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The Mauryan Polity c10.s3: Sec. v. Administration of Towns

The Mauryan Polity c10.s3

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Sec. v. Administration of Towns

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In regard to the administration of the city, Megasthenes, the Grecian ambassador of Seleukos, has given us elaborate details. According to this testimony the city of Pāṭaliputra was governed by thirty Municipal Commissioners who formed themselves into six committees of five each. These committees looked after the moral and material interests of the city. Of the functions assigned to these, Megasthenes says¹:

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¹ Fg. 34.

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The members of the first look after everything relating to the industrial arts.

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Those of the second attend to the entertainment of foreigners. To these they assign lodgings and they keep watch over the modes of life by means of those persons who were given to them for assistants. They escort them on the way when they leave the country or in the event of their dying, forward their property to their relatives. They take care of them when they are sick, and if they die, bury them.

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The third body consists of those who inquire when and how births and deaths occur with the view not only of levying a tax but also in order that births and deaths among both high and low may not escape the cognisance of Government.

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that department?" (*Glories of Magadha*, p. 92). It is a simple case of misunderstanding the true relations between the two departments. It is not here a question of inferior versus superior officers. It is about the question of accounts. So long as the accountants were accountants they had to maintain proper records. This does not mean that the accountants were more powerful than the ministers. To-day for example the Accountant-General can disallow the allowance or pay of any superior officer of the state on some audit objection.

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“The fourth class superintends trade and commerce. Its members have charge of weights and measures and see that the products in their season are sold by public notice. No one is allowed to deal in more than one kind of commodity unless he pays a double tax.

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“The fifth class supervises manufactured articles which they sell by public notice. What is new is sold separately from what is old and there is a fine for mixing the two together.

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“The sixth and the last class consists of those who collect the tenths of the prices of articles of food. Fraud in the payment of this tax is punished with death.”

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These committees and their duties are also found mentioned by Strabo, another classical writer.¹ Besides the special functions allotted to each one of these six bodies all of them in their collective capacity interested themselves in matters of general interest, such as, the upkeep and repair of public buildings, the regulation of prices, the care of markets, harbours, and temples.² Every writer on the Mauryan polity has not failed to quote this long extract of Megasthenes. It has been followed here, the object being to quote parallel passages from the *Arthaśāstra*.

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¹ See Strabo, 51; McCrindle, *Ancient India as described in Classical Literature*.

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² Ibid., XXXIV.

Protection to artisans

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The first committee interested itself in the promotion of industrial arts. The *Arthaśāstra* in more than one place refers to the work of artists and artisans. They were expected to work for a day in a fortnight for the king. This enabled them to commute their payment to the state into their manual labour.¹ There is a special chapter² containing regulations affording protection to artisans. It is said that artisans shall carry on their business according to the engagement in respect of time, place and nature of the work. Such of those who put off their work under the plea that there was no definite engagement as regards time, place, and the nature of work were not only deprived of ¼ of their wages, but also punished with a fine equal to two times the prices of their labour except when they were in trouble, or visited by a calamity. Besides they compensated the loss of damage to the employer. Those who engaged themselves in contravention of definite orders forfeited their wages in addition to their paying a fine equal to two times the amount of their price of labour.³ It is further said that such of those who were responsible for lowering the quality of the work by an artisan and who interfered in their transactions were to be severely punished with fines.⁴ When we see the excellent standard to which artistic skill was developed in the days of Aśoka, what with lofty edifices in brick, wood and stone, massive embankments, handling of monoliths, construction of chambers, a profusion of spirited bas-reliefs, attractive statues of men and animals, masterpieces of some fine carvings, it is reasonable to take the view that Aśoka continued the patronage and protection of artisans like his grandfather.

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¹ Bk. II, ch. 2 and 36.

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² Bk. IV, ch. 1.

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³ Bk. IV, ch. 1.

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⁴ *Ibid.*, ch. 2.

Protection to foreigners

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In regard to the regulations affecting the foreigners to which the Greek ambassador has referred, we find numerous passages where Kauṭalya asks the officers of the state to show favour to them. For example, while the Superintendent of ships concerned himself with the weather-beaten ships, the Superintendent of Commerce attended to those who dealt in foreign merchandise.¹ Kauṭalya recommends the invitation of foreign traders to settle in the country with a view to foster the trade of the land. These merchants enjoyed certain privileges and could move about freely. They could not be sued in the ordinary courts of law. There were special courts which decided their causes.²

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¹ Bk. II, ch. 16 and 28.

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² parabhūmijam paṇyamanugraheṇāvāhayet| nāvikasārthavāhebhyaśca parihārāmāyatikṣamam dadyāt| anabhiyogaśca artheṣvāgantūnānyatra sabhyopakāribhyaḥ|—Ar Śās., Bk. II, ch. 1. Cp. Meg. Fr. I, p. 42 (Cal. 1926).

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The citizens were to make a report of the strangers residing with them or leaving the station.³ The boundary-guards or *antapālas* were to collect what is known as the road cess (*vartani*) and they were held responsible for the loss incurred by merchants in the part of the country under their charge. Thus adequate attention was paid to the safety and security of merchants, travellers, foreigners and others.⁴

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³ Bk. II, ch. 36.

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⁴ Bk. II, ch. 21.

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Considering the extensive international relations that existed between Aśoka and other foreign countries and the healthy intercourse that existed between the empire and the neighbouring states, where Aśoka also is said to have established hospitals for man and beast, and considering again the great material prosperity attained in his age as the outcome of the growing trade and commerce, it may not be far from truth to say that Aśoka simply continued the social and political institutions of his predecessors.

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*The census*

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Megasthenes next speaks of the census operations. From the *Arthaśāstra* we gather that the census of the Mauryas was a permanent institution manned by permanent officials. It was not a periodical one. The statistical information served political and economic interests. It furnished the total population of a certain village or town at a particular period, the division being made according to the castes and their professions. For example, here was noted the exact number of cultivators, cowherds, merchants, artisans, labourers, slaves, as also the heads of cattle and other biped and quadruped animals. The census further furnished details as regards the amount of income and expenditure in addition to free labour available. All this formed a basis on which perhaps taxation was assessed. The houses were numbered and classified as tax-paying and non-tax-paying. The number of inhabitants in each house according to their age, sex and profession was also noted down.¹ The remarks of V. A. Smith are apposite. "Even the Anglo-Indian administration with its complex organisation and European notions of the value of statistical information did not attempt the collection of vital statistics until very recent times, and has always experienced great difficulty in securing reasonable accuracy in the figures.²

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¹ Bk. II, ch. 35-36.

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² *Early History*, p. 125.

Trade and commerce

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The fourth administrative board was that of trade and commerce. The *Arthaśāstra* asks the city merchants to entertain strangers on their own responsibility and make a report of these merchants who deal in forbidden articles of merchandise, and who sell these in any place or time without due regard for the orders of the authorities of the city. Ordinarily merchants were to deal in their own merchandise and not in those which belonged to others. Perhaps to deal in them required a special license which Megasthenes probably calls a double tax.¹ It may be pointed out also that Kauṭalya imposes stringent regulations in regard to weights and measures.² Even the slightest difference was not tolerated. Sale by public notice was exactly what the author of the *Arthaśāstra* has recommended. The process of this sale is given as follows: "In a place proximate to the flag of the toll house, articles of merchandise for sale are to be gathered each in their respective places. The owners of the articles in question were to proclaim the real quantity contained together with its value. Three times it was given aloud. Who will buy such a quantity of merchandise for so much price? Afterwards he who was willing to buy it for that price could purchase it."³ The tax on sales was one of the sources of revenue, and hence the control of sale was under the Board of Trade, each article offered for sale being marked with the official stamp.⁴

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¹ Bk. II, ch. 36. See also ch. 16, 19, and Bk. IV, ch. 2.

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² Bk. II, ch. 19.

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³ Bk. II, ch. 21.

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⁴ *abhijñānamudra*, Ibid.

Control of manufacture

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The fifth Board concerned itself with the control of manufactured articles. Here also the same regulations were in practice. Perhaps this refers to the manufactures run by the Department of the state in its manufactories. Kauṭalya is very particular in regard to the purity and good quality of the articles sold. A distinction was maintained between old commodities in stock and fresh supplies.¹ If articles inferior in quality were sold as good ones, the sellers were liable to a heavy fine.² In accordance with the economic laws of supply and demand the sale of manufactured articles like that of liquor was centralised or decentralised. It was an offence to sell bad liquor and bony flesh.³ It is prescribed that only articles of good quality were to be sold. And if bad ones were offered for sale, the price was to be fixed considerably below the market-price.

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¹ Bk. II, ch. 15.

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² Bk. IV, ch. 11.

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³ Bk. II, ch. 25 and 26.

Tolls and other charges

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The sixth board attended to the collection of revenue on sales of merchandise. According to the Arthaśāstra the Superintendent of Tolls was generally the officer who was engaged in such business.⁴ The rate mentioned by Megasthenes as 1|10th must have been a conventional one like the 1|6th share of land revenue. In practice however the rates varied according to the quantity and quality of the articles, their easy availability, necessity, or otherwise. Flowers and fruits which were luxuries were taxed 1|6th while cotton cloths, arsenic, metals, sandal, raw materials, carpets, and woollen goods were charged from 1|10th to 1|15th. The rate varied again from 1|20th to 1|25th for articles of absolute necessity—cattle, cotton, medicine, fibres, skins, clay pots, oils, sugar, salt, etc.¹ Towards the end of the chapter entitled *śulkavyavahāraḥ* Kauṭalya rightly remarks that agreeably to the customs of countries or communities, the rate of tolls shall be levied on commodities, old and new.²

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⁴ Bk. II, ch. 21 and 22.

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¹ Bk. II, ch. 22.

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² Ibid., cp. IV, ch. 2 and 7.

Pāṭaliputra the capital

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That Pāṭaliputra was the Capital of the Mauryas is evident not only from the records of the classical writers but also from the fifth Rock-Edict and the Sāranāth Edict where a distinct mention is made of it. It stood on the northern side of the river Son, a little above the confluence of the latter with the Ganges. Defended thus by two big rivers it formed a strong citadel for its occupants perhaps answering to the *nadīdurga* of the *Arthaśāstra*. Over this ancient site now stands the modern Patna with a number of villages surrounding it. The city presented to Megasthenes an appearance of a long narrow parallelogram nearly nine miles in length and 1½ miles in breadth.³ A great fortress it was, containing 64 gates, 570 towers, surrounded on all sides by a deep moat of waters. It cannot be denied that Aśoka improved it by an outer masonry wall and decorated it with durable stone buildings as testified by the recent excavations. Unfortunately the excavations have been partial since the nature of the land does not easily admit of it. The depth of the overlying silt often reaching as far as twenty feet and the existence of numerous modern buildings make the excavation exceptionally difficult.¹ In this connection mention may be made of *The Discovery of the exact site of Aśoka's Classic Capital* and the *Report on the Excavations at Pāṭaliputra*² being the works of that enthusiastic writer L. A. Waddell directly dealing with the excavations of the imperial Capital of the Mauryas. Dr. Spooner of the Department of Archæology conducted further excavations and discovered a hall of 100 pillars.³

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³ Fg. 26. Cp. Smith, *Aśoka*, pp. 84-85.

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¹ Smith, *Aśoka*, p. 85.

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² (1903) (ed. Cal.).

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³ *Annual Report of Archaeological Survey of India, E. Circle*, 1912-13, pp. 55–61.

The nāgaraka and his duties

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An examination of the administrative machinery shows that the *nāgaraka* was the chief official of the city, possibly a nominee of the Imperial Government. The *nāgaraka* may in some respects answer to the Corporation Commissioner of the modern day. He was an official of the state and was responsible to the Imperial Government for the conduct of the civil administration. His duties were many and varied. They can be categorically mentioned.⁴

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⁴ Bk. II, ch. 36.

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1. He was to preserve the peace of the city by keeping watch over the movements of strangers and new-comers into the city.

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2. He was to maintain an elaborate census of the houses and the residents therein noting their total income and items of expenditure.

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3. He took precautions against the outbreak of fire. People were forced to keep water-pots and other things which were useful to quench fire.

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4. He looked after the health and sanitation of the city. Stringent regulations were promulgated under penalty of punishment for committing nuisance on public roads, and for throwing dead bodies carelessly on thoroughfares, and for offences of a similar nature.

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5. He was to keep watch and ward by means of special watchmen especially during nights. No one was allowed to leave the city or move about in a late hour at night except in cases of necessity, when a permit was usually granted. Such of those who violated this were punished.

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6. He attended also to the sluices, embankments, and other buildings connected with the city so that no damage of any sort was done to them as it would cause inconvenience to the neighbours.

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7. He was to hold a supervising control over the antapālas at the military frontiers and the official in charge of the toll house. Perhaps they had to remit their collections through him.

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8. He kept in safe custody articles either stolen and recovered or found. These were however returned to the owners on their claim.

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9. If among the guilty were children, old men, the diseased and others he could set them free by receiving proper compensation price. Other prisoners were liberated on the king's birthday, and on similar occasions.

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10. He was also responsible for the public morals of the city. By means of police regulations he arrested and punished the suspicious and men of criminal tendencies. Those who misbehaved with slave girls and seduced the *kulastrī* or family woman were severely punished. He also looked after the religious and charitable institutions with the help of the managers of those institutions.

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Mention has already been made of *nāgaravyavahārika* as occurring in the Aśokan inscriptions.¹ These officers are also styled as *mahāmātras* as is seen from the Dhauli and Jaugaḍa Separate Edict I. The officers mentioned are of the provincial towns like Tosāli and Samāpa and not of the capital city. That these exercised important judicial powers is evident from the fact that the officers are taken to task for having inflicted arbitrary punishment including imprisonment to some of the citizens. The *nāgaraka* could not be expected to shoulder such heavy responsibilities single-handed. He was assisted by a body of officials called the *sthānikas* and *gopas*.

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¹ Separate Kalinga Edict I, *Corpus*, p. 92.

The sthānika

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For purposes of administration every city was divided into four divisions over each of which was placed a *sthānika*. The *sthānika* was then responsible for his ward. He was entrusted with large police powers. He was the intermediate official between the *gopa* and the *nāgaraka*.

The gopa

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The *gopa* was the official next in rank to the *sthānika*. He maintained registers showing the names of persons in his territorial jurisdiction together with the amount of property possessed by each. A *gopa* was expected to maintain the accounts relating from ten to forty households. It was also his duty to maintain a statistical record of the inmates of the households with their respective castes, *gotra* names, profession, income and expenditure. He was a small census officer. It is reasonable to assume that a number of *gopas* were under a *sthānīka*, for each *gopa* was entrusted with about forty households. The Managers of religious houses and charitable institutions sent reports to the *gopa* or the *sthānīka* as regards the movement of heretics (*pāṣaṇḍa*) and strangers. They further entertained ascetics and *śrotriyas* of pure character. Artisans, merchants, and other *gṛhasthas* were to report to them as to their movements, as well as those of their friends, who were strangers to the city. The sentinels and watchmen were also held responsible to some extent. They also sent their reports to the *gopa* or through him to the *sthānīka* who ultimately reported to the *nāgaraka*.¹

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¹ Bk. II, ch. 36.

Aśoka's interest in municipal affairs

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From a study of the inscriptions of Aśoka it can be seen that parks, hospitals, rest-houses, educational institutions, and metalled roads with medicinal plants and herbs received the attention of the Mauryan city-administration. The inscriptions further tell us that on these roads banyan trees and mango trees were planted affording shade to cattle and men. At intervals of eight *kos* or one *yojana* wells were dug with flights of steps for easily getting to the water. It appears that watersheds were also built here and there.¹ To these may again be added theatrical entertainments, public shows, and exhibition. In short the Mauryan state bestowed utmost care and attention to beautify the cities and make them centres of culture and light. In this direction Aśoka, more than any other monarch of the dynasty, did much and earned the eternal gratitude of his subjects. /

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¹ See Seventh Pillar Edicts; Delhi-Topra, *Corpus*, pp. 134-135.

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CHAPTER VII.

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