The Mauryan Polity c10.s2.t4.3

c10.s2.t4.3

and responsibilities of the boundary guards and frontier chiefs and their relations with the central government. They had both political and economic functions to perform. The economic duties were to collect the road-cess (vartani) on imported goods, mark them with the royal seal and take charge of these goods until they passed beyond the toll house.¹ Kauṭalya advises a good number of frontier-guards to be appointed lest they should be won over by the enemy. If they were a good number, they would be afraid of betrayal from one another and conduct themselves loyally to the empire.² The frontier peoples, whether conquered or unconquered, forest-folk or others, were kept in good humour and the paternal principle of government was even extended to them as is evident from the Kaliṅga Edicts.³ The antamahāmātras like the antapālas were chiefly occupied with the administration of the frontier provinces.⁴ The Arthaśāstra refers to three kinds of dūtas—(1) those possessing ministerial qualifications, (2) those possessing lesser qualifications, and (3) those possessing ordinary qualifications.⁵ It would appear that generally from among the first class of messengers, ambassadors were selected and sent to other states to determine the relation of states to one another. This practice corresponds to that in Aśoka's time. From a study of the Rock Edict V it can be safely said that from among the mahāmātra officials, ambassadors (dūtas) were selected. They were sent not only to the neighbouring states but also to foreign countries with which the empire had diplomatic relations.¹