Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c25.10

c25.10

Evidently many of such isolated states had already come under the control of the Maurya empire when the Artha-Sāstra was composed. The status of the confederate republics varied according to their strength. Some of them were treated on terms of equality, while others were subsidized and probably expected to render military assistance, for 'acquisition of army' from them is a condition contemplated as against pure alliance (मित्रलाभ). The result of this policy was that the stronger republics survived the Maurya imperialism, while the weaker ones succumbed. The Kshudrakas, the Mālavas, and the Vriji states which appear in Kātyāyana and Patañjali as sovereign states and in flourishing condition,¹ existed on account of leagues, and so did the Rāshtrikas and Bhojakas who fight jointly against Khāravela in the time of Patañjali.²