Chandragupta Maurya and His Times c5.53

c5.53

Causes of their defeat. It may be noted that all these fairly large armies were recruited from small republican States. The number of the army was very large in proportion to the number of the total population of the State concerned. These republican peoples must have fought to a man, and mobilised their entire man-power in defence of their freedom in a sheer spirit of patriotism. Even their women fought with the men. If their heroic fight in the defence of their liberties against a supreme military leader like Alexander had failed for the time being, it was because it lacked leadership, organisation, unity of direction, and pooling of resources. The defence was far too localised and isolated at different centres. It was not organised into a national defence. Alexander was thus able to deal with the defence piecemeal, to proceed against each State separately, and to subdue it easily. The multiplicity of States prevented a united front against a common enemy and caused the collapse of opposition at individual and isolated centres. Division was fatal to defence. Some kind of national opposition was organised for once by the confederacy of the Kshudrakas and Mālavas who united their military resources in a powerful allied army. Such a federal army was known even in the days of Pāṇini who calls it 'the Kshaudraka-Mālavī-senā.' But these defects and deficiencies of the Indian military situation were soon to be removed by a great leader like Chandragupta with his superior power of organisation.