State and Government in Ancient India c23.s2.t9.5

c23.s2.t9.5

There was no central parliament to control the king and ministers, but traditional rules about their duties and the high ideals that were placed before them in semi-religious works were sufficiently effective to curb tyrannical tendencies. Government, moreover, was remarkably decentralised, and most of its functions were transferred to the district administration. In the district headquarters, the officers of the central government were assisted and controlled by popular councils of Mahattaras, whose concurrence was necessary even if the state wanted to sell the waste land of its own. Villages had their own councils, which functioned as corporate bodies and administered all the branches of its administration, including the settlement of civil disputes and the collection of taxes.