Mauryan Empire Administration

Mauryan Empire and Mauryan Administration the great Chandragupta Maurya founded the Maurya Empire in 322 BCE. It was considered the geographically extensive Iron Age, historical strength, and power in the region of South Asia based in Magadha. The Mauryan administration was a perfect combination with a proper division into four different provinces holding its imperial capital at Pataliputra. The four divisions of the provincial capital were named Tosali (towards the east), Ujjain (towards the west), Taxila (towards the north), and Suvarnagiri (towards the south). 

According to records by the Megasthenese, the military of the Maurya Empire consisted of a total number of 600,000 infantry, a total of 30,000 cavalries, and a considerable number of war elephants ranging to a total of 9,000 war elephants.

The administration of the Mauryan Empire held the vast espionage that continuously checks the purpose and guidelines on internal and external security. The officials were checked while they acted as a messenger to take and send messages to the empire's king that further appointed the other officials to take and collect the tax revenues from a different class of the society like herders, the farmers, trade merchants, the craftsmen, etc. 

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The king of the empire played a significant role and was the center of all the administrative superstructure. The king of the empire was the main one to select and cone the ministers and high officials that further took part in the administration of the empire.

The council of ministers known as the Mantriparishad plays a vital role in assisting the king, the main lead and official of the administration. The council of the Mantriparishad consisted of different members. The main and center of Mantriparishad were the Mantriparishad Adhyaksha, whom the other council members further followed up. The other members of the Mantriparishad council were the following:

• Purohit: The chief priest

• The Senapati: The commander in chief 

• Amatya: Included the civil servants and a few other different ministers.

What was the Mauryan Empire? Describe the Mauryan Administration. 

To describe the Mauryan administration, according to the scholars, the administrative powers of the empire were classified and further divided into various departments dealing with their specialization. These departments have specialized officials who are the supervisors of the functions performed by the department. 

Revenue Department: The chief of the Revenue Department was known as the Sahara. After the department chief, another vital official leading the department was Sannidhata; they were the treasurer. Revenue administration of the Mauryas empire specifically collected revenue taxes on land, irrigation facilities, shops, customs, forests, ferries, mines, and pastures. Moreover, the fees for license, known as the license fees, were collected from the artisans in the empire, and further, some fines were charged in the law court.

The land revenue was the most of the total land revenue produced in the empire. However, the crucial officials included the Sannidhata: the office of the Chief treasury, Samaharta: the official collector general of revenue.

Military Department: The military department was another provincial department in the administration of the empire. The most responsible and the highest official in this department was the commander in chief, and under his guidance, the whole military worked. The commander in chief or the head of the military department was known as the Senapati, who enjoyed a powerful position in the administration next to the Emperor of the empire. The commander in chief or the Senapati was the one appointed by the Emperor.

Further, the military department was distinguished and divided into six subcommittees responsible and charged for various military activities essential performed in an Empire. These military services were held in the division like the one committee looked at and ensured the functioning of the navy. The second committee was responsible for managing the facilities of transport and its provisions, the third committee served the duty and responsibility towards the foot-soldiers, the fourth committee was given the responsibility of the horses, the fifth committee was charged to handle the chariots, and the sixth and last committee of the department was indulged in handling the war elephants.

Espionage Department- The administration of the Mauryan Empire had a very well-developed espionage department. The spies conveyed the information dealing with the bureaucracy and the markets to the Emperor of the entire empire. The spies were mainly classified into two types one was the Sansthan (stationary), and the other one was the Sanchari (wanderer). In addition, there were detectives and secret agents known as the Gudhapurushas, whom the Mahamatyapasarpa further controlled. The agents for this department were selected and picked up from different classes of society. A group of agents was there who was also called the Vishakanyas. 

Police Department: All the main centers had their police headquarters. The police department had a place for prisoners just like the jail, known as the Bandhangara, and this setup with the police department was different from the lock-up called Charaka.

Main Features of Mauryan Administration

The main features of Mauryan administration witnessed mainly five critical political centres, which were known as Pataliputra: the capital city and the others were mainly the provincial centres Tosali (towards the east), Ujjain (towards the west), and Taxila (towards the north), and Suvarnagiri (towards the south).

According to historians, it was tough to maintain a uniform administration throughout such a large empire, so strong administrative control was ensured in the capital and the provincial centres.

The empire was administered while communicating along the land route and riverine routes.

The army not only ensured the territory of the whole empire but was also responsible for always keeping a check on the administration system of the whole empire.

The last feature highlighted by the Mauryan administration was the evidence of the Asoka's inscriptions included in the studies.  

Governing Administration: The Governance in the Mauryan Empire 

Political and Local Administration- The governing body of the Mauryan administration had the department of political and local administration which marked the presence of the officials, namely, Pradeshika: the official who was the modern district magistrates, Sthanika: the official who collected the tax revenues under the supervision of the Pradeshika, Durgapala: the official who was the governor of the fort, Antapal: the official who was the governor of the frontier, Akshapatala: the official handling the account or known as the account general, Lipikaras: Scribes, Gopas: the official holding the duty of accountants, etc.

Municipal Administration: According to the Megasthenese, the five committees were responsible for ensuring and looking after the Pataliputra's administering functions amongst all the six committees. The fields of duty that were under the control of the administration were Industries, Foreigners, Registration of birth and death, sales of goods, and Trade.

Important Officials of Municipal Administration were Nagaraka: in charge of the city administration, Sitaadhyaksha: the official and supervisor of agriculture, Navadhyaksha: Super ident of ships, collector of tolls, officials handling the duty of iron and mines, and super indent of weight and measures, etc.