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CHAPTER I
THE POLITICAL IDEOLOGY OF
INDIGENOUS AFRICA N POLITICAL

SYSTEMS A ND INSTITUTIONS
FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY
(5) Every individual has a right to life and to defend his/her
personal
integrity. Consequently, any attempt at taking someone else's
life 1vill be
punished by death; (16) In addition to their daily chores, women
must be
involved in all levels of government; (22) Vanity is a sign of
weakness, and
humility a sign of greatness; (24) In Mali, never mistreat a
foreigner; (25)
In Mali, the envoy is always safe.
-Selected articles from the Mande Charter (1240)
[La Charte de Kurukan Puga], 45, 47, 49, 51
INTRODUCTION
Highly advanced and sophisticated African civilizations,
cultures, societ-
ies, and states-such as Ancient Egypt, Kush/Nubia, Axum,
Ghana, Mali,
and Asante-evolved throughout the continent from the ninth
century
before the Christian era (BCE) to the nineteenth century CE.
African politi-
cal systems and institutions were traditionally based on kinship
and lineage
(i.e., c ommon ancestry), sanctioned by a founding myth. The
lineage was

a powerful and effective force for unity and stability in ancient
Africa. Each
lineage had its head, chosen on the basis of age, maturity, and
relation to
ancestors. The old (respectfully referred to as "elders") were
often chosen
as lineage heads because old age was usually associated with
wisdom. Each
ethnic group had its own system of government. In all
indigenous African
societies, political organization began at the lineage or village
level. Religion
defined moral duties and controlled conduct; it informed laws
and customs,
as well as accepted norms of behavior. In African systems of
thought, religion
is an essential part of life; indeed, religion and life are
inseparable. What this
12 AFRICAN POLITICAL THOUGHT
description accurately portrays is "the belief held among
African communi-
ties that the supernatural powers and deities operate in every
sphere and
activity of lite. Religion and lite are inseparable, and lite is not
comparted [sic]
into sacred and secular." 1
INDIGENOUS AFRICAN POLITICAL SYSTEMS AND
INSTITUTIONS: FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES
AND DEMOCRATIC CHARACTERISTICS

In indigenous African political systems, the rules and
procedures of gover-
nance were established by custom and tradition rather than by
written con-
stitutions. In addition, these systems were based on the rule of
/a�that
is, respect for ( and adherence to) customary ways of resolving
disputes and
upholding the traditions governing political behavior. More
important, cus-
tomary African laws were subject to foll public debate and
scrutiny; in fact,
chiefs and kings could not promulgate laws without the consent
of the coun-
cils. In Pharaonic Egypt-as in other indigenous African
societies-every
individual was equal before the law: "Pharaonic law remained
resolutely indi-
vidualistic. In relation to royal decisions and to legal procedure
and penalties,
men and women of all classes seem to have been equals before
the law. "2
Indigenous African political systems were democratic in many
respects.
First, they were based on an elaborate system of checks and
balances; such
institutions as the Inner or Privy Council and the Council of
Elders acted as
effective checks on the potential abuse of power by the leader (
chief, king, or
emperor).3 Second, political succession was carefully
institutionalized in such
a way that family, clan, and ethnic competition for power was
minimized and

(physically or mentally) unfit leaders were automatically
eliminated. Third,
the basic political unit was the village assembly, where major
decisions con-
cerning the society were adopted and ordinary people were able
to express
their opinions, have their voices heard, and actively participate
in a politi-
cal decision-making process based on majority rule. A specific
socioprotes-
sional group ( or caste )-such as the griots ( or praise-singers) in
the Western
Sudan-were the custodians of tradition and the living historical
memory of
the society.
INDIGENOUS AFRICAN POLITICAL
SYSTEMS AS SECULAR AND SACRED
In indigenous African societies, the social order was informed
by the belief--
passed on from generation to generation-that the ancestors
constituted
the link between the present, the past, and the future . The
African concept
of power fused the secular and the sacred. The leader was both a
secular
and religious leader and acted as intermediary between the
living and the
dead-between the people and their ancestors. The following
quote from
K. A. Busia perfectly captures the essence of this concept as it
relates to the
case of the Asante:

THE POLITICAL IDEOLOGY
In traditional African communities, it was not possible to
distinguish between
religious and non-religious areas of life. All life was religious
... for in tradi-
tional African communities, politics and religion were closely
associated. In
many tribes, the chief was the representative of the ancestors.
This enhanced his
authority. He was respected as the one who linked the living
and the dead ...
The most important aspect of Ashanti [Asante] chieftaincy was
undoubtedly
the religious one. An Ashanti chief filled a sacred role ... The
chief was the link
between the living and the dead, and his highest role was when
he officiated
in the public religious rites which gave expression to the
community values ...
This sacral aspect of the chief's role was a powerful sanction of
his authority.4
13
The religious authority of the leader meant that he was also
custodian of the
land bequeathed to the group by the ancestors and held in sacred
trust by the
leader on behalf of the whole people; this explains why the land
could under
no circumstance be individually appropriated. While some
indigenous Afri-
can political systems were more elaborate and institutionalized

than others-
the so-called state societies-all of them had some form of
centralized power
and authority. 5
POWER AND AUTHORITY IN INDIGENOUS AFRICAN
POLITICAL SYSTEMS AND INSTITUTIONS
In indigenous African political systems, the power of leaders
was derived from
the founding ancestors and was hereditary in the sense that it
was reserved
for certain lineages by right of ancestry. Thus, in the Mali
Empire, Keita was
customarily the ruling clan by virtue of the fact that the empire
was founded
in 1235 by Sunjata Ke"ita against tremendous odds.6 Similarly,
as documented
by Elliott Skinner, in the Massi kingdoms, political power was
linked to close-
ness to the ancestors: "To the Mossi, the power to rule was
intimately linked
to closeness of descent from the royal ancestors. The
supernatural power of
these ancestors, and the vigilance they were believed to
maintain over the
affairs of their descendants, were regarded as important factors
in Massi gov-
ernment ... Ritual and the supernatural thus played an extremely
important
role in the cohesiveness of the Mossi kingdoms and in the
functioning of
their governmental processes."7 The leaders were customarily
appointed by
members of the royal lineage ( who constituted the Inner or

Privy Council).
In the Mali Empire, in addition to the Keita ruling clan, the
aristocratic clans
represented in this council were Koulibaly, Soumano, and
Konate.8 As the
guardian of the social order and the "soul of the nation," the
leader needed
to be endowed with certain personal and moral qualities; he was
expected
to be strong, generous, humble, courageous, bold in warfare,
and devout in
everyday life. As they derived their power from their ancestors,
African lead-
ers were endowed with (and exercised) both religious and
secular powers.
Wealth and property did not belong to the leader personally, but
rather to the
office. Thus in the kingdom of Ghana ( eighth to eleventh
centuries), gold
( the basis of the kingdom's wealth) was held in trust for the
people by the
king, who could not appropriate it for personal use. According
to El Bekri,
"All nuggets of gold that are found in the mines of this empire
belong to the
king; but he leaves to his people the gold dust that everyone
knows. Without
this precaution gold would become so plentiful that it would
practically lose
its value . "9 Similarly, in Asante ( central Ghana), the "Golden
Stool" was the

symbol of the office of the Asantehene (Supreme Chief of the
Asante) and
was said to embody the spirit of the whole Asante nation. Thus
the Golden
Stool-presented to the Asante as enshrining the "soul of the
nation"-
constituted an emblem of unity and formed the religious basis
of the Asante
Confederation.10 This explains why (as reported by Colin
Turnbull) the out-
rageous demand on the part of a junior British officer to be
allowed to sit
on the Golden Stool was perceived as an insult that resulted in a
bloody war
between the Asante and the British: "What he [ the junior
British officer] did
not know was that the Golden Stool was not a throne ... to be sat
upon. It
was the sacred symbol of the unity of the Ashanti [Asante]
nation, and it was
believed to contain the soul of the Ashanti [Asante] people.
Therefore what
the officer proposed was ... to defile the sacred stool, desecrate
the soul of
the nation, and so destroy its very existence. "11
Another democratic feature of indigenous African political
systems was the
decentralization of political authority and the delicate balance
between central
and regional power, which allowed each lineage or village to
manage its own
affairs and gave ordinary people a say in local governance.
Again, the Asante
political system, as described by K. A. Busia, perfectly
illustrates this situation:

The Ashanti [Asante] were careful to prevent their chief from
becoming tyran-
nical, and they developed a delicate balance between central
authority and
regional autonomy . . . In matters of administration, each
lineage or village
managed its own affairs ... each chiefdom was run on a policy
of decentral-
ization, and there was a careful balance between the central
authority of the
chief on the one hand and the local autonomy of the component
units of the
chiefdom on the other. If the chief abused his power, his
subordinate chiefs,
the members of his Council, could destool him. On the other
hand, if a subor-
dinate chief or councilor tried to become too powerful, the chief
could destool
him ... In the Ashanti system, the fact that each lineage, village,
or part of a
chiefdom managed as much of its own affairs as was consistent
with the unity of
the whole chiefdom enabled many to share in decision-making
in local affairs;
for the head of each unit was, like the chief at the center,
obliged to act only on
the concurrence and with the advice of his own local council.12
The African leader was fully accountable for his actions at all
times. In theory,
the leader ruled for life, but in practice, he ruled only as long as
the people
allowed it: "However autocratic a chief was permitted to appear,
he really
ruled by the consent of the people. There was a balance between

authority
on the one side, and obligation on the other." 13 The leader
would be aban-
doned, be removed, or-in the worst-case scenario-be the victim
of a ritual
murder if he did not perform according to customs and
expectations or if
his people so wished, irrespective of how long he had been in
office. Thus
THE POLITICAL IDEOLOGY 15
K. A. Busia describes the circumstances leading to the
customary "destool-
ment" (i.e., removal) of the chief in Asante in the following
manner:
The Ashanti [Asante] had a constitutional practice which
ensured that the will
of the people was given consideration. They had ultimately the
constitutional
right to destool a chief. As the fundamental principle was that
only those who
elected a chief could destool him, a destoolment required the
consent of the
elders. Sometimes they initiated a destoolment themselves
when, for example, a
chief repeatedly rejected their advice, or when he broke a taboo,
or committed
a sacrilegious act . .. A chief was also destooled ifhe became
blind, or impotent,
or suffered from leprosy, madness, or fits, or if his body was
maimed in a way
that disfigured him . 14

Similarly, aggrieved or oppressed peasant subjects could always
"vote with
their feet" by deserting the village to create a new one, leaving
the chief
alone ( a social death sentence in African culture) . In most
African societies,
natural disasters (such as droughts, famines, and epidemics)
were generally
attributed to the fact that the chief or king had not ruled well
and thus should
be deposed or killed (regicide). Ritual murders of kings deemed
morally or
physically unfit to rule were commonly practiced among the
Serer of Senegal,
the Junkun and Yoruba of Nigeria, and the Shilluk of the Nilotic
Sudan.
CHECKS AND BALANCES IN INDIGENOUS AFRICAN
An elaborate system of checks and balances ensured that the
power and
authority of the African leader was strictly circumscribed. In
exercising his
functions and discharging his duties as the ultimate political,
legal, and reli-
gious authority---essentially the maintenance oflaw and order
and the man-
agement of public affairs for the good of the community-the
leader had to
take the advice and counsel of two key advisory bodies: the
Inner or Privy
Council and the Council of Elders. The Inner or Privy Council
represented
the aristocratic clans and constituted the inner circle of the

chief: relatives
and friends, as well as prominent members of the community.
This system
is well described by K. A. Busia in the case of Asante: "The
political system
of the Ashanti [Asante] . . . had checks and balances. The chief
... was
given a Council to hold him in check. The chief was bound by
custom to
act only with the concurrence and on the advice of his Council.
If he acted
arbitrarily, and without consultation and approval by his
Council, he could
be deposed ... Those who elected the chief, also had the power
to depose
him if he did not perform the duties of his office satisfactorily.
" 15 The Inner
or Privy Council was appointed (and thus could be dismissed)
by the leader.
On the other hand, the Council of Elders represented the non-
aristocratic
lineages and the commoners and thus could not be dismissed by
the chief.
This body reached its decisions by consensus and aimed at
unanimity rather
than majority. Failure on the part of the leaders to consult with
the Council
of Elders could result in their removal. 16
At the village level, ordinary African people acted as the
ultimate judge and

final authority on contested issues. Thus the Village Assembly
was convened
whenever the Council of Elders could not reach unanimity on a
contested
issue. In Bantu societies (Central and Southern Africa), Village
Assemblies
also ratified all new laws. Meeting procedures in the Village
Assemblies were
essentially democratic. First, the chief-addressing the assembly
through a
spokesman-would explain the purpose of the meeting, merely
stating the
facts. The chief's advisors would then open the debate, followed
by headmen
and elders. Then, anybody else wishing to speak or ask
questions ( common-
ers, women, etc.) could do so. Decisions were usually taken by
consensus;
if that proved impossible, majority rule prevailed. Total
freedom of expres-
sion-in the form of open debate and free dissent-was the rule.
Thus Afri-
can political systems were truly democratic in the sense that
they allowed
ordinary people to have their voice heard and influence political
decision
making: "The Ashanti [Asante] system provided opportunities
for the 'com-
moners,' those who were ruled, to express criticism, either
through their
lineage heads, or through a chosen leader recognized as
spokesman for the
commoners; through him the body of free citizens could
criticize the govern-
ment and express their wishes ... in the last resort, they could
depose their

rulers. " 17
THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN INDIGENOUS AFRICAN
Women played a key role in African societies, as well as in
African political sys-
tems and institutions. In Ancient Egypt, women were master of
their homes
and senior to their husbands, and children were named after
them. 18 In gen-
eral, honors were showered on the mothers, wives, and
daughters of the king.
It is interesting to note that there were four women pharaohs in
Ancient
Egypt: Nitokris, Sebeknefru, Hatshepsut, and Tauosre. Women
played a key
role in the political system. Also noteworthy is the fact that
Ahmosis-Nefer-
tari (under Amenhotep I) and Ahhotep (under Amasis) wielded
consider-
able influence in political and religious matters.19 One of the
most intriguing
characters of the New Kingdom (1580 to 1085 BCE) was the
ambitious
Queen Hatshepsut, only child of Queen Ahmosis and
Thoutmosis I and the
very first female monarch in world history. In the fifth year of
her reign,
she was powerful enough to declare herself supreme ruler of the
country.
The two peaceful decades of her reign were prosperous ones for
Egypt. She
gave priority to the country's internal affairs, commissioned a
number o f

important building projects, and revived-after a military
expedition-the
trade to Punt (present-day Somalia), which had lapsed for
several hundred
years.20 According to Maspero (quoted by Cheikh Anta Diop),
Hatshepsut's
rights of succession were superior to those of her male relatives
(husba n d,
brother, and father), as she claimed Amon-Re as her "father."
Consequently,
she appeared, in the eyes of the people, as the legitimate heir to
the ruling
Egyptian dynasties. One could conclude from this that in
Ancient Egypt,
women naturally inherited political rights.21
In Kush-the ancient Nubian rival kingdom of Egypt-the queen
mother
played a crucial role in the political system. In religious
matters, the queen
was second only to the king. Queens could also act as co-
regents when they
assumed power after the death of their husbands. Sometimes,
queen mothers
directly assumed political office. According to Hakem, many of
these queen
mothers became famous, and "in Greco-Roman times, Meroe
was known to
have been ruled by a line of Candace, Kandake or queen-
regnant." These
Kandake were extremely powerful figures, often able to act as

the full-fledged
rulers o f the kingdom and, in such cases, to be buried with full
royal rituals.22
The Mande Charter stipulates that because they are mothers,
women
should always be treated with respect; it also rules that in
addition to their
domestic duties, women should also be part of the political
decision-making
process.23 Maninka women enjoyed a high social status and a
high degree
of freedom. Thus, until the middle of the fourteenth century, the
first wife
of the mansa (emperor) of Mali was the second most senior
person in the
politico-administrative hierarchy of the empire. The key
province of Jenne
was under her direct authority.24
CUSTOMARY LAW AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION
IN INDIGENOUS AFRICAN POLITICAL
SYSTEMS AND INSTITUTIONS
In African societies-as in any other society-disputes arise in any
family or
social group with regard to property. Various mechanisms and
institutions
were created to resolve these disputes. In Africa, individual
attachment to lin-
eages always carried the potential risk of transforming personal
disputes into
broader group conflicts, as was often the case among the Ganda
(Uganda)

and the Nuer (Sudan). As a result, the principles of custom,
tradition, and
fairness were paramount, and particular emphasis was placed on
the peaceful
resolution of disputes and the promotion of social harmony.
Thus the Arusha
of Tanzania strongly believed that disputes should be settled
peacefully "by
persuasion and by resort to the established procedures for
settlement." Simi-
larly, the Tallensi of Ghana abhorred killings and the violent
resolution of
conflicts. During the Golib festival, all feuds and hostilities
between clans
were prohibited, and "the themes of food, harmony, fecundity,
and the com-
mon interests of the people as a whole" were emphasized.25
Peace and security prevailed in most indigenous African states.
Thus the
Mande C harter specifically states that in Mali foreigners should
never be
harmed and that the security of foreign envoys is inviolable. 26
lbn Battuta's
observations on the Mali Empire are pertinent in th.is regard:
"Among these
qualities [ of the Blacks] there is also the prevalence of peace in
their country,
the traveler is not afraid in it, nor is he who lives there in fear
of the chief or
of the robber by violence.
,
m The maintenance of peace within most African

communities was based on four fundamental legal principles:
settlement of
disputes by deliberation and discussion, rather than by force;
correction of
wrongdoing by compensation ( except in serious offences such
as murder);
assessment and adjudication by elders, who were considered to
be impartial;
and fairness.28 Thus the Mande Charter ruled that two
inviolable principles
should prevail in relations among the people of Mali:
sanankunya (joking
relation) and tanamannyonya ( blood pact). As a result, respect
of the other
and peaceful settlement of disputes were the rule. 29
CONCLUSION
This chapter began by observing that advanced African
civilizations, cultures,
societies, and states-such as Ancient Egypt, Kush/Nubia, Axum,
Ghana,
Mali, and Asante-evolved throughout the continent, from the
ninth cen-
tury BCE to the nineteenth century CE.
Indigenous African political systems and institutions were
traditionally
based on kinship and common ancestry. These systems were
based on the rule
of la1:v, and the rules and procedures of governance were
established by cus-
tom and tradition. In these systems, succession was

institutionalized in such a
way that family, clan, and ethnic competition for power was
minimized. The
African concept of power fused the secular and the sacred; the
leader was
both a secular and religious leader, and he acted as intermediary
between the
living and the dead-between the people and their ancestors.
Indigenous African political systems were essentially
democratic in the
sense that ( l) they were based on an elaborate system of checks
and balances
according to which advisory bodies-such as the Inner or Privy
Council and
the Council of Elders-acted as effective checks on the potential
abuse of
power by the leader ( chief, king, or emperor) and ( 2) through
the agency
of the village assemblies these systems allowed ordinary people
to have their
voices heard and influence political decision making. Moreover,
the African
leader was accountable for his actions at all times. In theory,
the leader ruled
for life, but in practice he ruled only as long as the people
allowed it. In addi-
tion, women played a key role in African societies, as well as in
Indigenous
African political systems and institutions.
Indigenous African political systems did not all follow the same
pattern of
state formation. Each differed depending on the conditions
facing it, resource
availability, military strength, leadership style, population,

types of state, and
size. In indigenous Africa, power and authority varied from
highly central-
ized (kingdoms and empires) to highly decentralized structures
of gover-
nance. States were either centralized under one leader or federal
systems in
which the people in the periphery paid tribute to the leader. The
reference to
"indigenous" should not be read as a nostalgic "golden age," but
rather as a
way of analyzing which institutions can be modified to be
incorporated in a
reconstituted modern African state.
FURTHER READING
Ayittey, George B. N ., Indigenous African Institutions
(Ardsley-on-Hudson, NY:
Transnational Publishers, 1991).
CELTHO, La Charte de Kurukan Puga: Aux sources d,une
pensee politique en Afrique
[The Mande Charter of 1340] (Paris: L' Harmattan/SAEC, 2008
).
Davidson, Basil, The African Genius: An Introduction to
African Cultural & Social
History (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1969).
Diop, Cheikh Anta, Precolonial Black Africa (Chicago:
Lawrence Hill Books, 1987 ).

Pyle, C. Magbaily, Introduction to the History of African
Civilization; Volume I: Pre-
Colonial Africa (Lanham, MD: University Press of America,
1999).
H arris, Joseph E., Africans and Their History, 2nd revised
edition (New York: Merid-
ian/ Penguin Books, 1998).
Shinnie, Margaret, Ancient African Kingdoms (London: Edward
Arnold, 1965 ).
CONCLUSION
THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER
OF IDEAS AND VALUES
TOWARD PEACE, DEVELOPMENT,
AND DEMOCRACY IN AFRICA
.funcan political thought refers to the original ideas, values, and
blueprints
for a better Africa that inform African political systems and
institutions from
the ancient period to the present. African political thought also
refers to
political theories and ideologies developed by various African
scholars and
statesmen, as enunciated in their speeches, autobiographies,
writings, and
policy statements. Political thought usually precedes and
informs political

action; the latter, in turn, influences political thought. Political
theory and
political practice are thus inextricably linked. In other words,
African politi-
cal thought provides practical solutions to political, economic,
social, and
cultural problems, and it varies according to historical
circumstances and a
constantly changing African and world political environment.
A major distinction was made between indigenous and modern
African
political thought. The former was developed during the so-
called golden
age of African history and refers to the governance of ancient
kingdoms and
empires ( such as Egypt, Kush/Nubia, Axum, Ghana, Mali,
Songhay, and
Kanem-Bornu), but it was also developed by such scholars as
Ibn Khaldun,
Al Bekri, and Ibn Battuta and is associated with indigenous
African politi-
cal systems and institutions. Modern African political thought
emerged in
the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and was
developed by Afri-
can scholars such as James Africanus Horton, Edward Wilmot
Blyden, and
Kofi A. Busia.
All the modern African authors/statesmen surveyed in this book
exhibit
a number of common characteristics. First, they are both
political think-
ers and political statesmen/ activists, linking theory and
practice as all great

philosopher-kings have done throughout history. Second, all
have, to various
degrees, been influenced by the Marxist- Leninist ideology.
Third, they are all
truly dedicated to the welfare and well-being of their countries
and people.
As such, they were all dedicated African nationalists. Fourth,
they ruled for
a relatively short period of time ( sometimes not at all), and
many died in the
prime of their lives ( often at the hands of agents of Western
powers), as the
cases of Amilcar Cabral, Frantz Fanon, Patrice Lumumba,
Thomas Sankara,
Agostinho Neto, Eduardo Mondlane, Samora Machel, and Steve
Biko clearly
illustrate. As a result, these statesmen/activists were unable to
see their poli-
cies mature and bear fruit.
This textbook is, to the best of our knowledge, the very first
attempt to
synthesize African political thought into one single thematic
volume . There
are other features that make this volume unique and original.
For one thing,
it is the first book in which indigenous African political ideas
and values ( from
antiquity to the nineteenth century) are examined alongside
modern African
political ideas (from the nineteenth century to the present).

Furthermore,
it is also the very first time that the emergence of Islamic values
and ideas
on governance between the second and eighth centuries in
North, Vest-
ern, Central, and Eastern Africa are studied in relation to
indigenous African
values and ideas on governance. Finally, contrary to existing
works on the
subject, this textbook focuses primarily on the ideas and the
common themes
that bind them rather than on the individualJ-whether scholars,
statesmen,
or leaders-themselves.
Chapter 1 consisted of an overview of the political ideology of
indigenous
African political systems and institutions, from antiquity to the
nineteenth
century. We showed that those systems and institutions were
traditionalh·
based on kinship, ancestry, and the rule oflaw; furthermore,
they were essen-
tially democratic in that they were based on an elaborate system
of checks and
balances, and they involved ordinary people in the political
decision-making
process. Moreover, the …
ASIAN POLITICAL THOUGHT
TIMOTHY J. LOMPERIS
Saint Louis University

S cholars of Westem political thought have .not dis-puted the
fact that there is a rich body of political thought in Asia. They
lmve just not bothered to
incorporate it into their corpus. This chapter seeks to pro-
vide long-overdue recognition to this body of thought by
calling attention to the fact that despite its heavy religious
content (until modern times), the encounter with political
ideas in Asia is just as profound as it is in the West. In fact,
since these ideas in Asia are heavily fertilized by their
Western colonial legacy, the West has much to learn about
itself from these Asian borders to the West's material and
intellectual reach.
In this presentation of Asian political thought, what will
emerge is that the such central ideas as democracy,ji-eedom,
and equality were forn1ed in a historical context different
from the West. In the West, these ideas were expressed and
then refined through a prism of small city-states in Greece,
the universal empire of Rome, the subsequent collapse of this
imperium politically but its persistence intellectually in the
Thomist medieval synthesis, the smashing fem1ent (both
intellectually and institutionally) of the Renaissance and the
Reformation, and the birth of the modern nation-state in
the twin crucibles of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) and
the French Revolution (1789-1795).
In Asia, these same ideas have been definitionally fil-
tered through a different historical stage in a play of three
acts. The first act is the traditional or classical era before
the Westem contact. We will see what from this period
endures as a mark today of"Asianness." The second act is
560
a scrutiny of the trauma of the colonial expericm:e. l Ji.,c

vast majority of Asian societies, either directly or mth,
rectly, came under Western eolonial eonlrol ur unikJ
spheres of Western influence. Ilow to react to thi:. in1m.:,;,11n1
precipitated a major ctisis but also resulted in a rid1 1md,
lectuaI fennent that produced the first articulu!il ,,i,. ,•I•
Asia's nationalisms. The third act is the modern t'-Cn<"'I
from the end of World War II to the present, when Asi,l ,,.,,,,.
set free on its own independent course. This has raised the
question, Whither modern Asia? Is Asia no dilforcnl lh•.m
a common globalizing world, or docs something llbtut.:,
tively Asian remain about its political thought'!
In these three acts, we will examine Asian conct.•p!s tiflhc
state and of statecraft, as well as or military grand s1m1cg1e:"'
and views on social equity and gender as they relate Ill th1..""'
three concepts. The focus will be on India um! Chinn
because these two ancient polities form the foundalillm1l p1J,
lam of Asia. Japan will also be given considerable atlcntiun.
along with some references to Korea. Southeast Asia will be
considered not so much as individual countries but us a
region tl1at has always been a tempestuous battleground
between Indian and Chinese ideas and institutions.
Theoretical Approach
Insofar as the political thought of Asia crune to the atten~
tion of Western political theorists, it tended to be painted.in
the broad brushes of overgeneralization. Karl Marx, In
outlining the global stages to his class struggle, wrote ol' an
"Asiatic mode of production" (quoted in Tucker, 1972,
p. 5), which he chanu.:terizcd as a labtir-inlcnsivc agricul-
tural society. Writing in this tradition, Karl Wlltfogcl
(1957) spelled this out as a form of "Oriental despotism"

ari::dng from the need to secure the necessary c()rvcc lnbor
to support the rice culture of what he termed "hydrau I ie soci-
ety." Taking a more cultural perspective, F. 8. ( •. Nm1hrnp
(l 946) distinguished Asia as having a more aesthetic
weltanschuuung than the scientific West. Ruther than the
clear subject object divide in the West, Asia, Northrop
contended, charted rculity along a mme l'lisctl aesllwtk
continuum, thereby creating different logics aml perel!p·
tions about the world.
More recuntly, such politit.:al scientists .is Lucian Pye
(1985) nml Duniel Bell (2000) have rl!nmrked on thu <lit:.
fcrent conceptions Asians bring to politics. To both, these
differencus require dcmocruey, in pnrticu lur. ltl undergo
considemble modiliculion for uny sm:ccssful transplanta-
tion to Asia. For Pye, the dwnges will have to allow for
a more dependent and paternal understunding (and accep-
tance) of pnwer. And ftir Bell, for Asia to be 1:0111fortable
with dcmocmcy, democracy will have tll give a special
place to knowledge over and above mere de111ucmtk
egalitarianism.
This is because idem; of <lcniocrncy, lh.:cdt1111, and
equality have developed llUt 01'11 historical context dillcr-
ent frnm the West':-. This conh:xt has led to cnndusions nn
the grnunding or these idl!as that are also ditforcnt from the
conclusions or the West. Put simply. We!itcrn pulitkal
thought is grounded in the individual as Liu: hash.: unit nf
politics, and in equality, in stm1c liirm, as the al·t·cptcd
basis for human relations ,md pnlitiL'al ruk. In the Asian
context, political thtiu~ht came lo h1: tn1t11Hk•d in the
group, not the individual. and in hicmn:hy. nut cqual1ty. As
shall be dear from the dL1scrir1tio11 ol' thi.: Ctlltcxt nr thn:L·
historical nets. the contact or the idem; ot' dcnwL·mcy. fret.··
dom, and equality with Asia calls liir some rcformulatiun.
In line, thi:; elrnpter explains that in 1assing these ll1rcL~

ideas lhrnugh an Asian histurical t:ncmmtcr. rnlL' L',111 ant n•
at l'icbl.!1 nmlticulturnl dcliliitions of sul'h scl'n1111~ly
11111-
versal political ideas.
Classical Asia
Asia has provided an arena for all the wnrld's value sys-
tems. Hinduism is the oldest. Its earliest forms wcrc
similar to the religion and idt:us or the ancient tircck:i.
Perhaps the Indo-Aryan invaders llf the lndiun subcun-
ti nent effaced the smne Triple Cfoddess m errun by
Jason and his Greek Argon11uts in the Black Seu city of
Colchis. In any case. Hinduism emerged in the first mil·
Jenni um BCE as 11 religion and political culture of conquest.
Buddhism amse later as a sort of L.utl1eran relbnnation to
Hinduism. ll held distinctly gentler political ideas. This
gentler failh, however, was literally obliterated by Muslim
Asian Political Tlumgllt • 561
invasions inlo the subcontinent that began in the 8th cen-
tury CE. (Buddhism went on lo thrive in China, Japan,
Korea, and Southeast Asia.) These new invaders oscil-
lated between two upproaches in !heir new dominions.
One was lo extenninule opposition and fon:c Islam by the
sword. The other wai; to cooperate with local power
groups and rule by accommodation. As it spread to
Southensl Asia, Islam became more modcrule and diffuse
in its ideas uml practices.
In ( 'hina around the 6th century llCE, Confucianism
devdopcd its own order among society, nature, and the
cosmos. This onlcring ririnciple, ul' the dual forces of yin
and ynng, was nn early portrait or u hisloricul dialectic sim-
ilar to that in the writings or I leraclitus, l Jegcl, und Marx.

Whill! ( 'onl'udanism prnpoundcd a rigidly hiernrchicul
sociopnlitkal order, the "turning or the wheel" from
I h1ddhism .ind the "rt.:version or the Dao" from Daoism
i1HrmluL:ed the idea or redprndty. Mencius politicized the
mlc or the emperor by entrusting him with the Mm1datc of
I leaven, but in tying this mandate lo rcciprodty, Mencius
also gave the pt.!nplc lhe right of revolution. Daoism aducd
the 111ystic:il and th! mugical to this mix. For all its order,
this ancient C 'hine:-.c system g.iw hirth lo II rom:111cc or
prntcst, with sage-knights :11.:ting as Robin I lomls. These
liilk hemes later inspired modern revolutionaries such ns
Man Zi..•dung ( Sehwarl/, I t>H5).
In this Asim1 tlranm. us in Europe. !here has been a grad-
ual gnmch ll( sl!cularism. But motkrn seculari:m1 has
lll'l.'I' been ,umplctcly succcssfiil in lndiu, and religion has
never d11:d III C 'hi1111. ln India, religion rl!prcsc11ts ll com-
pktL' ,alue system. This llca:ily religious value system,
hmn.' er. did nut predutk lengthy and systl!mmic trcal-
1111.•111 or p111iti17;d qucsti1111s. Tiu: cpk M11//ahh,m11a
eon-
1.1111, lung 11nhtiL'al t!ssa;·s 1111 st,ltl.'cra Ii, kingship. and
n11 ll1,1ry sllalcg~. One .mdcnt text. Kautilya 's :lrtlwshustm.
mtrndun::, all Mm:hiavdli's i,kas ;ibmu puliticul sur,,ivtd
nH11~· th,111 a lhm1sand yl!:11s carlii:r than The flrifl<'<'
cBasham. I ll~<lJ. < 'hma ,lc111t111stratcd a 1111)rc rnhust
tradi-
111111 111' sc·ularism, partly bc,·imsc tinnu:ianism never
r,•ally addn:s~cd the ,111est11m ti!' ( iud. Buddhism lilied this
~.:ap 1111: I i:}lahsrs a11cmptl.'d t11 plan' law as a hight'r
prin-
dpk of stil'.1al urdcnllJ! than cosntiL' rhytluns uf yin and
yan~i Bui d;,n;1stic mkrs prd~m:d the mnhiguitics or the
,:m,rnus to th1: l'.i1ncrch: l'Ullstraints ur the law. ln C 'hina,
11111, as tn ;111 Asia, r1.•ligion stayed on lop, li1:-i11g
society

am.I pulitks tu thL' sum:lity. sam:tiuns. und politicul pmtcc-
lltHI ur the ~.mb ( Schw.ir11. I tJX5 ).
Mme than 1m lop. lhc Y.um1111 cl.Ill in .htpan proclaimed
thl'llh,dH:s to he g.utls. In their :-;uccc:;s, they lmvc provided
Jupan with the lungcst single line nfldngs in world history
irnd 11 scnsL~ uf natkmalis111 and ethnic ic.lt::ntity thut runs
very dccf1. Although "divinely" rnled, the Japanese never
!MIW themselves us holding lhc gntewuy ttl heaven. They
were. then, nut averse tCl btim1wing, and they k1oked to
C'onfuchmism and Buddhism to order their slate and mean•
ing system. lronfo:nlly, integn1ting this borrowing into
indigenuus Shinto belie£.. became men's work. The further
562 • POLITICAL THOUGHT
development of Japanese culture-its novels, ceremonies,
and haiku poetry-was left to the creative talents of
women. Although gods reigned, warriors m led and warred
in Japan. A strong knightly code of Bushido steeled the rul-
ing samurai class in the political culture of the warrior-
ruler-knights (Yuzan, 1941).
Meanwhile, great kingdoms arose in Southeast Asia,
mostly on borrowed Hindu ideas transmitted by Theravada
Buddhism from Sri Lanka (Ceylon). There was the
Kingdom ofTen Thousand Elephants in Laos, Borobuddur
and Bali in Indonesia, and the Khmer empire in Cambodia.
The latter's capitol, Angkor Wat, is still the largest reli-
gious building complex ever built. Political ideas and insti-
tutions in this porous, vulnerable region were mostly
Indian (the Chinese influences in Vietnam were the notable
exception), but the societies of much of Southeast Asia
were ethnically Malay and were held together mainly by

their customa1y adat, or customs. These customs set up
three social classes (a ruling aristocracy, free land holders,
and slaves) bound together in a network of mutual obliga-
tions and responsibilities. In this adat, property and author-
ity could be held and inherited just as easily by women as
by men. When the Muslims came to Southeast Asia in the
13th and 14th centuries, they had about run out their polit-
ical tether and lacked the vehemence that they displayed in
India. They superimposed the veneer of their sultanates
on Malaya and Indonesia but were content to have the
sultanates upheld by Hindu and Buddhist political princi-
ples and by tl1e Malay social adat (Tambiah, 1976).
In classical Asia, then, politics were decidedly authori-
tarian, and more specifically tegal, rather than democratic.
In India, nevertheless, besides just guaranteeing order, or
danda, kings were obliged to promote the welfare of the
people. In China, this promotion extended to the principle
of reciprocity and even to tl1e right of the people to rebel.
Nevertheless, freedom in classical Asia was more of a reli-
gious goal than a political right: freedom from the cycle of
rebirths in India and in the cultivation of an inner peace of
the soul in China. Thus, in both societies, freedom was a
private preserve separate from the crush of public (com-
munal, religious, and political) responsibilities and duties.
ln these feudal systems of Asia, these responsibilities were
mainly to hierarchically ordered groups. Equality, then,
was a relative value and was tied to the status and position
of one's group compared with others. Any equivalence to
modem Western ideas of equality could be procured only
within one's group (and primarily for one's family), not
outside it.
Colonial Asia
The conquests of Western imperialism shattered this order.

Most of Asia was directly colonized. Even those who
escaped direct rule--like the Japanese, Koreans, Chinese,
and Thai-were still pulled into an international political
and economic system dominated by Western imperial
powers. Because Asian polities had unbroken insliluti<mal
histories for two millennia (in some cases), punclmllcd hy
their own moments of glory, the question ol' how to h<1th
accommodate and account for this Western imposi1inn
and superiority provoked deep soul-scan:hing among
Asians.
Nowhere was this more deeply felt than in India, which
became the crown jewel of the British Empire ur 50
colonies worldwide. Some Indians embraced Western civ·
ilization. The British Viceroy, Lord Thomas Macuulay,
was pa1tial1y successful in creating "a class of pen.tin!>,
Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinion.
in morals, and in intellect" (Spear, 1961, p. 257). L,ucr.
these scions were called "Brown Sahibs." In lllrtl1emncc uf
this strategy, the British invested in a modern u11ivcr:s1ly
system for India. A proud accompl ishmenl or tit is sysl~m
was the Nobel Prize for Literature in I 9 l3 won hy the
Bengali intellectual Rubindranath Tagore, writing in the
King's English (Metcalf~ 200 l ).
Following in the wake of the British nti were legions l!f
Christian missionaries who preached their "good news" nnrd
practiced their social gospel with institutions tif Slll.'.utl
reform. Beyond a nationwide network of sclmols, !he) :-11.*l
up hospitals, orphanages, homes for widows, lcpru:owm·
ums, demonstration farms for peasant laborers, and s<l('1;1I
services for outcasts. Many Hindus, nlthough leery tif Ill<
"good news," eagerly took up this cause or social rcfnrm
and, in the Bmhmo Samaj of the 19th century. launched
their own social gospel of reform or some or the ills ,md

neglects of Hinduism. Muslims displayed a split rc.ic1nin
to the Empire. Since they were lndia's previous ruler,..,
some resisted, and they went down to defeat in the Mulm~
of 1857. Others, such as Sir Sayccc.l Ahmntl Khan. anii.:u,
lated a path of accommodation with the British, insisun~
that Islam had no objections to at least the polith!ul culturlZ
of the West. Indeed, as a monotheistic "religion ur thi:
Book," Islam was the more naturnl ally of this culture th;m
was polytheistic Hinduism. Still othern were nol so ~ur~
of either the Hindus or the British {Pye, 19K5). It ~;1,
Mohammed Iqbal--poet, theologian, aml political thcmbt
who gave eloquent voice to a separate destiny !hr Mm,hm~
in the subcontinent (Malik, 1971 ).
Although never a directly ruled colony, the reacliun m
China was equally intense. Tiananmen Square in Bcijini
was an architectural declaration that it wus the gateway h1
Heaven. British gunboats brought a string of military
humiliations that shattered this gateway. A man who
dreamed that he was the younger brother of Jesus Chri~t
proclaimed a new portal and led the biwrre Taipinl:l,
Rebellion of the 1850s and 1860s. The movement also
preached equality for women and, at first, democracy. In
its suppression, it might have been dismissed as one of
those oddities of history, were it not for tho subsequent
influence the rebellion had on Mao Zedong and other rev-
olutionary modernizers (Ogden, 2002).
Meanwhile, the Qing Dynasty, Chinn 's last, made
earnest attempts at rcthnn. Western education replaced
classical texts for imperial civil service examinations.
Principles of constitutional democracy and parliamentary
elections were introdul!cd, as were modern railroads, mili~
tary academies, and financial institutionH. ln 1911, the

mixture of protest and reform exploded into a nationalist
revolution and a nearly 40-ycar interregnum of ehaos.
Intellectually, the boiling cuuldron of this ferment was
known ns the Muy Fourth Movement. In I.he lrnmilintion of
the demands of the upstart .lapuncse for the Shamlong
Peninsula al the Peace Conlcrcncc at Vcrsail lcs in May
1919, Chinese intellectuals dcspcralcly cast about for :1
prescription for modern power: in the prnginalism and lib-
eralism of John Dewey and the United States, in the mi li-
tarism from Germany und Japan, in language rel'nrm and
mass education, in physical culture and the cmtmdpalion
of women, in the assassirrntions und eomnurncs ol' mwr-
chism, and even in the communism of Karl Marx and the
Bolshevism or Russia (Zhou, I %0).
Then: was ferment in Southeast Asia as wdl. Pemmnts,
in a series of protests a Iler World Wnl' I. decried the col-
lapse of 11 trnditional social and political order guaranteed
by a royalty and l'cudal rctuincrs lhut used to sali!guard
their livelihoods and provide a sense of place anti security
by the Mandate ol' lh:avcn (in Vietnam), tile will tif Alluh
(in Malaya and lndoncsiu), the mandalu pallcm t1f pnlitks
and international relations ( in Thailand und Camhmlia ),
and u transl'ernl or mcril from Buddha (in Burma anti
Laos). Arter an initial. if reluctunt, uccommodatiun with
Western power and political institutions, these peasants
and emerging intcllcctuuls searched for thdr own h:rms nf
modern survival. The Cao Dai sect in Vietnam, whkh wnr-
shippcd nn all-seeing cosmic eye as interpreted hy Vklor
Hugo, Jesus Christ, Confucius, l.no Till, and foan uf An:.
il!ustrntcd this perplexity. The mood of rcsil,!nation lo thl'sc
confusing, but powerllil, outside forces was captmcd h~
the popult11· J tJth-century cpk pnl"m in Vietnam. K.mr nm
Kie11. This poem was a creative remake of :rn oltl ( 'him:sc
stmy nf n liliu I daughter who slays lrnc !ti her 1mtk:scn inµ
folhcr in a lire of untold sulforing but stcmlfosl ticvnlmn.

These r,casant protests, then. grew out ol' lh1:-.tr;itinns 1i 1.•r
their dcvoli(lll lo u traditional structure that could no lunger
i;ccnre this order ( Kershaw, 200 I),
In Japan in IX53. the conuncrciid viiiit or the ll.S,
naval communder ( 'ommodurc Matthew Purry found the
Japanese nt a moment in their history when they were
ready for an opening frorn the outsil.le. Their mature lcu-
dal order had reached a point of stugnutitm. A knightly
class of samurai undergirded an aristocracy that hdli the
emperor ho::.tage, even a:. this monarchy as an insliluticm
provided continuity, identity, and n sense of co::.mic pluce
for all Japanese. In the name or restoring the emperor to
real power (somwjoi), aristCJcratic modernizers overthrew
this samurai-dominated regime in what was called 1he
Meiji Restoration. The Meiji Constitution established a
Asian Political Thm1gltt • 563
liberal parliamentary system in the name of the c11111cror.
But for all this constilutiomdism, the fapancse actually
modcrnizcc.l through a military path of war with China
lirsl ( 1895) uml then Russia ( 1905; Gluck, 1985 ). Along
with these impressive manilestations of modem power,
the continued hold of samumi vnlucs, for all this Mcij i
"liberalism," wus nurtured by the.: education of all
Japuncse school children in rne Stm:v <!l tlw 47 Ronin, in
which linal loyalty was still given to extreme profossinns
of honor, in the nmnc of the cmpcrur. It was u path that
tumbled Japan into World Wur [I, its grculcst national
disaster (Bcncdict, 1946).
The fonnent touched off by European imperialism in
Asia was uot exclusively one wny. Eumpcans who had
prolonged coutad with Asian srn.:ictics were ol'tcn sur-
prised at what they saw. Despite their political wcuknusscs,

thc:;c sm:ictics revealed sophisticated and well-articulated
cultures. A lwst or scholars called "Oricnlnl ists," muny of
whom had served us colonial mlministrutors, begun to
trm1sl:rte hack for Eumpcun m1dicnces the ''pearls of the
Orient": thc philnsophk Upam):lwcls und the twin epics,
lite Me1lwhlwratll und the Ramaymw. from India, and tl1c
Analects 11( C1111/iwiu.~ nnd the J.>cw d<• Jing of Luo Dzc
( Lao Tzu) from C'hinn. Thc 111,ist mnbiti11us ,1 l' these rro-
jccts wai; thl.' I 11lh-ccntury "Ooldcn Bough" i,;crics of trans-
lations into Fnµlisl1. sponsm·cd by I lnrvard University, of
nwsl of' Asi,1 's linesl truditional work$. Thb impact, hnw-
evcr, was nmrc llum just inlhrmntivc. tdcas Ihm, these
trnnslatinns wor'ked their way into the transl:cntlcntulism
of the New Fn~land liM·ati (particularly on Ralph Waldo
Fmcrsun "m,crsntil"), us well us into lhc philosophic
syst~·ms o!' Martin l lcidcggcr and Fl'icdrich Nictzscl1c
and cwn into the 1111vcl:,; of' I krman flcssc, among others
tUarkc, PN7J.
l ln/<Htunatcly, some uf this nunantic "llricntulism"
tumi.nl p·ncrsc. ln thi:-. disc1wcry ,11'thc deep 1.:ulll1ral
ronls
,11' Asta. so1111.: Wcstcm sdmlars. partirnl.irly Uennau,
bt:g.111 h1 s1.•c llwmsclvl.'s ,ls dc!>ccndants or an elite lndo-
Ary,111 hru1h1:rhoud thal 1.•xtcmlcd from lhl.' Indus River hi
tht• Rhme ( M ulkr, It) 19 t ( icnnan natitmal sncinlism sub-
scqmmtly appr,1priatcll th!.' andeut I lrndu symhnl li.1r uni-
versal hrnthcrhnnd ns the i:cntcrptcL·e lo iii; !lag, !he
s,~ astil-.a
At lirst lfollcrcd by this ,11tcnlio11, mrnlcrn Asi,1n inkl-
kduals for their part hi.'.gun to resist this drnrnctcrizutiun
of a si:p.iwtc t1ric111albm us 1ant:111m11nt to u
i.:ivilizutimrnl
dismiss,11 similar tn the "sep,1rntc but cquul" kg:il <lm:trine
in the t Jnitcd States lhut scrvcll In perpchmlc racinl dis-

crimination. Whether intdlcdual trnditions prnduuc cul-
turally distinct idem, nr whether universal ideas fhrm uml
recllmbinc tlu~mselvcs 11rnuml different inlellectual tnu.Ji-
tions is II pervasive isi.ue of cpisternolt1gy. For the !ltudy of
political though! in Ash1, however, the unfortunate effect
of c,ricn1ali:.m has been to dismiss pol itic11I Lhllughl in Asia
as being lou cfosely Lied to religious constructiuns to be
worthy of secular analytical scrutiny.
564 • POLITICAL THOUGHT
Modern Asia
World War II (1939-1945) brought disaster to Europe.
Even in victory, the power of Britain and France collapsed,
and, with that collapse, their empires unraveled and their
hold over Asia ended. In independence, not always easily
gained, Asia was now free to find itself and define politics
in ways authentic to a free Asia and to the particular set of
traditional legacies and aspirations of each of its societies.
In this mix of the traditional and the colonial, what set of
political ideas and institutions would serve independent
Asian nations still having to fend for themselves in an
international system of Western creation and continued
dominance? In Asia's postwar trajecto1y of growing eco-
nomic prosperity and rising global political influence,
answers to this question have produced rich and innovative
contributions to the ongoing development of political
thought per se.
After World War II, all of Asia wanted to regain what
Asian counh·ies saw as their lost importance in the world.
Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India,
expressed these hopes for all Asians when, in his exultant

Independence Day speech on August 15, 194 7, he
declared, "Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny,
and now the time comes when we shall redeem our
pledge" (cited in Hardgrave & Kochanek, 2000, p. 53).
Colonialism, he argued, had drained the wealth and ener-
gies of Asia, and now it would just flow back (Nehm,
1959). Although it certainly did not flow back right away,
in the opening years of the 21st centu1y, this tryst with a
recaptured Asian global importance seems well within
reach.
The Indian subcontinent, however, has been plagued by
serious differences both as to how to attain an independent
India and as to what it would look like. The towering fig-
ures in this agony were Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi.
Gandhi was the moral father of modem India. After travel-
ing around India for 4 years after his return from South
Africa at the age of 41 in 1915, Gandhi discovered his
three themes of poverty, unity, and indepe11dence. As he
made the continuation of British rule untenable, he won-ied
about an India "in pursuit of Lakshmi" (wealth), freed
from the moderating restraints of religion. Thus, even as he
dete1mined to entrust the future course of India to Nehru,
he was troubled by the younger man's Hamlet-like agnos-
ticism (Gandhi, 1957),
Nehru epitomized Macaulay's "Brown Sahib," and
Nehru's highly cerebral autobiography, The Discovery of
India (1946/1959), was really an m1iculation of his own
divided soul. His professed admiration for the ancient
Hindu scriptures and epics was profoundly philosophical
and somewhat idealized. He prefen·ed to highlight the
moments of unity and power and gloss over the divisions
and wars oflndia's past. He could not bring himself to take
this philosophical appreciation to a spiritual awakening.
For Nehru, the influences of a secular English liberalism

were too strong for this. To him, the best (ll' India lay in ii,
moments of unity around a clwkravarti11, or unh·cr::;.;tj
emperor, such as Ashoka, Harsha, or Akbar. lkcatbC or
India's deep religious and social divides, Nchm felt that
this unity could come, in modern times, only under a ~c,
ular India united by Western principles of lihcrnl <lcmoc~
racy. The Congress Party was rounded with this as its cor~
credo. Unfortunately, Nehru dulled his ccom1mks h~
embracing the socialism of the British Fuhi:ms 11nd lh~
Russian Bolsheviks (he expressed a continual admimtii1ri
for the accomplishments of the 5-year pluns of the Smil.'!t
Union). Under Nehru's lcadcrshi11 as prime 1m1w,ter
(l 947-1964), Lakshmi, the goddess or wt:ullh, rcmainql
aloof (Nehru, 1946/1959).
Although Gandhi and Nehru were the gi,mh, ,•1111:r
voices arose in the subcontinent. lronknlly cm111f.!h.
Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the father or mmh:rn P.iJ..1,tiln.
shared Nehru's secularism cwn as he insislcd utt .1 ""r-t-
rate Muslim state. 01hers in Pakistan ct1llcd for thi., ,1a1c !11
be subservient lo the Jslmnh: Shari'a. This tlni~Ml h;t~
brought the country to the brink of im11lnsiu11 o',;:f the
never-healing sore ol' Kashmir and the recent rc.:rhtr.1.
tions of Islamic radicalism lhm1 Al'glmnishm ,md d•.:.
where in the Muslim wmld. There huvc 1-»!cll ~t,nl
voices in Hinduism a.s well. The terrorism c"~m,<J
B. K. Tilak heforc World Wur I and the foi.l.'.bm ul :,iubt,Jt,
Chandra Bose in World War II round exprc,,u,n 111
Hindu commtmalism or !-;anlar Vullahhhlmi fl,itd, S<ltni
co-prime minister in tht: lirst 2 yc.ir.. ol' imkf"Cltt!,;rt;,;,t
Patel died of u heaii attack, but these :-;c·cral d1 MH"
~,~i1~.h
collected into the I lindu nationalism or Mr .. l . :tlur,,i
the Bharaliyu Janata Prniy, whkh is now a crn:,10,1! 11,~,i,,,i,
•• r

rival to the secular Congn.:ss Party, J ndia :md l',1!..1~tu1
confront each other us nuclear powl.'r,. ;m~I ,a,1,,>f-h,;r.
chnkrnvartin, in this lcnxe sube~intinent. b n,• h~~.: i:i
(Mehta, 1996).
ln China. the lirst coherent voit:I..' tu nrlt:'11t1t· ..;i
modernization out or the swirling slt;1ml, nl
Fourth Movcnicnl was Sun Y,ll·scn, ht1 ,hl1.,i,,,.l1c~£ 1
min cl111yi (thrnc people's prindplci.l tit' l"'-'''l'k',.
hoot!, people's rule, aml pcopk:'s na1i111rnli"m lh.:
to uphold China's traditional Mandatc ul' lk.1'l'.!I lt,i:
was translated into rural lil'c as "lm1d tu the U!lt·11"
1,H:~0;r:..:
that the communists later tried to cull their 1m nl t
second principle, tkmocrm;y, Sun culkd l!if ;1
to constitutional democracy in ('hinu th1,•uih 1IM:i,i
stages of tutelage. In pructic<!, Sun's p-ohtn;;:il
Gumnindang, could not pull it utl It hin.::b'l;d
between the Christian sucial gospel of the Nt'iil
Movement and an Italian-like fascism or Bill(;' ShtJ1
pline, all the while continuing in a reluclJUlOI: •~
power. Even as Sun's ideology tailed in ChtnL rl
the basis for the subsequent ecunomic mime:le <m
It also desctibes the long path taken by South
economic prosperity and a lagged followint4, of
perity to full democracy (Wells, 200 I), …

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