State and Government in Ancient India c23.s2.t3.3

c23.s2.t3.3

The military department was the most important department under the direct charge of the king or the Yuvarāja. There were a large number of Mahāsenāpatis working under the king, probably posted in the different parts of the empire. Mahādaṇḍanāyaka, who belonged to the next lower grade, appears to have corresponded to the Lieutenant-General of the modern age. Daṇḍanāyakas were probably of the rank of colonels. The army had different quarter masters, (Raṇabhāṇḍāgārikas) and seals of some of them have been found. The fighting force was divided into infantry, cavalry and elephant corps; the officers of the latter two branches were known as Aśvapatis Mahāśvapatis, Pīlupatis, Mahāpīlupatis. Soldiers were provided with armours and fought with weapons like arrows, swords, battle axes, spears, etc. Our records do not refer to the ambulance corps, but it must have existed. The general structure of the military administration did not differ much from that of the Mauryan age.