Pre-Buddhist India: A Political, Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey of Ancient India Based Mainly on the Jataka Stories c4.s1.65

c4.s1.65

The whole of the army-organisation was thus divided into several divisions which were probably under different generals. But the whole army-pati—who was one of the chief administrative heads. Though no clear picture of this officer is given by the stories, we can well imagine his position from some general statements made about him. Often, as we have seen,³ he belongs to the ruling family and, as such, occupies a prominent place among the ministers. In fact one *Jātaka*⁴ clearly suggests that he was the first among all ministers. As the title indicates, he was the leader of the army, and in wars occupied the next highest military post after the king. In times of peace, however, he is seen acting as a judge⁵ and looking after the due protection of life and property of the citizens.⁶ He resides in a well-guarded palace with gates and watch-towers in the city and lives in prosperity,⁷ conferring with other ministers on important matters.⁸ It seems to us that the *Mahāsenagutta*—protector of the army—twice mentioned in the stories,⁹ is the same as the *Senāpati*, and there is nothing to distinguish between the two as Fick¹⁰ seems to do.