The Mauryan Polity c13.s12.48

c13.s12.48

(h) Under the head, army, we shall simply quote the conclusion of O. Stein. What Kauṭalya says agrees with Megasthenes that the king was staying in the Head-quarters, but at which time and on what occasion it cannot be said. That the king was directly taking part in the wars is admitted only in a restricted way. He went to the war but he did not take the personal leadership in the army, but it was entrusted to qualified men. His relation to the army was that of the highest War-master. He inspected the four divisions of the army, and a portion of the army served as his body-guard.²