IGNOU HISTORY NOTES : India Earliest Times to the 8th Century A.D - Administrative Organisation and Relationship with other Powers

IGNOU HISTORY Study Notes for IAS, UPSC Exams

India Earliest Times to the 8th Century A.D

Administrative Organisation and Relationship with other Powers

Structure

20.0 Objectives
20.1 Introduction
20.2 Background
20.3 Central Administration-I
20.3:l The King
20.3.2 Council of Ministers
20.3.3 City Administration
20.4 Central Administration-I1
20.4.1 Army
20.4.2 Espionage
20.4.3 Justice and Punishment
20.4.4 Revenue Administration
20.4.5 Public Works
20.5 Regional and Local Units of Administration
20.5.1 Provincial Administration
20.5.2 District and Village Level Administration
20.6 Relations with Other Powers
20.7 Let Us Sum Up
20.8 Key Words
20.9 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

20.0 OBJECTIVES

After reading this Unit you will be able to:

know about the vast administrative apparatus which the Magadhan empire built up,
familiarise yourself with its various branches and offices, their powers and functions
differentiate among forms of administration at various levels,
know about the importance and role of Army, espionage and the legal process, and
know about the relations of Mauryas with other powers and about changes in their policy towards these powers.

20.1 INTRODUCTION

By the third century B.C. the Mauryan state with its centre in Magadha was firmly
established. It had a vdst territory to control and had an administrative apparatus for
doing it. This apparatus covered within its range various levels of administration;
administration of the core region (Magadha) of the empire, regional centres,
peripheral areas, cities, villages and so on. Besides sustaining the King's authority and
order, the administration took into its fold a wide range of activities concerning
justice, army, espionage, revenue collections, handicrafts, etc. These are the aspects
which have been dealt with in this Unit. From a variety of sources like the text of
Arthasatra, Greek accounts and the Asokan inscriptions we get a fairly good idea of
the Mauryan administrative system.
We also discuss in this Unit the relations which the Mauryan rulers maintained with
other contemporary powers both in India as well as in foreign countries. But before
dealing with these aspects let us discuss the background of the emergence of the
Mauryan administrative system.