The Mauryan Polity c9.s5: Sec. v. The War Office

The Mauryan Polity c9.s5

Language: English

Sec. v. The War Office

c9.s5.1

The control and the organisation of the army and navy were under an efficient staff of six boards consisting of thirty commissioners in all. Five members constituted each board. The boards were those of the infantry, cavalry, chariots, elephants, the admiralty, and the commissariat.³ Kauṭalya makes no mention of such management by boards. According to this authority the six departments were under the control of different superintendents, such as the padyādhyakṣa, the aśvādhyakṣa, the rathādhyakṣa, the hastyādhyakṣa, the nāvādhyakṣa, and the āyudhāgārādhyakṣa, the last possibly the commissariat department of the Greek chronicles. Coincidences exist between the board of infantry and the department of padyādhyakṣa, the board of cavalry and the department of aśvādhyakṣa, the board of chariots and the department of rathādhyakṣa, the board of elephants and the department of hastyādhyakṣa, and the admiralty and the department of nāvādhyakṣa. Suffice it to say here that every department looked after the proper training of animals and men, their feeding, their health, their equipment, and their discipline. It is unnecessary to enumerate here every one of these. Though there is no pointed reference to the naval force and a department of admiralty in the Kauṭaliya, still we can assume that Kauṭalya has in mind a similar institution by his regulations to prevent smuggling, and other regulations as regards instruments of warfare, native vessels leaving for foreign countries, and foreign vessels entering the native ports. This assumption is well supported by the Greek evidence.

c9.s5.2

³ Fg., 35 and 36.

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*The commander-in-chief*

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Among the chief army officers the commander-in-chief played a significant role. He who was skilled in every kind of tactical and strategical mode of warfare and in handling weapons of war, and who could decide easily action or inaction in the circumstances of the situation, was qualified to be a commander. The following were among his other duties. He was to select the field of battle and camping grounds. He was to reinforce the strength of his army and take advantage of the time and the place for march, for engagement and for retreat. He was to maintain discipline of the host. He should employ such means as to create a dissension in the ranks of the enemy.¹ He was a permanent officer of the imperial government drawing a liberal salary of 48,000 paṇas.

c9.s5.5

¹ Bk. II ch. 33.

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*Other Army Officers*

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Other officers of the army were commandants of cavalry, infantry, chariots, and elephants.² There was yet another officer designated as *nāyaka*.¹ The salary fixed for him was 12,000 *paṇas*. Hence he held a status lower than that of a commander-in-chief. The *nāyaka* is the chief of ten *senāpatis* or commandants. Next in rank to the latter is the *padika* who is the chief of ten smaller military officials. The *nāyaka* attended to the array of different army constituents, to collect the scattered soldiers, to arrange for the halt, march, and retreat. He also arranged these army constituents by various signs, such as, the trumpet-sounds, flags, and standards.² Besides the various military officials there were other officers and servants who were non-combatants and were attached to the department of transport and co-ordinate supply. There were, first of all, cooks for the supply of food to the fighting men under the head-cook *mahānasa*. There were the *purohita* and war musicians with drums and gongs to encourage the troops to fight with enthusiasm. Medical men followed the army for the treatment of the sick and the wounded, besides nurses.³ Sappers, miners, and engineers (*vardhaki* and *viṣṭi*) under the command of an official designated *praśāsta* went in advance of the army in the course of the march repairing roads and constructing wells wherever necessary. They had also to attend to raising fortifications or demolishing them. They were again in charge of the construction of camps.

Linked texts (1)

Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra — Kauṭilya, Sanskrit