Public Administration in Ancient India c11.53

c11.53

In treating of this subject we have so far confined our attention to Northern India. But it was not in that part of the country alone that the system of government by assemblies and councils prevailed. In the Kerala State in South India, during the first and second centuries of the Christian Era, there were five assemblies, namely, (1) the Assembly of the People, which consisted of representatives of the people summoned from various parts of the State, and which acted as a check on the King; (2) the Assembly of the Priests, which directed the religious ceremonies of the State; (3) the Assembly of Physicians, which acted as a sort of Board of Public Health; (4) the Assembly of the Astrologers, which fixed auspicious times for the public ceremonies; and (5) the Assembly of the Ministers, whose chief duties consisted in the collection and disbursement of revenue and the administration of justice.¹