1. Political centres of the Empire
2. Rule of the provinces
3. Urban rule
4. Administering the military
5. Revenue system
6. judicial system
Mauryas had an extensive administrative system. The empire was huge and extensive. It contained mountainous regions, deserts, plains, border areas and sea shores. It was not easy to establish a unified system of government in such widely different areas. Therefore there were different kinds of administration in different areas.
In the empire, there were five important political centres. They were the capital Pataliputra and four provincial centres Thoshali, Takshasila, Ujjaini and Suvarnagiri. All these are mentioned in the inscriptions of Asoka. The capital Pataliputra was under the direct control of the King.
In the capital and the provincial centres, the control of the central government was strong. These centres were chosen with care. They all had much economic importance.
For example, Takshsila and Ujjaini were situated along the trade routes to distance places. Suvarnagiri was important in exploiting the gold mines in Karnataka.
1. The administration of the Mauryas was highly centralized. The supreme authority of the country and administration was the King. He also handled the military and judicial power.
2. There was an Advisory Committee called the ‘Mantri Parishat’. This helped the King in the administrative matters.
3. For carrying out the administrative work the Mauryas employed a huge number of officials.
4. The Mauryas also had a highly developed spy system. The spies continued informing the king of the various developments in the country.
5. Ruling the Provinces and Regional Administration: The Empire was divided into 4 provinces. Each province was under a governor or a viceroy.
6. Often a prince acted as the viceroy. The provinces were divided into districts. The head of the district was known as ‘Stanika’.
The smallest part in the administrative set up was the village. The village head was called ‘Gramika’. There were special arrangements for the administration of the urban centres. The administration was extensive and planned. A Council with 30 members supervised the administration of the capital, Pataliputra. The Council was divided into 6 Committees of 5 members each.
Each Committee had separate responsibilities.
1. The 1st Committee supervised matters of health and hygiene.
2. The 2nd Committee was in charge of taking care of the foreigners:
3. The 3rd Committee recorded births and deaths.
4. The 4th Committee controlled weights and measures.
5. The 5th Committee inspected the manufactured goods.
6. The 6th Committee collected taxes.
Military Arrangement:
The army ensured the safety of the country and the people. The army was organized in an ecient manner. In the Maurya military, there were six divisions – footmen, cavalry, elephants, chariots, navy, and transport. As per the Greek sources, the Mauryan army had more than 60,000 footmen, 30,000 horses and 9000 elephants. But some historians think that these are exaggerated figures. Megasthenes says that to make the work of the army easy, there was a Committee with 6 sub-committees.
Each subcommittee had the following responsibilities.
1 – supervised the navy.
2 – supervised transport and arrangements for food.
3 – was in charge of the footmen.
4 – controlled the cavalry.
5 – was in charge of the chariots.
6 – took care of the elephants.
The 2nd subcommittee had extensive duties. It had to prepare bullock carts for moving goods, ensure that the soldiers and animals got proper food, and employ servants and helpers to take care of the needs of soldiers.
Judicial Administration:
The Mauryas had their own judicial system. The king was the highest authority in their judicial system. He was also the supreme court. To handle the various civil and criminal cases there were courts across the country. The punishment was according to the crime. For small. offences, there were only fines. But for big offences, there could be the death penalty.
Tax System:
The country needed a lot of money to maintain a large army and a group of officials. Therefore. the government took plenty of taxes from people. Many of the economic activities were controlled by the government. The highest income was from land tax. Mining, licenses, import-export and customs also brought money into the treasury. Mining, selling of alcoholic beverages, and production of arms were the monopoly of the government. All this brought huge revenues.
Land and water transport was essential for the existence and prosperity of the country.
Trade and commerce depended on these transports, Journeys from the central capital to the provinces took a long time. Therefore the government did a lot of things to improve the transport and communication system .and to ensure the safety of the travellers.
