority of the headman.

• Royal Household Guards (VVIP protection) : Danvarika

• Lady Officer : Antevansika, Women guards of Royal Palace.

• Police Officers : Dandapala, Durgpala and Antpala 

• Forest Police : Atavikas 

With the passing time, the police force continued to consist of royal guards and soldiers. Other than these the Indian society did not have police dedicated for people of the kingdom. 

With the advent of British rule in India the term "Police" came into existence in the subcontinent. The British police concept consisted of brutality, abusive language, indecent behavior and corruption towards the Indian population.  This concept of misconduct somehow continued with the Indian Police after independence. Even after these many years of Independence the Indian Population prefers to handle the serious incidents themselves instead of contacting the Police. This gives the notion that the population fears to get involved with the police as it is seen as a bad thing in the society. With the modernity achieved along time, the Indian population is slowly changing its perspective about police. This change of notion in the society started with the initiatives taken by police, like the Community Policing Programmes, inclusion of Women in Policing and many more. This has brought a change of mind set in the recent population and has given a brand new image to the police. While an image created is difficult to maintain for anybody, in this era of visual perfection, everybody sees us as we present ourselves, it applies to police too.