Hindu Administrative Institutions c11.s9.1

c11.s9.1

With our imperfect sources of knowledge we cannot positively assert the relative functions of the army officers especially in Vedic India. But it is reasonable to believe that the Vedic king led the host in person to the battle-field assisted by the *senānī*—possibly a general appointed by the king. The writer in the *Cambridge History of India* suggests that ‘this officer might have been deputed to lead expeditions of too little importance to require his own intervention. There is another military official, the *grāmaṇi* who probably led in war a minor portion of the host. There was besides the *purohita* who accompanied the king to battle and seconded his efforts for victory by his prayers and spells.’²