Discuss in detail the features of following points of the Mauryan period.

(a) Central Government

(b) Provincial Administration

(c) Municipal Administration

(d) Income and Expenditure of both the states

(e) Judicial System.

(a) The Central Government: The constituents of Central Government were the king, the council of ministers and high officials. The king possessed the supreme authority. He was the fountain-head of all civil and military administration. There was council of ministers to aid and advice the king. Each minister was entrusted with a special official like Superintendents or Adhyakshas, Amatyas, Rajukas and Pradeshikas to help the king and the ministers in discharging their duties. Their conduct was watched by a co-incharge of special officials called ‘Dharma Mahamatyas’, who themselves were men of proven honesty and noble character.

(b) Provincial Administration: The whole Mauryan Empire was divided into four provinces, for the purpose of efficient administration.

(i) The Central Province had its capital at Pataliputra and administered by the king himself.

(ii) The North-Western Province had its capital at Taxila.

(iii) The Western Province had its capital at Ujjain.

(iv) The Southern Province had its capital at Swarnagiri.

All these provinces were administered by governors who were usually of the royal family. The conduct of these governors and other officials was strictly watched by specially appointed spies who reported even the smallest happening in the empire to the king. The provinces were further divided into districts who were administered by the “sthaniks”.

The next units of administration were similar to modern tehsils, which were groups of four to ten villages and were administered by ‘Gopas’. The village head was called the ‘Gramika’.

(c) Municipal Administration: There was a special administrative set up for cities like Pataliputra. There was a council of thirty members to look after the administration, which was divided into six boards. Each board consisted of five members to perform its functions which were as given:

(i) The First Board looked after the development of crafts and industries and fixed the wages of the workers and artisans and helped them in time of need.

(ii) The Second Board was incharge of the foreigners and looked after their comforts. It also provided them whatever they needed and kept a strict vigil on their activities.

(iii) The Third Board kept a record of births and deaths for the purpose of efficient administration and proper taxation.

(iv) The Fourth Board was entrusted with the task of regulating trade. It also checked weights and measures used by traders and punished the offenders.

(v) The Fifth Board kept supervision on the quality of the manufactured goods.

(vi) The Sixth Board was responsibile for collecting taxes on the sale of goods.

(d) Income and Expenditure: Land revenue was the major source of income which varied from 1/4 to 1/6 of the total produce depending on its fertility. The other sources of income were taxes on mines, income from forests; toll-tax, ferry duties and fines etc. This income was used on expenditure in connection with the king and his court, salaries to the armies and officials, construction of roads and hospitals, charity, irrigation projects etc. In this way, heads of income and expenditure were well regulated.

(e) Judicial System: The Mauryan kings gave  special interest to the administration of justice and they themselves looked to it. The judicial system was so efficient that offences like thefts ; were very rare. In this connection Megasthenes writes that average daily theft in Pataliputra with a population of about 6,00,000 did not exceed eight pounds.