and Polity

and Polity The major areas of concern for the Mauryan state were the collection of taxes as revenue to the state and the administration of justice, in addition to the maintenance of internal security and defence against external aggression. This required a large and complex administrative machinery and institutions. Greek historians, taking their lead from Megasthenes, described the Mauryan state as a centralised state. What we should infer from this description as a centralised state is that a uniform pattern of administration was established throughout the very large area of the empire. But, given the existing state of technology in communications and transport, a decentralised administrative system had to be in place. This bureaucratic set-up covered a hierarchy of settlements from the village, to the towns, provincial capitals and major cities. The bureaucracy enabled and required an efficient system of revenue collection, since it needed to be paid out of taxes collected. Equally, the very large army of the Mauryan Empire could be maintained only with the revenue raised through taxation. The large bureaucracy also commanded huge salaries. According to the Arthasastra, the salary of chief minister, the purohita and the army commander was , panas, and the soldiers received panas. Ashoka’s visit to the Ramagrama Sanchi Stupa Southern Gate XI History - Lesson - - Emergence of State and Empire If we multiply this by the number of infantry and cavalry, we get an idea of the enormous resources needed to maintain the army and the administrative staff. Arthasastra Perhaps the most detailed account of the administration is to be found in the Arthasastra (though the work itself is now dated to a few centuries later). However, it must be remembered that the Arthasastra was a prescriptive text, which laid down the guidelines for good administration. If we add to this the information from Ashoka’s edicts and the work of Megasthenes, we get a more comprehensive picture of the Mauryan state as it was. Provincial Administration At the head of the administration was the king. He was assisted by a council of ministers and a purohita or priest, who was a person of great importance, and secretaries known as mahamatriyas . The capital region of Pataliputra was directly administered. The rest of the empire was divided into four provinces based at Suvarnagiri (near Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh), Ujjain (Avanti, Malwa), Taxila in the north- west, and Tosali in Odisha in the south-east. The provinces were administered by governors who were usually royal princes. In each region, BAY OF BENGAL ARABIAN SEA I N D I A N O C E A N Kandahar Pushkalavati Taxila Delhi-Topra Delhi-Meerut Mathura Gujjara Kaushambi Allahabad Varanasi Saranath Shravasti Lumbini Rampurva Rajagriha Tamralipti Vaishall Pataliputra Patala Vidisha Sanchi Tripuri Rupnath Ujjain Bharukaccha Sopara Sannati Siddapur Brahmagiri CHOLAS PANDYAS SATYAPUTRAS KERALAPUTRAS Nittur Yerragudi Amaravati Suvarnagiri Delhi (Indraprastha)