The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c12.168

c12.168

Alongside these officers stood the Puruṣas—‘men,’ that is, king’s men, his agents—acting as spies, reporters and supervisors. They were acquainted with the king’s wishes; they are said to control the Lājukas (Pillar Edict IV), and to be “placed in charge of many people” (Pillar Edict VII). There were three ranks of them—high, middle and low (Pillar Edict I). Aśoka created another similar class of agents, called Prativedakas, who were placed everywhere, as he says, “in order to report to me the affairs of the people at any time, while I am eating, in the harem, in the inner apartment, even at the cowpen, in the palanquin and in the parks.”³