History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer
Were the Chola village assemblies democratic in nature? Give reasons for your answer.
- UPSC 2000
- Early Medieval India, 750-1200
Whether the Chola village assemblies were "democratic" depends on which feature of democracy one is testing for, and the honest answer the evidence supports is a qualified no — these bodies displayed genuine participatory and accountability mechanisms that read as strikingly modern, but they operated within a franchise so narrow, and under a monarchy so…
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What the full answer covers
- The Case For: Genuine Participatory and Accountability Mechanisms
- The Case Against: A Franchise Too Narrow to Call Democratic
- Verdict
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