The Mauryan Polity c4.2

c4.2

One chapter is devoted to the character and extent of the Empire. Three chapters on the Central Administration, and one on the Provincial and Local Governments follow. A careful comparison between the Kauṭalīyan polity and the polity lying behind the inscriptions of Aśoka, confirms the view, as will be seen from these chapters, that the polity behind the Edicts is the Kauṭalīyan polity. The last chapter is on the religion of the Mauryas in general, and that of Candragupta and of Aśoka in particular. A critical study of the relevant inscriptions, not to speak of literary evidences, has led me to conclude that neither Aśoka was a Buddhist nor Candragupta a Jain.