The Mauryan Polity c9.s4.4

c9.s4.4

Besides the standing army, the fighting force consisted of hired men (bhṛtakas), contingents supplied by corporate associations (śreṇibala), contingents supplied by the ally (mitrabala), and members of forest-tribes (*āṭavibala*). From the nature of the recruitment and from the significant statement in the *Kauṭalīya*, *hrasvaḥ pravāsaḥ* it can be safely assumed that this part of the army was engaged only for the time being, and when once their service was not required it was disbanded. There is no evidence on record to show that either conscription was in use or the army was a militia. If the records of Pliny¹ and Plutarch² could be believed the army of Candragupta consisted of as many as 9,000 elephants, 30,000 horses, and 60,000 footmen besides chariots. This means that the traditional four-fold division of the army continued in existence and was in the employ of the state. This division of the army also finds a mention in the *Kauṭalīya* with the respective uses to which each limb of that organism was put.