Kautilya's Arthashastra 2.36: Chapter 36 (Section 56): The City Superintendent

2.36.1

samāhartṛvan nāgariko nagaraṃ cintayet //

LIKE the Collector-general, the Officer in charge of the Capital City (Nágaraka) shall look to the affairs of the capital.

2.36.2

daśakulīṃ gopo viṃśatikulīṃ catvāriṃśatkulīṃ vā //

A Gopa shall keep the accounts of ten households, twenty households, or forty households. He shall not only know the caste, gotra, the name, and occupation of both men and women in those households, but also ascertain their income and expenditure.

2.36.3

sa tasyāṃ strīpuruṣāṇāṃ jātigotranāmakarmabhiḥ jaṅghāgram āyavyayau ca vidyāt //

2.36.4

evaṃ durgacaturbhāgaṃ sthānikaś cintayet //

Likewise, the officer known as Sthánika shall attend to the accounts of the four quarters of the capital.

2.36.5

dharmāvasathinaḥ pāṣaṇḍipathikān āvedya vāsayeyuḥ, svapratyayāś ca tapasvinaḥ śrotriyāṃś ca //

Managers of charitable institutions shall send information (to Gopa or Sthánika) as to any heretics (Páshanda) and travellers arriving to reside therein. They shall allow ascetics and men learned in the Vedas to reside in such places only when those persons are known to be of reliable character.

2.36.6

kāruśilpinaḥ svakarmasthāneṣu svajanaṃ vāsayeyuḥ, vaidehakāś cānyonyaṃ svakarmasthāneṣu //

Artisans and other handicraftsmen may, on their own responsibility, allow others of their own profession to reside where they carry on their own work (i.e., in their own houses).

Similarly merchants may on their own responsibility allow other merchants to reside where they themselves carry on their mercantile work (i.e., their own houses or shops).

2.36.7

paṇyānām adeśakālavikretāram asvakaraṇaṃ ca nivedayeyuḥ //

They (the merchants) shall make a report of those who sell any merchandise in forbidden place or time, as well as of those who are in possession of any merchandise other than their own.

2.36.8

śauṇḍikapākvamāṃsikaudanikarūpājīvāḥ parijñātam āvāsayeyuḥ //

Vintners, sellers of cooked flesh and cooked rice as well as prostitutes may allow any other person to reside with them only when that person is well-known to them.

2.36.9

ativyayakartāram atyāhitakarmāṇaṃ ca nivedayeyuḥ //

They (vintners, etc.) shall make a report of spendthrifts and fool-hardy persons who engage themselves in risky undertakings.

2.36.10

cikitsakaḥ pracchannavraṇapratīkārakārayitāram apathyakāriṇaṃ ca gṛhasvāmī ca nivedya gopasthānikayor mucyeta, anyathā tulyadoṣaḥ syāt //

Any physician who undertakes to treat in secret a patient suffering from ulcer or excess of unwholesome food or drink, as well as the master of the house (wherein such treatment is attempted) shall be innocent only when they (the physician and the master of the house) make a report of the same to either Gopa or Sthánika; otherwise both of them shall be equally guilty with the sufferer.

2.36.11

prasthitāgatau ca nivedayet, anyathā rātridoṣaṃ bhajeta //

Masters of houses shall make a report of strangers arriving at, or departing from their houses; otherwise they shall be guilty of the offence (theft, etc.) committed during that night. Even during safe nights (i.e., nights when no theft, etc., seems to have been committed), they shall be fined 3 panas (for not making such a report).

2.36.12

kṣemarātriṣu tripaṇaṃ dadyāt //

2.36.13

pathikotpathikāś ca bahirantaś ca nagarasya devagṛhapuṇyasthānavanaśmaśāneṣu sa-vraṇam aniṣṭopakaraṇam udbhāṇḍīkṛtam āvignam atisvapnam adhvaklāntam apūrvaṃ vā gṛhṇīyuḥ //

Wayfarers going along a high road or by a foot path shall catch hold of any person whom they find to be suffering from a wound or ulcer, or possessed of destructive instruments, or tired of carrying a heavy load, or timidly avoiding the presence of others, or indulging in too much sleep, or fatigued from a long journey, or who appears to be a stranger to the place in localities such as inside or outside the capital, temples of gods, places of pilgrimage, or burial grounds.

2.36.14

evam abhyantare śūnyaniveśāveśanaśauṇḍikaudanikapākvamāṃsikadyūta.pāṣaṇḍāvāseṣu vicayaṃ kuryuḥ //

(Spies) shall also make a search for suspicious persons in the interior of deserted houses, in the workshops or houses of vintners and sellers of cooked rice and flesh, in gambling houses, and in the abode of heretics.

2.36.15

agnipratīkāraṃ ca grīṣme //

Kindling of fire shall be prohibited during the two middlemost parts of day-time divided into four equal parts during the summer. A fine of 1/8th of a pana shall be imposed for kindling fire at such a time.

2.36.16

madhyamayor ahnaś caturbhāgayor aṣṭabhāgo 'gnidaṇḍaḥ //

2.36.17

bahiradhiśrayaṇaṃ vā kuryuḥ //

Masters of houses may carry on cooking operations outside their houses.

2.36.18

pādaḥ pañcaghaṭīnāṃ kumbhadroṇinihśreṇīparaśuśūrpāṅkuśakacagrahaṇī.dṛtīnāṃ cākaraṇe //

(If a house-owner is not found to have ready with him) five water-pots (pancha ghatínám), a kumbha, a dróna, a ladder, an axe, a winnowing basket, a hook (such as is used to drive an elephant), pincers, (kachagráhini), and a leather bag (driti), he shall be fined ¼th of a pana.

2.36.19

tṛṇakaṭacchannāny apanayet //

They shall also remove thatched roofs. Those who work by fire (blacksmiths) shall all together live in a single locality.

2.36.20

agnijīvina ekasthān vāsayet //

2.36.21

svagṛhapradvāreṣu gṛhasvāmino vaseyuḥ asampātino rātrau //

Each houseowner shall ever be present (at night) at the door of his own house.

2.36.22

rathyāsu kuṭavrajāḥ sahasraṃ tiṣṭheyuḥ, catuṣpathadvārarājaparigraheṣu ca //

Vessels filled with water shall be kept in thousands in a row without confusion not only in big streets and at places where four roads meet but also in front of the royal buildings (rajaprigraheshu).

2.36.23

pradīptam anabhidhāvato gṛhasvāmino dvādaśapaṇo daṇḍaḥ, ṣaṭpaṇo 'vakrayiṇaḥ //

Any house-owner who does not run to give his help in extinguishing the fire of whatever is burning shall be fined 12 panas; and a renter (avakrayi, i.e., one who has occupied a house for rent) not running to extinguish fire shall be fined 6 panas.

2.36.24

pramādād dīpteṣu catuṣpañcāśatpaṇo daṇḍaḥ //

Whoever carelessly sets fire (to a house) shall be fined 54 panas; but he who intentionally sets fire (to a house) shall be thrown into fire.

2.36.25

pradīpiko 'gninā vadhyaḥ //

2.36.26

pāṃsunyāse rathyāyām aṣṭabhāgo daṇḍaḥ, paṅkodakasamnirodhe pādaḥ //

Whoever throws dirt in the street shall be punished with a fine of 1/8th of a pana; whoever causes mire or water to collect in the street shall be fined ¼th of a pana; whoever commits the above offences in the king's road (rájamárga) shall be punished with double the above fines.

2.36.27

rājamārge dviguṇaḥ //

2.36.28

paṇyasthānodakasthānadevagṛharājaparigraheṣu paṇottarā viṣṭādaṇḍāḥ, mūtreṣv ardhadaṇḍāḥ //

Whoever excretes faeces in places of pilgrimage, reservoirs of water, temples, and royal buildings shall be punished with fines rising from one pana and upwards in the order of the offences; but when such excretions are due to the use of medicine or to disease no punishment shall be imposed.

2.36.29

bhaiṣajyavyādhibhayanimittam adaṇḍyāḥ //

2.36.30

mārjāraśvanakulasarpapretānāṃ nagarasyāntarutsarge tripaṇo daṇḍaḥ, kharoṣṭrāśvatarāśvapretānāṃ ṣaṭpaṇaḥ, manuṣyapretānāṃ pañcāśatpaṇaḥ //

Whoever throws inside the city the carcass of animals such as a cat, dog, mangoose, and a snake shall be fined 3 panas; of animals such as an ass, a camel, a mule, and cattle shall be fined 6 panas; and human corpse shall be punished with a fine of 50 panas.

2.36.31

mārgaviparyāse śavadvārād anyataś ca śavanirṇayane pūrvaḥ sāhasadaṇḍaḥ //

When a dead body is taken out of a city through a gate other than the usual or prescribed one or through a path other than the prescribed path, the first amercement shall be imposed; and those who guard the gates (through which the dead body is taken out) shall be fined 200 panas.

2.36.32

dvāḥsthānāṃ dviśatam //

2.36.33

śmaśānād anyatra nyāse dahane ca dvādaśapaṇo daṇḍaḥ //

When a dead body is interred or cremated beyond the burial or cremation grounds, a fine of 12 panas shall be imposed.

2.36.34

viṣaṇṇālikam ubhayator ātraṃ yāmatūryam //

The interval between six nálikas (2 2/5 hours) after the fall of night and six nálikas before the dawn shall be the period when a trumpet shall be sounded prohibiting the movement of the people.

2.36.35

tūryaśabde rājño gṛhābhyāśe sapādapaṇaṃakṣaṇatāḍanaṃ prathamapaścimayāmikam, madhyamayāmikaṃ dviguṇam, antaścaturguṇam //

The trumpet having been sounded, whoever moves in the vicinity of royal buildings during the first or the last yáma (3 hours?) of the period shall be punished with a fine of one pana and a quarter; and during the middlemost yámas, with double the above fine; and whoever moves outside (the royal buildings or the fort) shall be punished with four times the above fine.

2.36.36

śaṅkanīye deśe liṅge pūrvāpadāne ca gṛhītam anuyuñjīta //

Whoever is arrested in suspicious places or as the perpetrator of a criminal act shall be examined.

2.36.37

rājaparigrahopagamane nagararakṣārohaṇe ca madhyamaḥ sāhasadaṇḍaḥ //

Whoever moves in the vicinity of royal buildings or ascends the defensive fortifications of the capital shall be punished with the middlemost amercement.

2.36.38

sūtikācikitsakapretapradīpayānanāgarikatūryaprekṣā.agninimittaṃ mudrābhiś cāgrāhyāḥ //

Those who go out at night in order to attend to the work of midwifery or medical treatment, or to carry off a dead body to the cremation or burial grounds, or those who go out with a lamp in hand at night, as well as those who go out to visit the officer in charge of the city, or to find out the cause of a trumpet sound (turyapreksha), or to extinguish the outbreak of fire or under the authority of a pass shall not be arrested.

2.36.39

cārarātriṣu pracchannaviparītaveṣāḥ pravrajitā daṇḍaśastrahastāś ca manuṣyā doṣato daṇḍyāḥ //

During the nights of free movement (chárarátrishu) those who move out under disguise, those who stir out though forbidden (pravarjitah), as well as those who move with clubs and other weapons in hand shall be punished in proportion to the gravity of their guilt.

2.36.40

rakṣiṇām avāryaṃ vārayatāṃ vāryaṃ cāvārayatāṃ kṣaṇadviguṇo daṇḍaḥ //

Those watchmen who stop whomever they ought not to stop, or do not stop whomever they ought to stop shall be punished with twice the amount of fine levied for untimely movement.

2.36.41

striyaṃ dāsīm adhimehayatāṃ pūrvaḥ sāhasadaṇḍaḥ, adāsīṃ madhyamaḥ, kṛtāvarodhām uttamaḥ, kulastriyaṃ vadhaḥ //

When a watchman has carnal connection with a slave woman, he shall be punished with the first amercement; with a free woman middlemost amercement; with a woman arrested for untimely movement, the highest amercement; and a woman of high birth (kulastrí), he shall be put to death.

2.36.42

cetanācetanikaṃ rātridoṣam aśaṃsato nāgarikasya doṣānurūpo daṇḍaḥ, pramādasthāne ca //

When the officer in charge of the city (nágaraka) does not make a report (to the king) of whatever nocturnal nuisance of animate or inanimate nature (chetanâchetana) has occurred, or when he shows carelessness (in the discharge of his duty), he shall be punished in proportion to the gravity of his crime.

2.36.43

nityam udakasthānamārgabhramacchannapathavapraprākāra.rakṣāvekṣaṇaṃ naṣṭaprasmṛtāpasṛtānāṃ ca rakṣaṇam //

He shall make a daily inspection of reservoirs of water, of roads, of the hidden passage for going out of the city, of forts, fortwalls, and other defensive works. He shall also keep in his safe custody of whatever things he comes across as lost, forgotten or left behind by others.

2.36.44

bandhanāgāre ca bālavṛddhavyādhitānāthānāṃ jātanakṣatrapaurṇamāsīṣu visargaḥ //

On the days to which the birth star of the king is assigned, as well as on full moon days, such prisoners as are young, old, diseased, or helpless (anátha) shall be let out from the jail (bandhanâgâra); or those who are of charitable disposition or who have made any agreement with the prisoners may liberate them by paying an adequate ransom.

2.36.45

paṇyaśīlāḥ samayānubaddhā vā doṣaniṣkrayaṃ dadyuḥ //

2.36.46

divase pañcarātre vā bandhanasthān viśodhayet /
karmaṇā kāyadaṇḍena hiraṇyānugraheṇa vā //

Once in a day or once in five nights, jails may be emptied of prisoners in consideration of the work they have done, or of whipping inflicted upon them, or of an adequate ransom paid by them in gold.

2.36.47

apūrvadeśādhigame yuvarājābhiṣecane /
putrajanmani vā mokṣo bandhanasya vidhīyate //E

Whenever a new country is conquered, when an heir apparent is installed on the throne, or when a prince is born to the king, prisoners are usually set free.