Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c11.29

c11.29

Although the Mauryan empire extended practically over the whole of India except the far south and although Kauṭilya shows a wide geographicl horizon, possibly the provisions laid down in the *Arthaśāstra* reflect conditions obtaining in Northern India. In so far as the *Arthaśāstra* measures were meant to serve the needs of the empire by overriding parochial and sectarian considerations, they may have been applied to the whole of it; but the detailed instructions regarding the control of economic activities or the policy of bringing virgin soil under the plough may have been limited to the areas near the heart of the empire.