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Changing Countryside or condition of villages in the Early Historic period

Popular perceptions of kings

a) Historians have tried to reconstruct life in the country side with the help of the Jatakas and the Panchatantra. Many of these stories probably originated as popular oral tales that were later committed to writing. One story known as the Gandatindu Jatakadescribes the plight of the subjects of a wicked king.

b) When the king went in disguise to find out what his subjects thought about him, each one of them cursed him for their miseries, complaining that they were attacked by robbers at night and by tax collectors during the day. To escape from this situation, people abandoned their village and went to live in the forest.

c) As this story indicates the relationship between a king and his subjects, especially the ruralpopulation, could often be strained – kings frequently tried to fill their coffers by demanding high taxes, and peasants particularly found such demands oppressive.

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