The Mauryan Polity c9.s5.7

c9.s5.7

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.