Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c9.s1.t1.7

c9.s1.t1.7

The rise of an all powerful official in the time of the later Śaiśunāgas probably indicates that the system of administration had undergone remarkable changes since the days of Bimbisāra. That monarch had exercised a rigid control over his *mahāmātras*, dismissing those who advised him badly and rewarding those whose counsel he approved. The result of the "purge" was the emergence of the type of official represented by Varshakāra and Sunitha whose rigour and efficiency are well illustrated in the Buddhist Texts. The situation must have changed considerably towards the end of the Śaiśunāga epoch. The career of Ugrasena reminds one of that of Bijjala in a later age, and his early relations with the preceding royal family had important points of resemblance with that between Cardinal Mazarin and the family of Louis XIII. If tradition is to be believed the office of a chief minister was maintained throughout the Nanda period, though the functionary in question never reached the pre-eminent position that Ugrasena occupied in the days of his royal master. Jaina and Hindu writers refer to a distinguished line of imperial chancellors from Kalpaka to Śakaṭāla and Rākshasa. It is difficult to say if these traditional figures had any historical reality. They are not mentioned in contemporary or semi-contemporary documents. But "advisers of the king", very small in number, but most respected on account of their high character and wisdom, are mentioned by Greek observers who wrote about conditions in the fourth century B. C.