Introduction
State did not come into being overnight but it is result of the prolonged evolutionary process.Study of history shows that states emerged in different times at different places.In different countries forms and organizations of the states were different.Evolution of states in all the parts of states did not remain the same.There could not be found uniformity and continuity of the evolution of states in different countries and people.
Historical evidences have pointed out different states that have existed in the world.According to the historians different states that that existed at different parts of the world are following;
- Primitive Societies
- Tribal Kingdoms
- Oriental States
- Greek City-States
- Roman Empires
- Feudal States
- Nation States
Above mentioned is the order of states,in which it evolved,from primitive time to the modern times of Nation State. Evolution of State is the long process,we discuss each type of state one by one with examples.
- Stateless Societies of Primitive times
According to Meclever,origins are always obscure.There is no written record that how the people of primitive times lived.Yet,according to the study of anthropology,archeology and proto-history it was discovered that first society was matriarchal which later on transformed into patriarchal.
Matriarchal Society
Anthropological and Archaeological evidences show that the earliest human society was matriarchal in form.But it was without any state or political authority.Head of Matriarchal society was mother she took care of family.
Patriarchal Society
When man began to produce things by labour of hands and invented tools and techniques to produce them.The matriarchal society changed slowly and gradually into patriarchal.patriarchal society of primitive times was still stateless society which was consisted of several families.Group of several families formed a clan , similarly several clans formed.Family was headed by father and was consisted of wives,childrens,slaves and dependants.Similarly, head of family became the head of clan which was consisied of many families.
Cementing forces of society in primitive times
According to the political philosophers,there were four things that bonded people together in primitive times.These were sex,property, religion and war.We discuss these cementing forces one by one.
1.Sex: Problem of sex regulated the system of marriage and family as well as it regulated the property and inheritance relations.
2.Property: Second main problem was property,people wanted to own and possess the property due to which society was created.
3.Religion: Religion also played the role of bonding force between people. At that time religion was mainly magic and worship of ancestors and nature.All the people of clan or tribe used to participate in rites and rituals following their leader.This common worship strengthened the unity of tribe..
4.War: War was an another factor that played the role of cementing for in primitive societies.Man began to kill man. Clans and Tribes were at daggers drawn with each other. War necessitated the military and military leadership
Military head assumed the power of political head of tribe, in this way state was created.
Examples of States in Primitive Times
1.Aborigions of Australia
2.People in Malasian Malaya
3.Savage communities of Asia ,East Asia and Africa
4.Civilised people of Asia ,Europe and North America
- Tribal Kingdoms
Tribal states of proto-historic came into being first of all,in river valleys of Africa and Asia . Main reason behind it was that people wanted to people wanted to settle in those places where water was easily available.
Tribal states came into being across the following rivers.
1.River Nile
Nile river is in Egypt,tribal states came into being along it.
2.Euphrates and Tigris
Euphrates and Tigris are two rivers in southern Iraq.Tribal states of antiquity were also found there.
3.Indus River
Indus liver is in Indo-pak subcontinent. Acroos Indus river at Harrapa and Mohenjo-Dero tribal states were created.Ganga and Jamuna are also two famous rivers having tribal states across them.
Tribal State of Arians In India
Aryans invaded India and created Tribal state here.Basic unit of their political system was family.Many families grouped to form a tribe. Tribes constituted State.State was assisted by Raja also known as Rajun. Ragin was assisted by two councils Smeti and saba.
Smeti: It was Council of common peoples.
Saba: It was council of influential people.
4.Yellow River
Yellow river is in China. Tribal states also existed there.
Features of Tribal States
1.In tribal states king’s authority was not absolute
2.King was assisted by consultative body which was consisted of tribal chiefs.
3.King was chosen for his qualities in the battle field
4.Kingship was hereditary but successor was not necessarily his son
5.King was one who possessed the qualities of courage and wisdom
Examples of Tribal States
According to the archeological evidences,following three states existed at that time.
- Anciet Empires of East(200BC-500AD)
- City states of Greek(800BC-336BC)
- Roman Empire(300BC-500AD)
- The Oriental Empire
Tribal States evolved and assumed the form of city state but tribal states of east and north africa transformed into empires.Evolution of the state was due to the factors like climate,geography and inventive genius. We explain these factors due to which to evolution of state from tribal to Oriental Empire.
Climate:Those areas whose climate was warm interested the warriors.
Geography:Goog geographic conditions like fertile soil,abundance of water and unbroken blains enabled a powerful and aggressive tribe to conquer territories and enslave more population.
These empire also flourished alongside the rivers which were also called the “ cradles of civilization”
Examples of Oriental Empires
Oriental empires of the East emerged in the rivers in different countries;like;
- In Nile in ancient egypt
- In Iraq across Euphrates and Tigris
- In India across Ganga and Yamuna
- In China in Yellow river
It can be observed that tribal states in the river valleys were transformed into Empires.Following are the earlier forms of empires.
- Babylonians:The Babylonian Empire was the most powerful state in the ancient world after the fall of the Assyrian empire (612 BCE)
- Assyrians:Assyria was ancient name for the northeastern part of modern Iraq, situated on the east bank of the Tigris. It is also the name of one of the greatest empires of Antiquity. Assyria was overthrown in 612 BCE by the Babylonians.
- Persians:The term Persian Empire usually refers to the Achaemenid Empire . It may also refer to other imperial states of Greater Persia.
- Egyption: Egyptian Empire was formed in egypt around 7,000 years ago.
Difference between Tribal and Oriental Empire
- Tribal State was based on Kinship while Oriental State was based on Kinship and Conquest
- Tribal State was organized on Social equality while Oriental state was organized on inequality of rich and poor ,free and slave,warrior and noble,priest class and ignorant.
- Tribal King was one among the equals while Oriental King was emperor and master of all.
- Membership of Tribal state based on birth while membership of was based on conquest,force and subjugation.
Theory of Oriental Empire,s Origin
A Theory of their origins: Karl a. Wittfogel, a German social historian, has expounded an interesting theory of the origins of the Oriental Empires.Empire had two classes.
1.First, large work-force of free slave labourers, in order to build dams, dig canals and maintain them for irrigation and flood control purposes.
2.Second, a large ruling class of officers, supervisors, and others to manage, supervise and direct the free and slave work-force. This class consisted of both the bureaucratic managers and officers, military commanders and also the influential priests.
Features of Oriental Empires:Merits and demerits
1.Elite class stood the supreme ruler of emperor. That was how the small tribal kingdoms of the river valleys were transformed into the vast oriental empires.
2.Oriental empires were politically weak and unstable. They were governed by hereditary and despotic monarchs, who ruled a few citizens but many subjects.
3.The citizens were the warrior nobles and the priestly classes who possessed wealth and social and political privileges.
4.The subjects, consisting of the peasants, had no rights and privileges. The citizens and the subjects had no political rights or liberty.
5.In spite of all their wars of conquest and expansion, they did not progress politically, socially or economically for centuries. The power of the ruler was based on the military and priestly classes.
6.The society was divided into two classes, the slave and the free; but even the free men had not much of freedom. They were the subjects of the king, with little or no civil rights and political liberty.
7. The authority of the ruler presented a strange picture. It was despotic and unlimited at the capital, but weak and unstable in distant provinces.
Criticism of Oriental Empire:
Demerits:
We can criticise the oriental empires of antiquity of their tyranny, their harshness, their social rigidity and caste system, their warlike ways their stagnation, inertia, and decadence.
Merits:
1.The autocracy of the oriental kings was limited by custom, religion and tradition. His word was not always law, for law was derived really from custom or religion.
2.For all its weakness and instability, the oriental empire created conditions of peace and order over vast areas of the ancient world, in ages when mankind had not yet invented means of rapid communication and social control. It disciplined vast populations into obedience and peace. Thirdly, though politically unstable, the oriental empires created a stable society in which arts of peace and culture were greatly developed. Modern world owes much in arts, roads, culture, industry, agriculture, science and learning to the empires of the ancient East. These are also some of the reasons why this type of the State survived down to the recent times in the East.
- The Greek City State
Introduction
Greek city-State or polis was evolved on the shores of ancient Greek. As the ancient Greeks called it. Geographically, Greece is particularly favourable for such a growth. It is a land divided by sea and mountains-into innumerable islands and valleys, where peoples and communities lived a separate but not isolated life. This fact inclined the ancient Greeks towards an intense love of independence and liberty, which was one of the most important features of their political life.
Features of Greek City State and their Political Life
1. inclined the ancient Greeks towards an intense love of independence and liberty.
2.Ancient Greeks were not dominated by any organised religion and priesthood, their love of freedom was also expressed in a spirit of free enquiry in politics, philosophy and in all other fields of human interest.
3.The Greek city-State gradually evolved and changed from monarchy to aristocracy and finally to democracy.
4.Greek city-State was based on the liberty of the individual and the free and equal participation of the citizens in the government which means democracy in the real sense.
5.They were the first democratic States in the history of mankind, and, therefore, an example and a guide of political thought and practice down to the present day.
Merits and Demerits
1.Firstly, their love of liberty and independence, or patriotism, degenerated into constant rivalry and feuds among them. Classes and parties in every Greek city quarrelled with one another, while the cities also fought with the cities. They could never unite into a single Greek State. Their perpetual feuds and wars enabled at first Macedonian Kings and then Rome to conquer them all and destroy their independence.
2.Secondly, Greek society and economy were based on slavery. Even the greatest minds of ancient Greece, like Aristotle, justified the exploitation and misery of the slaves, as necessary for the leisure and happiness of the free classes.
3.Thirdly, although Greek democracy was direct, it was not universal. Citizenship was not universal. It was not for all but only for the free-born inhabitants of the city-State. The resident aliens, the slaves, and the women were not given the rights and liberty of citizenship. Naturalization was not known to them.
4.Fourthly, the small size of the city States became, in the long run, a source of weakness. Their life was intense and active, but it became narrow and parochial. The self-government degenerated into misgovernment and enabled their powerful neighbours, Macedon and Rome, to conquer them all.
5.Fifthly, the ancient ‘Greeks, like the modem ‘European and ‘American nations, were “wanting in humanity”. They regarded themselves as the only ‘civilized people’ and all other nations as barbarians, and, therefore, believed themselves to be a superior race-a very common trait of the Aryan race. Lastly, the ancient Greeks could not create a system of universal law and administration, as did the Romans after them.
- Roman Empire
Introduction
The Roman Empire was the most extensive political and social structure in western civilization. By 285 CE the empire had grown too vast to be ruled from the central government at Rome and so was divided by Emperor Diocletian into a Western and an Eastern Empire. The Roman Empire began when Augustus Caesar became the first emperor of Rome (31 BCE) and ended, in the west, when the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed by the Germanic King Odoacer . In the east, it continued as the Byzantine Empire until the death of Constantine XI and the fall of Constantinopleto the Ottoman Turks in 1453 CE. The influence of the Roman Empire on western civilization was profound in its lasting contributions to virtually every aspect of western
Achievements of Empire
1.Another achievement of ancient Rome was her system of universal laws before which all citizens were equal. The Roman Law was based on the law of nature and of nations.
2.The Romans also created a strong and firm administrative machinery. Thus they preserved peace and order over Europe, Asia and North Africa, called Pax Romana.
3.Trade and commerce, industry and agriculture flourished over vast territories of Europe, Asia and Africa under these conditions of universal peace.
Demerits
They were the denial of political liberty, the destruction of local self-government, a soulless bureaucracy, heavy taxation, depraved ruling classes, slavery, religious persecutions, and irresponsible despotism. These weakness and deflects became the causes of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire.
- Feudal State
Introduction
From the ashes of the Roman Empire rose the feudal States of Medieval Europe. The feudal States were real estates, for feudalism did not know the meanings of Statehood. With the fall of Rome, the idea of a central authority and sovereignty vanished. The nobles and princes of the Germanic tribes carved out kingdoms and principalities of their own, big or small. But they did not possess absolute authority over their lesser nobles and princes.
Their Society was divided into two Classes
The feudal State was a class society, divided into two classes: the class of the ruling nobility who possessed all lands, and the class of the down-trodden serfs and peasants who tilled them. Every noble possessed at least a village as his fief; all the peasants who lived in the village were his serfs. Feudal relations existed between the noble and his serfs. He was to protect them while they were to cultivate his lands and provide him with food and clothes, etc.
Merits and Demerits
Subjects could not leave his village, nor marry without his permission. So feudalism did not grant liberty to the individual nor created unity in the State. It did not know common citizenship or central authority. It was based on personal loyalty and allegiance to the immediate lord. At the end of the Middle Ages in Europe, feudalism changed, when one of the feudal chiefs, dukes or Kings, became strong and subdued other noble and lords. In this way he transformed the feudal estate into a State. This change destroyed the medieval, feudal State and created the modern national State.
- Nation State
Nation State:Definition
A nation state is a geographical area that can be identified as deriving its political legitimacy from serving as a sovereign nation. A state is a political and geopolitical entity, while a nation is a cultural and ethnic one. The term "nation state" implies that the two coincide, but "nation state" formation can take place at different times in different parts of the world.
The concept of a nation state can be compared and contrasted with that of the multinational state, city state, empire, confederation, and other state formations with which it may overlap. The key distinction is the identification of a people with a polity in the "nation state."
Historical Interpretation of Nation State
The nation as we think of it today is a product of the nineteenth century. In modern times nation is recognised as 'the' political community that ensures the legitimacy of the state over its territory, and transforms the state into the state of all its citizens. The notion of 'nation-state' emphasises this new alliance between nation and state. Nationality is supposed to bind the citizen to the state, a bond that will be increasingly tied to the advantages of a social policy in as much as the Welfare State will develop.
After the First World War the principle of 'the right to national self-determination' were commonly used by international lawyers, national governments and their challengers. The demand that people should govern themselves became identified with the demand that nations should determine their own destiny. By this followed that 'state' and 'nation' came to signify the same and began to be used interchangeably. 'National' came to mean anything run or regulated by the state, as in 'national health insurance' or 'national debt'. Today, the idea is that nations should be represented within a territorially defined state.
Nevertheless, the idea of the nation-state is more problematical as the state can no longer be seen as the primary focus of national culture. The 'crisis of the nation-state' refers to the separation of the state from the nation. Social identities, and in particular national culture, can reassert themselves in a variety of ways due to a gradual freeing of the state from some of its traditional functions. In Western Europe the crisis of national identity is related to the rise of a new nationalism that operates at many different levels, ranging from extreme xenophobic forms to the more moderate forms of cultural nationalism. Underlying this new nationalism is more a hostility against immigrants than against other nations; it is motivated less by notions of cultural superiority than by the implications multiculturalism has for the welfare state. Accordingly, one important challenge facing the democratic multi-cultural state is to find ways of preserving the link between social citizenship and multiculturalism. Without a firm basis in social citizenship, multiculturalism can undergo continued attacks from nationalism, often as a result of social insecurity.
Future of The State
There are two perspectives about the future of state one is nationalism and another is internationalism.
Nationalism;
According to philosophers who back nationalism,world would have many states keeping their territorial demarcations but boundaries would not be so much significant.
Internationalism
According to the philosophers who back Internationalism,states would merge into a single nation state that would be called world state and it will be governed by single ruler.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Mazhar ul Haq,Political Science Theory and Practice,Lahore,Book land Publishers,2009
- Muhammad Sarwar,Introduction to Political Science,Ilmi Kutab Khana,Lahore,1994
- Rodde,Anderson,Chestrol,Introduction to Political Science,McGraw Hill Publishers,Ltd,Tokyo,1967
- http://www.ancient.eu/disambiguation/Constantine/
so nice sir
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