Intercourse between India and the Western World from the Earliest Times to the Fall of Rome c8.87

c8.87

The system in vogue in the rural districts was of a simple kind, reminding us in a primitive manner of the modern Civil Service, with its multifarious duties. The system of urban government was more complicated. We have Megasthenes' account of the administration of Pāṭaliputra : no doubt Taxila, Ujjain, Prayāga, and the other provincial capitals and great cities, were governed in a similar fashion. There were six pañchāyats, or boards of five officers, and each board had its own department allotted to it. Besides this, the whole municipal council of thirty members met from time to time to discuss common measures, such as the repair of roads, upkeep of markets, temples and so forth, and to fix the taxes and the current market prices.