The basics of power know no religion or country or human species or time. Circumstances dictate outcomes, so awareness is the key. The experience of the rulers of Lahore over the centuries proves this amply.

One massive miscalculation by our leaders is the power of communal considerations, for even that has limits. In the end the condition of the people matters most. In this piece let us consider two outstanding rulers of Lahore, they being primarily Chandragupta II, known better as Vikramaditya, who ruled Lahore from 373 AD to 413 AD, a sterling 40-year rule and probably Lahore’s greatest ruler. The second is much more recent in the shape of Maharajah Ranjit Singh, who ruled from 1799 AD till 1839 AD, another amazing 40 years that make him stand out from those till date.

Our inability to judge our rulers on outcome, as far as the poor are concerned, sees us conjure up a cocktail of personality, promises, religion, economic outcomes and social tolerance. Let us honestly judge our rulers over the last half a century on these parameters. In the end only two matter, they being economic outcome and social tolerance. So let us delve into what little we know of Vikramaditya.

As school students in Lahore during the late 1960s, we learnt history in which the word ‘Vikramaditya Chandragupta Maurya’ fascinated us, and the whole class loved chanting his name. Such was its rhythm. Besides the books consulted for this piece, the internet also tells us that he was known for his “generosity, courage and patronage of scholars and respect for teachers”.

As one reads ancient stories in books of the Chinese writer, Xuanzang (602-664 AD), in ‘Si-yu-ki’, or even in D.C. Sircar’s classic ‘Ancient India’, or even in the popular ‘Singhasan Battisi’ books, we see Vikramaditya come across as a ruler who the people loved. His tolerance and respect for different religious beliefs is even today quoted by Indian extremists as a taunt when they say: “Do not try to be a Vikramaditya”. In his age Buddhism was the major religion, and Lahore was a Buddhist city. Hinduism and other hedonistic beliefs were tolerated. Such was Lahore and his kingdom then.

Just how did the Gupta Dynasty rise to power? We see that Iranian and Afghan invasions, as well as internal strife for power saw the fall of the Kushans, who were primarily Central Asian-Chinese in origin. How do we know that strife prevailed? Scholars define strife as the lack of monuments mentioning them. Their western capital was Peshawar and eastern was Lahore. In such circumstances a bond of a princess married served as the “yeast of power” as a scholar puts it.

In those days basic eatables were in short supply, corruption was rife and power kept changing from one local warlord to another. The marriage of a Lichchori princess to Chandragupta the First saw an alliance develop that swept away, within 15 years, the confusion surrounding life in Punjab and northern India. As the first Gupta ruler consolidated his son Samudragupta expanded and soon Lahore was under his rule. The Kushan rule was pushed beyond the Indus.

Come his son Chandragupta the Second, known as Vikramaditya, we see an amazing expansion which has been best described by the Chinese pilgrim Fa Hsien in his description of his travels. He stayed in the sub-continent for ten years and described his experiences in great detail. He travelled from Swat to Taxila to Peshawar (Puru-Shopura) to Lahore (Lava Putra) right across to Bengal and sailing on to Lanka (Sri Lanka).

He describes how Lahore had hundreds of Buddhist monasteries, as did he find thousands in his trip across the kingdom of Vikramaditya. He goes on to describe how Lahore was the centre of “mathematics, astronomy, astrology and music”.

Let me quote from his book in which Fa Hsien writes: “Around the mounds of Lava Putra no one kills any living things, or drinks wine, or eats onions and garlic, no one keeps pigs or fowls or deals in cattle. In the markets there are no butchers or distilleries”. He goes on to describe how the poor live when he says: “… food is plentiful and no one sleeps hungry or thirsty, and people wear very clean clothes …”.

We know that after Vikramaditya his son and grandson faced the rise of attacks from Iranians and waves of Afghans and Central Asians. To top it all the last Gupta ruler, Skandagupta, faced constant attacks by the Huns. Along with this we see the rise of ‘Hindu Renaissance’ and the peak of Sanskrit. The Huns never used Sanskrit and the court language was Prakrit, or Old Punjabi. Kalidasa had peaked and over the next centuries Sanskrit almost died out, except for

it being a “priestly domain”. The Huns made Sialkot their capital. It was a peak point in history, followed by a long void.

So we see how the amazing rule of Vikramaditya, all 40 years of it, was one of peace and plenty, which was only possible with social and religious tolerance. Amazingly we see Ashvini Agrawal in his classic ‘Rise and Fall of Imperial Guptas” describing religious intolerance as the greatest enemy of peace and plenty.

Let us fast forward 1,386 years to the year 1799 AD and the rise of the Sukerchakia Misl chief Ranjit Singh. As he stood outside the gates of the walled city of Lahore, the Muslim Arian landlords opened the gates to him and his forces. A city of once Mughal grandeur had been destroyed by Afghan invaders. His entry was facilitated by assistance, through a marriage to the Kanhaiya Misl. Co-operation with various ‘misls’ mostly through marriages, led to him becoming the most powerful ruler of the Punjab, one that the colonial power Great Britain feared and left alone.

The city of Lahore prospered and he followed the laws on ‘how to rule’ set by the ‘Chakravartisihanada Sutra’, they being “ensure enough food for the poor, tolerate every belief and respect the knowledgeable”. Very soon with an amazing set of advisers, the wily ruler was able to become a respected and sought-after person. His huge army constituted of Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and Christians. Everyone was treated with equal respect, so says the French writer and researcher Jean Marie Lafont in his classic “Maharaja Ranjit Singh: Lord of the Five Rivers”.

Just to add to the outcome of his rule, as described by the great linguist and founder of Government College of Lahore, Oriental College Lahore and the Punjab University of Lahore, Dr Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner, in his research on education in the Punjab in 1850: “The people of the walled city are 64 per cent literate, probably the highest in the Indian sub-continent, with respect for the learned at its highest”. We know that Lahore’s grain markets were the best stocked in the whole of British India.

All these are indicators of what rulers should try to achieve. Which religion or sect or belief system they belong to should be strictly kept out of the calculation. We need more tolerance, more education, more respect for the learned, enough food and care for the poor. That is the lesson of our history, ancient that it is. Ignoring it is at our peril.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2021