The Mauryan Polity c10.s3.t2: Protection to foreigners
The Mauryan Polity c10.s3.t2
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Protection to foreigners
c10.s3.t2.1
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
c10.s3.t2.2
¹ Bk. II, ch. 16 and 28.
c10.s3.t2.3
² parabhūmijam paṇyamanugraheṇāvāhayet| nāvikasārthavāhebhyaśca parihārāmāyatikṣamam dadyāt| anabhiyogaśca artheṣvāgantūnānyatra sabhyopakāribhyaḥ|—Ar Śās., Bk. II, ch. 1. Cp. Meg. Fr. I, p. 42 (Cal. 1926).
c10.s3.t2.4
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
c10.s3.t2.5
³ Bk. II, ch. 36.
c10.s3.t2.6
⁴ Bk. II, ch. 21.
c10.s3.t2.7
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.
c10.s3.t2.8
*The census*
c10.s3.t2.9
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
c10.s3.t2.10
¹ Bk. II, ch. 35-36.
c10.s3.t2.11
² *Early History*, p. 125.
Linked texts (2)
- Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra — Kauṭilya, Sanskrit
- Ἰνδικά — Μεγασθένης, Ancient Greek