The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c11.t8.9

c11.t8.9

The centre of eight hundred villages in the Maurya Empire was the seat of a fortress calles *sthânîya*, if the finance minister Kautilya's directions were carried out. A fortress called *droṇa-mukhya* was constructed in the centre of four hundred villages. Two hundred villages had at their centre a fortress called *khârvâṭika*. And a fortress called *saṁgrahaṇa* was situated at the centre of ten villages. Such is the strategic scheme of fortifications described in the *Artha-śâstra*.¹ From the military standpoint, then, or rather from the angle of national defense, the Maurya Empire was a thorough *federation de l'empire* i. e., a centralized organization of states or provinces. And it served to furnish all future empire-builders with the prototype of a perfect system of "preparedness" that might be the solid basis of effectual *pax sârva-bhaumica* (peace of the world-state).