War in Ancient India c12.75

c12.75

It is only when we come to the period of the Kauṭaliya that we find a regular secret service department as a permanent feature. Mention of a similar institution is met with in the works of Bhāsa, who is now said to have lived in the fifth century B.C. According to this dramatist, these spies were the king's eyes,⁴⁷ who watched the movements of enemies and those of the king's subjects and aliens. They themselves moved about in the guise of madmen, mendicants, etc. Vatsarāja was freed from captivity through the secret service.⁴⁸