Question

Enumerate the features of Mauryan administration.

Answer 1

The main features of the Mauryan administration are as follows:

1. There were five major political centres in the empire i.e., the capital Pataliputra and the provincial centres of Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali and Suvarnagiri.
2. It is likely that administrative control was strongest in areas around the capital and the provincial centres.
3. These centres were carefully chosen, both Taxila and Ujjayini being situated on important long-distance trade routes, while Suvarnagiri (literally, the golden mountain) was possibly important for tapping the gold mines of Karnataka.
4. The communication system existed along both land and riverine routes. It was vital for the existence of the empire.
5. As the journeys from the centre to the provinces could have taken a long time, there was an arrangement for provisions as well as protection for the travellers.
6. It is obvious that the army was an important means of ensuring security. Megasthenes mentions a committee with six subcommittees for coordinating military activity.
7. Of these, one looked after the navy, the second managed transport, the third was responsible for foot-soldiers, the fourth for horses, the fifth for chariots, and the sixth for elephants.
8. The activities of the second subcommittee were rather varied, i.e., arranging for bullock carts to carry equipment, procuring food for soldiers and fodder for animals, and recruiting servants and artisans to look after the soldiers.