Emperor Chandragupta mayura
Mantri (Minister) –
For
day to day work of the empire king
had appointed ministers. These
ministers were different from the
‘council of ministers. They were getting 12,000 pann as salary.
These
ministers were helping the emperor
in the day to day work of the empire. All the high level officers were
appointed by the king after consulting
the ministers.
These ministers were more
powerful than the ‘council of
ministers’. The ministers were in close
contact with the emperor and were his adviser.
Prime Minister is the head of these ministers too.
‘Senapati’ (Army General) –
A very
important officer of the team of Emperor. He was responsible for the army, its strength, well being. He
advised the king on “Pact of peace,
declaration of war,” etc.
He had to lead the army in war or peace. He had
to be expert in war planning, different moves, use of different arms. Chanakaya has given stress on his personal expertise in ‘War education’
and practical knowledge of war.
‘Sannidhata’ –
For economic matter this officer was responsible. He was the head of the economic department of the
state. New budget, Income –
expenditure of the state, taxation; its implementation was the work of ‘Sannidhata’ for this he was responsible to the king.
‘Kosadhaksha’ (Treasurer), ‘Sulkadaksha’,
‘Panayadhaksha’ - controller of the
market and its price, were under him.
Samaharta (Commissioner) –
The Janpada (District) was under the
control of Amatya known as ‘Samaharta’. The main work of ‘Samaharta’ is to collect ‘Tax’. To help ‘Samaharta’ there were other officers
under him in districts as –
‘Sitadhaksha’ – President of Agriculture department.
‘Sulkadaksha’ – He was the ‘tax’
collector from trade and commerce.
‘Potwadaksha’ - Officer of
‘Measure-wait’ checker and management.
‘Suradhaksha’ – President of the
business which is under direct control of the state.
‘Sutradhaksha’ - President of wine
department. Its sales – purchase, use,
production etc.
‘Lakshanadhaksha’ – (controller of
monetary policy), Devtadhaksha – President of the department which makes
control upon temples and its works.
On the basis of
‘Chanakaya’s Arthsastra we find that
there were 27 Adaksha (President) to
regulate the economic activity, trade, business of the state and in the state.
Adaksha
(President) were regulating and
controlling the Agriculture, trade, Business – Commerce, correct wait,
Mines, Art and Craft etc.
Other departments were - Ganikadhaksha, Mudradhaksha, Navadhaksha, Godhaksha (cow department), Ashwadhaksha (horse department), Panayadhaksha - controller of the market
and its price.
Arthsastra mentions some more officers too. They are -
‘Karmantik’ (Factory President) –
He was the head of the factories which were under the state (nation). Mining, sending raw
material to the factory, preparation of goods, sale and purchase and laws related with these things were
under him. He was responsible for all these works.
‘Prasasta’ (Head of record keeping office) –
The record of all the
department of the state (nation) were put in an office which is known as ‘Akshpatal’.
The head of this office is ‘Prasasta’. State or king’s order, Term-
condition of treaty or War; detailed
statements of ‘Janpada’ (District), work details of state servants
(lower grade staffs), details of Income – expenditure of the state were
being kept in this office in a planned manner.
‘Antapal’ –
He was the head of the border
area forts. Security of the border area was his duty.
‘Durgpal’ – He was the head of the forts of the inner
part of the state.
‘Dauwarik’ –
He was the head of the king’s palace. He
was responsible for all the works related to the management of the palace.
City management (Nagar Prabandhan) – The cities were self
governed. There was a committee to maintain the works of the city like army
had. There was a committee of 30 members;
which was again divided into 6 groups of
5 members each.
These 6 city committees are -
1st committee
was responsible for the industries. Proper preparation of goods, sale and
purchase, pricing was his duty.
2nd committee
was for the well being of the foreigners.
House on rent, treatment if got ill, was
under this committee. If some foreigner dies
in the city it was the duty of the
committee to complete his last ritual.
His belongings were given to the concerned officer. This shows that in India there were more foreigners.
3rd committee
was to register the birth and death
of the citizens.
4th committee
was looking after the trade and commerce.
This committee was monitoring the sales and purchase of goods, its quality.
Wait and Measurement was also under
them.
5th committee
was to check the mixing of new and old
goods, so that citizens will get proper and latest goods.
6th committee
was to collect sales Tax. Those who
try to evade Tax were penalized with
‘death sentence’, so no one dare to
evade Tax. Rules were hard but were for everyone.
Megasthenes writes that ‘Palibrotha’ (Patliputra) was on the
bank of 2 big rivers – Ganga and Soan
and was the biggest city of ancient
India.
This city was 9 and ½ miles
(80 stadia) long and 1 and ¼ miles (15 stadia) wide. There was a trench around the city for its defence
it was 600 ft wide and 30 hand deep.
A high wall was all around the city;
due to these measures the city was safe.
There were 570 towers (burj)
and 64 gates in the wall for the
protection of the city.
Guptchar (Secret service people) -
The secret service people
could have been in any form – as a monk,
student, servant, dancer, prostitute, singer, labourer, businessman, Beggar
etc. Historian Arian calls them ‘Overseer’ (supervisor), Strabo call them ‘Inspector’.
In this department there were officers from junior level to senior level. Strabo describes that women and prostitutes were also
involved in this work which Arthsastra also
mentions. Arthsastra describes 2 types of Guptchar (Secret service people).
They are –
1. Sanstha – One who works from a fixed place, settled.
2. Sanchara – Always on move.
The End.
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