The Mauryan Polity c10.s2.t6.12

c10.s2.t6.12

Identical with these officers are the *prādeśikas* of the Aśokan Inscriptions.² The term has had the benefit of a full and critical examination by scholars. F. W. Thomas renders it as ‘the head of the executive, revenue and judicial service.’³ Mookerjee translates it as the divisional commissioner⁴ and surmises an ascending order of rank from the mention of the *yuktas*, *rājukas* and *prādeśikas* in the Rock Edict III. Samaddar holds that their position was equal to that of a minister and that they could not have been mere ‘district’ officers.⁵ If the term is derived from *pradeśa* which means a territorial division and hence a specified area, the *prādeśikas* might be provincial officers entrusted with jurisdiction over a specified area. If the term *anusaṃyānaṃ* means ‘tour,’ then these officials toured round the country once in every five years.⁶ But if it means ‘transfer,’ they were also transferred every five years, when new commissioners took their place. The latter seems to be more probable.