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The Mauryan Polity c7.s3.t1: The evidence of classical writers

The Mauryan Polity c7.s3.t1

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The evidence of classical writers

c7.s3.t1.1

From the writings of the classical writers it is seen that some general precautions were indeed adopted to protect the royal person from possible dangers. The king generally lived in a well-built palace with gates well defended by guards and the rest of the soldiery. The dimensions of the towers and castles of Pāṭaliputra¹ given in classical books approximately correspond to those mentioned in the three chapters of the Arthaśāstra.²

c7.s3.t1.2

¹ Fg. 26 and 27.

c7.s3.t1.3

² bhūmicchidravidhānam, durgavidhānam, and durganiveśa (Bk. II, ch. 2-4).

c7.s3.t1.4

It is said that the royal palace was adorned with gilded pillars clasped all round by a vine embossed in gold while silver images of birds were a charm to the eye.³ "In the parks tame peacocks are kept, and pheasants which have been domesticated; and among cultivated plants there are some to which the king's servants attend with special care, for there are shady groves and pasture-grounds planted with trees, and branches of trees which the art of the woodsman has deftly interwoven . . . . Parrots are natives of the country, and keep hovering about the king and wheeling round him, and vast though their numbers be, no Indian ever eats a parrot."⁴ Again with regard to medicinal plants Aelian says that the country produces harmful and poisonous snakes. "But the same country produces plants which serve as antidotes to their bite, and of these the natives have so much knowledge and skill that they can apply the remedy suitable for the wound inflicted by any kind of snake.”¹

c7.s3.t1.5

³ McCrindle, Ancient India—Its invasion by Alexander, p. 189.

c7.s3.t1.6

⁴ Aelian, Bk. XIII, c. xviii, Ancient India in Classical Literature.

c7.s3.t1.7

¹ *Ibid.*, Bk. XII, ch. xxxii. ² Bk. I, ch. 22. ³ śayanādutthitaḥ strīgaṇairdhanvibhīḥ parigṛhyeta| dvitīyasyām kakṣyāyām kañjukoṣṇīṣibhirvarṣavarābhyāgārikaihi| tṛtīyasyām kubjavāmanakirātaih| caturthyām mantribhissambandhibhi dauvārikaiśca prāsapāṇibhihi| pitṛpaitāmaham mahāsambandhānubandham śikṣitamanuraktaṃ kṛtakarmāṇam janamāsannam kurvīta|

c7.s3.t1.8

It is interesting to give here a categorical list of pot herbs and plants as well as birds reared in the palace according to the *Arthaśāstra*. Jīvantī (Fæderia Fœtida), śevta (Aconitum Feron), mūṣkaka-puṣpa, vandāka (Epidendrum Tesselatum), pijāta, aśvattha (Ficus Religiosa) are the plants and trees. Cats, peacocks, mongoose, spotted deer, parrots, mainās, and Malabar birds (*bhṛṅgarāja*), the heron, the pheasant, cuckoo, and partridge are the birds which could perceive and detect the smell of snake and other poisons.²

c7.s3.t1.9

From the *Arthaśāstra* we gather that there were four compartments leading from the harem to the public hall. In the first compartment where there was the harem, were stationed women armed with bows; the second aged persons and attendants including the kañcukin and uṣṇīṣin (special servants who attended to the dress of the king), while the third was attended by the hunch-back and the dwarf, and the fourth by kinsmen and armed door-keepers. Most of these servants were hereditary and well-behaved.³ Why such elaborate precautions were taken is answered by Kauṭalya himself that these are conducive to the happiness of the king. If the king was worried by these trifles in the household, he could not properly attend to the affairs of the state, and hence these safeguards were taken.

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