History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.401.1

v4.c62.401.1

Manu IX. 294 places the capital (pura) even before rāṣṭra. Medhātithi (on IX. 295) and Kullūka explain that the loss of the capital is a more serious danger than even the loss of some territory, because if the capital, which possesses all the stocks of food, in which are centred the principal elements and the army, is saved, then it is possible to retrieve even lost territory and to protect the country. It is as it were the pivot of the whole machinery of government. Other writers (and even Manu in VII. 69-70) place the capital or fort after the rāṣṭra. It is probably due to the geographical situation in North India and the nature of the fighting in ancient times that made the capital and forts of great importance in the several elements of the State. The capital mirrored the prosperity of the country and if properly walled also provided security. Yāj. I. 321 says that forts are meant for the safety of the king, the people and the treasury (*janakośātmaguptaye*). The reason for the construction of forts is well put by Manu VII. 74 viz. that a single archer under the shelter of the fort-wall can fight a hundred of the enemy and a hundred can fight ten thousand. The Pañcatantra (I. 229 and II. 14) has a similar verse. Bṛhaspati quoted by the Rājanītiprakāśa²²⁸ p. 202 states that the king should construct a fort with walls and a gate for the protection of himself, his wives, the people and the (wealth) collected by him. Kaut. (II.