Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c8.s5.6

c8.s5.6

Provinces. The kingdom was divided into a number of provinces governed by Viceroys. Each province was partitioned into circles of eight hundred, four hundred, two hundred, one hundred, and ten villages, administered by officers in an hierarchy. The village continued to form the unit of everyday administration, but Kautalya almost completely ignores the village institutions. Probably, he preferred centralisation and was averse to granting any authority to a village council or committee. The provincial and local officials are to be frequently transferred from place to place, or office to office, lest they should strike deep root into the soil. Their departments, like those at the centre, were to be adequately staffed by clerks, accountants, messengers, and so forth.²