[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [War in Ancient India](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.dikshitar-1944) › c7.s2.4 # War in Ancient India c7.s2.4 War in Ancient India c7.s2.4 - **Language:** English ### [c7.s2.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.dikshitar-1944.c7.s2.4) The \*Arthaśāstra\* speaks of the infantry as a separate army department under the charge of a special officer of the State. This receives confirmation from Megasthenes’ statement.⁹⁴ Besides the \*maula\* or hereditary troops which formed a considerable portion of the army, there were the \*bhṛta\* or mercenaries, the \*śreṇi\* or soldiers supplied by the different group and guild organisations in the state, the \*mitra\* or soldiers supplied by allies, the \*amitra\* or deserters from the enemy ranks, and the \*āṭavi\* or those recruited from forest tribes.⁹⁵ Professor Rapson says that these were probably marshalled, village by village, as in ancient Greece and Germany and as in Afghanistan at the present day. Though the military caste formed the bulk of the army, other castes were also admitted into it, under special circumstances. This classification formed probably a cross-division scheme, including cavalry men also. The value of a hereditary standing army and its loyalty to the king were well recognized.⁹⁶ The soldiers were given the necessary training required for actual operations in the field. They were instructed to fight from low ground or from eminences, to engage in open battle or diplomatic encounters, to fight from trenches and to fight both by day and by night. The \*Nitiprakāśikā\* gives a list of their duties.⁹⁷ They were to fix camps, supervise the work of free labourers engaged in military service, protect the treasury, arsenal, and other stores, and make arrangements for the formation of battle arrays. According to the \*Śukranīti\* and the \*Kāmandakanītisāra\*, the army was to be made as imposing as possible to frighten the enemy by its size. The \*Śukranīti\* also mentions that foot-soldiers possessed fire-arms when they fought.⁹⁸ - [Previous: c7.s2.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.dikshitar-1944.c7.s2.3) - [Next: c7.s2.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.dikshitar-1944.c7.s2.5) - [Up: c7.s2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.dikshitar-1944.c7.s2) ## Linked texts (1) - [Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.artha.kautilya) — Kauṭilya, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.dikshitar-1944.c7.s2.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.dikshitar-1944.c7.s2.4) · Pramāṇa