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The Mauryan Polity c10.s1.t7: The Antapālas

The Mauryan Polity c10.s1.t7

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The Antapālas

c10.s1.t7.1

The officers at these respective divisions were graded officials all subordinate to the *Samāhartā* or the Collector-general. We are not able to fix the exact functions assigned to these rural officials. That these headquarters were not fortified garrisons for purposes of defence is evident from the fact that in the next line of the same book,² we find a set of officials called *antapālas* who were placed in charge of the frontier-territories. In each of these were military stations at least one recalling to our memory the Palatine earldoms under William the Conqueror. That the officials at these rural head-quarters had something to do with the revenue collection is evident from the fact that these were answerable to the Collector-general. Added to this is the fact that this division occurs in the chapter entitled the *Janapada niveśa*¹ where the question of the settlement of the villages is discussed. If it is then conceded that these officials had the supervising control over the collection of revenue and were partly answerable to it, then it is reasonable to take the view that the central government entrusted the same agency to guarantee safety and security to the rural areas. This means that these officials undertook to defend the people from thieves and robbers, for the *antapālas* guarded the entrance into the kingdom. This position, it is possible to take, for in those days there was no fine distinction between the police functions and revenue functions.

c10.s1.t7.2

² Bk. II, ch. 1.

c10.s1.t7.3

¹ Bk. II, ch. 1.

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