The Mauryan Polity c11.s1.t2.6

c11.s1.t2.6

The primary function of the state was, according to the *Arthaśāstra*, the upkeep of the social *sthiti* or in other words, the maintenance of the social order. Society, in those days was divided into castes and orders, the castes being an economic classification on the principle of the division of labour. Castes were, therefore, so many occupational groups with this peculiar difference that these occupations were to be deemed hereditary. Viewed from an economic point of view the motive for this classification cannot be questioned, for, it drove the last nail into the coffin of economic ills.