State and Government in Ancient India c17.3

c17.3

Small kingdoms like those of the Pallavas, the Vākāṭakas and Gahaḍawālas had naturally fewer types of territorial divisions than big empires. In the case of the former we usually find reference to only one territorial division, the district, variously called *vishaya* or *rāshtra*¹. The administrative divisions of a big empire like the Mauryan one were almost similar to those of the Union Government to-day. It was divided into provinces often as big as any in modern India. These provinces were divided into Divisions, whose heads, like the modern Commissioners, ruled over large tracts of land. The Divisions were divided into districts or *vishayas* and the latter into subdivisions variously termed as *pathakas*, *pethas* or *bhukits*. These latter were divided into smaller groups of villages, each one containing from 10 to 50 villages.