The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c12.53

c12.53

The kingdom was divided into several provinces, each ruled by a sort of viceroy. The later Jûnâgaḍh inscription of Rudradâman records that Surâṣṭra or Kâṭhiâwâḍ was governed by the Vaiśya Puṣyagupta in Candragupta’s time and by the Yavana Tuṣhâspa under Aśoka. The former governor is designated Râṣṭriya, while the latter is called Adhiṣṭhâya.³ The details are important for another reason. They show that high officers were sometimes chosen from any class of persons. Throughout the empire there were large numbers of spies who infested towns, camps and the countryside alike. Megasthenes implies that courtesans were employed to assist in the task of espionage. Then there were other numerous employees of state. According to Strabo, armour-makers and shipbuilders could work only for the king. For military reasons the two industries might have been state monopolies. Lastly, the state made allowances of grain to herdsmen and hunters who cleared the land of wild beasts and fowls.⁴