The Mithila kingdom is unique in many ways.
Firstly, the kingdom hood of Mithila is not decorated with wars but knowledge.
Mithila was never known to have vast armies and it has no history of accession.
When the prince of Ayodhya, Lord Rama, got married to the princess of Mithila, the natural question that baffled the strong and vast kingdom of Ayodhya was
why their prince choose Mithila. When Lord Rama was poised this question, he
highlighted the power of knowledge that the kingdom of Mithilanchal possessed
by virtue of its Acharyas. The Acharya’s, Sanskrit word for learned men/
professors/ gurus, have always played a pivotal role by participating in the
decision making in this kingdom. They were the first to establish the concept
of collective decision making by having the council of learned men to guide the
King Wherein King would rarely go against the wishes of his learned council.
Mithila
had a total of 57 Janaks or Kings who ruled for over 2000 years. The last king
of Mithila was known to be of bad character. Hence, the people along with the
Acharya’s overthrew him and established the rule of the council of ministers in
different roles much like modern day cabinet. These council of ministers were learned
men or Acharyas from different fields like Law, Medicine, Commerce,
Spirituality etc. elected by the people of Mithilanchal thus establishing the
world’s first democracy. Mithilanchal continued to be ruled by learned men or
Acharyas for many centuries. Mithilanchal thus got the name of Land of
Acharyas.
Years later neighboring Licchavi dynasty annexed Mithilanchal and
formally established the democratic system of electing rulers by timely
election. Modern day democracy, the most successful form of governance, has its
roots in this system of elected representatives, ministers and the Prime Minister
erstwhile Maha-Mantri.
imithila.com
engages in promoting and selling the original form of Mithila / Madhubani
paintings on clothes and handmade paper. For taking these auspicious paintings
home, log on to www.imithila.com. If you want to share more details about this
tradition, please write to us at business@imithila.com.
