Hindu Administrative Institutions c11.s3.42

c11.s3.42

Then the defeated monarch if alive, or one of his near legal heirs would be installed on the throne entering into a compact with the conqueror. He should promise to act according to *dharma* and should be honoured by wealth and servants. The womenfolk were chivalrously treated as mothers and sisters. The corn fields, fruit and flower gardens were left unmolested.³ This is further corroborated by the evidence of Megasthanes. ‘Whereas among other nations it is usual in the contests of war, to ravage the soil and thus to reduce it to an uncultivated waste, among the Indians, on the contrary, by whom husbandmen are regarded as a class that is sacred and