The Mauryan Polity c6.s3.t6.1

c6.s3.t6.1

In this connection Dr. S. K. Aiyangar’s remarks seem apposite: “Empires in India under the Hindus attempted to be no more than kingdoms, of a small compass comparatively, which gathered together under the ægis of the leading state, which went by the name of imperial state for the time being, other kingdoms constituting merely an expanding *maṇḍala* in political dependence. The administration that had to be carried on by the imperial state was a comparatively simple one, as by a well established principle of devolution, most of the actual administration was carried on by local bodies for comparatively small states. . . . . . If that is granted there is no difficulty in understanding that what seems to be laid down for a congeries of smaller states cannot be far different from what was necessary for a really imperial state. Examined in this light it will be found that even the *Arthaśāstra* polity provides the machinery for carrying on the imperial administration as well as the administration of a comparatively small state.”¹