War in Ancient India c8.s1.30

c8.s1.30

The Kumāra: As the State grew in power, extent, and importance, a regular hierarchy of officers featured the army organization. In early times, along with the king and the Senānī went the Kumāra or Crown Prince to the field of battle. In the legendary description of the battle of Bhaṇḍa with Lalitā, it is said that Kumārī, a daughter of Lalitā, accompanied her and offered to fight the Asura host, though she was young. She fought and won it.⁶⁷ It is doubtful whether the Kumāra occupied a status higher or lower than the Senānī in the hierarchical grade of military officials. A recent writer takes the view that the position of the Kumāra was probably inferior to that of the senāpati, for in the passage of Kauṭalya⁶⁸ Kumāra is mentioned after the Commander-in-Chief.⁶⁹ This view may be adopted in the light of the scale of salaries fixed for the Kumāra which is one-fourth of that fixed for the Senāpati. The pay of the Kumāra was 12,000 paṇas; but the Nitiprakāśa assigns to the Commander-in-Chief a rank below the Crown Prince.