Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c8.s5.10

c8.s5.10

The Army. Kautalya’s remarks on the army deserve some notice. The military force was bound to cause some anxiety to the civil power. It was probably in order to maintain an effective control over it that Kautalya seeks to break its homogeneity. Regiments of regular nationals rub shoulders with mercenaries. Troops of warriors’ corporations are lined with bands of deserters from hostile territory, or with immigrants from friendly tracts. Lastly, come the recruits from the hardy wild tribes who then, as now, must have proved of immense value in mountain warfare. The chief army corps were split into divisions and sub-divisions with different flags and trumpets, drums and conch-shells.³