ADMINISTRATION UNDER

CHANDRAGUPTA
MAURYA
 Chandragupta Maurya founded the Mauryan
Dynasty in 321 B.C.
 They had a very elaborate system of
administration.
 State controlled virtually all aspects of economic
activities of the empire.
 The chief characteristic of the Mauryan
administration was the police of centralised
government, protection of consumers etc.
 The administration was divided into central,
provincial and district, group of 5 to 10 villages,
village etc.
 King was the head of the State and
performadmilitary, judicial, exeutive and
legislative functions.
 Arthashastra states “In the happiness and
welfare of the subjets lies the happiness and
welfare of the King”.
 A lot of precautions were taken to ensure the
safety of the King.
 The King was assisted by a Mantri Parishad
headed by the the Prime Minister who was
also the Chief Purohita.
 The commander of the army was called the
Senapati.
 The princes of the royal family controlled the
provincial administration.
 This person was known as ‘Kumara’ or
‘Aryaputra’.
 The King and his council of ministers were
assisted by various other high officers.
 Those officers were known as Adhyakshas,
Amatyas, Mahamatras, Pradesikas, Rajukas,
Yuktas and they were incharge of different
departments of central administration.
 Except Pataliputra, the whole empire was divided into
four provinces controlled by viceroys.
 These viceroys were either princes or a member of the
royal family.
 A number of conquered States were left autonomous on
feudatory basis.
 Alongside monarchies, there existed republican
formations called sanghas or ganas.
 Some distinctive features of these political
organisations were:
absence of autocratic law, elections of the elders and
the head, existance of democratic or ologarichal form of
government, considerable influence of the council of
elders etc.
 Provinces were subdivided into districts;
Yuktas and Pradesikas were the officers
assosciated with it.
 Gopa was the accountant and Sthanika, the
tax collector in these provinces.
 The urban administration was under the
control of city superitendent or Nagaraka.
 Nagalaviyohalakas were the judicial officers
under the control of Nagaraka.
 The empire was divided into a number of cities.
 Every city was administered by a city council
comprising of 30 members divided into boards
of 5 members each, having specific
responsibilities.
 The city council also appointed officers to look
after the public welfare such as maintenance and
repairing of roads, markets, hospitals, temples,
educational institutions, sanitation, water
supplies etc.
 The officer incharge of the city was known as
Nagaraka.
 The village tribunals were of 2 kinds- the
Dharmasthiya court- all civil dispute were
settled here; and the kantakasodhana court-
criminal cases were settled here.
 The procedure in these courts conformed to
rules regarding plea, counterplea and
rejoinder.
 Punishments included fined commutable for
forced labour, whipping, mutilation, and
death with or without torture.
 There were around 6,00,000 men in
Chandragupta Maurya’s army; 36,000 men
with elephants; 30,000 horsemen; 24,000
men with chariots.
 The army was divided into 6 boards:
infantry; cavalry; war chariots; elephants of
war; transport, commissariat and army
service; board to cooperate with admirals
 Board swords, javelins, bows and arrows were
the arms of the infantry.
 A large number of detectives called
gudhapurushas were posted all over the
kingdom.
 The spies were the ‘ears and eyes of the
king’. They kept him informed of the working
of the bureaucratic machine, normal life of
the people, working of the military forces etc.
 These agents were generally house holders,
merchants, classmates, fire brands, prisoners
and also vishakanyas or poisonous girls.
 Land revenue formed the chief source of
income of the government.
 It varied from 1/4th to 1/6th of the total
produce and dependent upon the fertility and
situation of the land.
 Dues from mines, forests and cattles, tolls
and ferry duties, professional fees, fines and
gifts received formed some of the other
sources of the royal exchequer.
 The officer in charge of the finances and
revere collection was known as Samaharta.