Practicing Success
Who had developed the idea of 'Oriental Despotism' based on the account of Francois Bernier about Indian society? |
Duarte Barbosa Manucci Montesquieu Karl Marx |
Montesquieu |
Bernier’s descriptions influenced Western theorists from the eighteenth century onwards. The French philosopher Montesquieu, for instance, used this account to develop the idea of oriental despotism, according to which rulers in Asia (the Orient or the East) enjoyed absolute authority over their subjects, who were kept in conditions of subjugation and poverty, arguing that all land belonged to the king and that private property was non-existent. According to this view, everybody, except the emperor and his nobles, barely managed to survive. |