Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c11.s33.9

c11.s33.9

Then there were the mahāmātras who were nagara-vyavahārakas at Tosali and Sāmapā in Kalinga, and perhaps in other large cities elsewhere. They were obviously the same as the Pauravyavahārikas of Kauṭilya. They administered justice in the cities¹, as the rājūkas did in the rural areas, and were, like the rājūkas, required to be strictly impartial in the discharge of their duties², and strive to overcome defects of personal character that might hamper them in attaining this end³. There were the amta-mahāmātras, officers of the borders, who were engaged in civilizing and preaching dhamma among the wild tribes on the borders and elsewhere ; these tribes were not full members of the empire and retained something of their primitive independence, and the king's policy towards them was one of benevolent paternalism.⁴ Lastly there were the strī-adhyaksha-mahāmātras, whose name indicates that they had control of women, but of whose exact duties no details are forthcoming; they may be taken to correspond to the Gaṇikādhyaksha, ‘the overseer of courtesans’ of the Arthaśāstra⁵.