The Mauryan Polity c9.s3.t3.1

c9.s3.t3.1

Another feature of the ancient warfare was that the non-combatants were left unmolested. Megasthenes says: "Nor would an enemy coming upon a husbandman at work on his land do him any harm, for men of this class being regarded as public benefactors are protected from all injury. The land thus remaining unravaged and producing heavy crops supplies the inhabitants with all that is requisite to make the life very enjoyable."¹ Again with regard to the treatment of the conquered, Kauṭalya is of opinion that the conquered people should not be disturbed from the observance of their own laws and customs (*dharma*).² This is perhaps in keeping with what Aśoka says concerning the unsubdued borderers. 'The King desires that they should not be afraid of me, that they should trust me and should receive from me happiness and not sorrow. The king will bear patiently with us so far as it is possible to bear with us........the king is to us even as a father: he loves us even as he loves himself: we are to the king even as his children.'³ It is ordained that the family members of the slain soldier should not be deprived of their property or lands. On the other hand they must be reinstated.⁴ There is thus a record of humane laws of war expounded by Kauṭalya in accordance with tradition and corroborated by the Greek contemporary writer.