Hindu Administrative Institutions c11.s9.17

c11.s9.17

The Kauṭalīya is not apparently definite in the use of the term *senāpati*. In one place we are introduced to an officer named *nāyaka* who is the leader of ten *senāpatis*.⁴ But in the civil list the salary of a *senāpati* is fixed at 48,000 *paṇas* and that of the *nāyaka* 12,000 *paṇas*.⁵ This shows that the *nāyaka* must be an officer very inferior in rank to the *senāpati*. Kauṭalya is not inconsistent, but probably uses the terms both in their general and technical meanings. In the general sense *senāpati* means a commander-in-chief and in the other sense it means a commander.⁶