Chandragupta Maurya and His Times c5.15

c5.15

It is also interesting to note that Kauṭilya mentions as the sources of recruitment for the army (1) the *Choras*, or *Pratirodhakas*, of the day, the robbers and outlaws, (2) the *Chora-gaṇas*, organised gangs of brigands, (3) the *Mlechchha* tribes like the Kirāta highlanders, (4) the *Āṭavikas*, the foresters, and (5) the Warrior clans called *śastropajīvi-śreṇīs*, and that he counts the soldiery recruited from these clans as most heroic (*pravīra*) [VII. 10; 14; VIII. 14]. The Punjab in those days had abundance of this type of military material. Alexander himself had to deal with some of these peoples in his campaigns. As is shown below, it is possible to find out the Indian equivalents of their Greek names as recorded in the classical accounts of his invasion.