The Mauryan Polity c10.s1.t4: Kumāras or Āryaputras
The Mauryan Polity c10.s1.t4
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Kumāras or Āryaputras
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The governors of these provinces were either the local chieftains like the Yavana Tuṣaspha or royal princes who accepted the suzerainty of the emperor. Ordinarily members of the blood royal were deputed as viceroys to distant provinces. Bindusāra and Aśoka were in their turn the recipients of this honour at the hands of the Imperial government. There are two Rock Edicts² according to which the kumāras or āryaputras were generally appointed as heads of the provinces. From the Rock-inscriptions of Aśoka we find that the governors at Ujjain and at Tosāli were kumāras³ while the governor at Suvarṇagiri was an āryaputra.⁴ Hultzsch is of opinion that the two kumāras were probably the sons of the king himself and the āryaputra, some other member of the royal family.⁵
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² Jaugada First Separate R.E., Corpus, p. 112; Mysore Edicts, ib. pp. 175-178.
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³ Dhauli Separate R.E. I & II. Corpus, pp. 93 and 97.
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⁴ Brahmagiri and Siddapura R.E., Corpus, pp. 175 and 178.
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⁵ Corpus, Intro., p. xi.