Public Administration in Ancient India c5.16

c5.16

² Megasthenes, Fragment XXXIII. (McCrindle’s Trans.). According to Megasthenes, the population of India was divided into seven parts, namely, (1) philosophers, (2) husbandmen, (3) herdsmen and hunters, (4) traders and manual labourers, (5) fighters, (6) overseers, and (7) councillors. This division is substantially correct; and if we put (1) and (7) in one group, (3) and (4) in a second, and (5) and (6) in a third, the classification would exactly correspond with that given by Kautilya.