State and Government in Ancient India c15.16

c15.16

The council of the *ratnins* of the Vedic age thus appears to have consisted of (*a*) king’s relations like the queens and perhaps the crown-prince (*rājanya*), (*b*) king’s courtiers like the chamberlain, his bosom companion and his playmate at the game table and (*c*) important officers of the state like the commander-in-chief, the commander of the chariot corps, the chief tax-gatherer, the treasurer, the principal officer in charge of the royal stable, the principal village headman and the head of the carpenters' guild.