The Mauryan Polity c13.s12.62

c13.s12.62

In a long chapter (III) Otto Stein considers the question of castes and professions comparing Megasthenes and the *Kauṭalīya* and trying to find out marked differences which amount indeed to little. Megasthenes writes¹: "The whole population of India is divided into seven castes of which the first is formed by the collective body of philosophers which in point of number is inferior to the other classes but in point of dignity pre-eminent over all. . . . The second caste consists of husbandmen who appear to be far more numerous than the others . . . The third caste consists of the neatherds and shepherds and in general of all herdsmen who neither settle in towns nor in villages but live in tents. . . . The fourth caste consists of the artizans. . . . The fifth caste is the military. It is well organised and equipped for war, holds the second place in point of numbers, and gives itself up to idleness and amusement in the times of peace. . . . . The sixth caste consists of the councillors and assessors—of those who deliberate on public affairs."