State and Government in Ancient India c22.s4.t3.3

c22.s4.t3.3

Like the king, the provincial viceroy was also assisted by a council of ministers. The people of Taxila, who had risen in rebellion, pleaded in extenuation that they were not at all disloyal to the king-emperor ; only they could not tolerate the tyranny of the local ministerial clique. In Brahmagiri edict of Aśoka, the wishes of the emperor are communicated to the local administration at Isila not through the Prince-viceroy alone but through the Prince-viceroy-in-Council. Aśoka addressed his second Kaliṅga edict to the Prince-viceroy and the Mahāmātras, who formed his council. We may, therefore, well conclude that the provincial viceroys of the Mauryan empire were generally assisted by a council of ministers, who were of the status of the Mahāmātras.