Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c11.s10.2

c11.s10.2

Mauryan administration was a growing system subject to constant change under the stress of new situations and problems; and the *Arthaśāstra*, though to a large extent based on contemporary practice, is still a *śāstra*, a normative plan rather than a description of existing conditions. Aśoka, as will be seen, introduced changes into the system, some of which he outlined in his inscriptions. Nevertheless, the central machinery of administration envisaged in the *Arthaśāstra* may well be accepted as a representation of its condition towards the close of Chandragupta's reign, and Kauṭilya probably had no small share in building it up.