The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c13.s1.13

c13.s1.13

In these circumstances, one will of course look with some expectation to the crucial question of financial control and audit. Kauṭilya does indeed give a detailed description of the accounts and audit office, the akṣapaṭala. The rules for auditing suggest a thoroughly detailed investigation, in Breloer’s words “ein regelrechter Abrechnungsprozess”.¹⁵ All officers should assemble on the full-moon day of the month of Āṣāḍha, at the end of the hot season, with sealed accounts and with balances to be paid in the treasury. They are confined and forbidden to speak with each other. Fines are prescribed for those coming late or without their account books. Not only the small bureaucrats but also the highest officers, the *mahāmātras*, are involved. All in all, it must have been an impressive gathering.¹⁶