War in Ancient India c8.s1.13

c8.s1.13

Though the designation of senāpati continued to be used in later times, it came to be loosely applied to military officials other than the Commander-in-Chief. For example, Kauṭalya speaks of a Nāyaka as the head of ten senāpatis. Surely the term senāpati here cannot mean Commander-in-Chief. At the same time, he fixes the pay of the senāpati at 48,000 paṇas, and that of the Nāyaka at 12,000. Surely the senāpati here stands for Commander-in-Chief. The term is used largely and loosely in the Gupta and Pāla inscriptions.⁵⁶ In an