Mauryan Administration and Economy
NCERT Class 12 - Themes in Indian History Part I, Chapter 2
Mauryan Administration and Economy
The Mauryan state was centralised at the core and looser at the edges. The king headed a council of ministers, a graded bureaucracy collected revenue, and an elaborate spy network reported directly to the centre. Land revenue was the mainstay of the treasury.
Central administration
- The king was the head of the executive, the army and justice, assisted by a mantriparishad, a council of ministers.
- Samaharta was the chief collector of revenue; Sannidhata was the treasurer in charge of the state store.
- Departments called adhyakshas looked after mining, forests, weights, ports, weaving and the mint.
- A large body of spies, the gudhapurushas, worked as fixed agents or wandering informers and reported directly to the king.
Provincial and local administration
- The empire had a core province around Pataliputra and four outer provinces, each headed by a prince of royal blood called kumara or aryaputra.
| Province | Capital |
|---|---|
| Uttarapatha, the north-west | Taxila |
| Avantirashtra, the west | Ujjain |
| Dakshinapatha, the south | Suvarnagiri |
| Kalinga, the east | Tosali |
| Core region | Pataliputra |
- Pradeshika was the head of a district, Rajuka looked after revenue and justice in a rural area, and Yukta was a subordinate officer handling accounts.
- The village was the smallest unit, under the gramika, who was a village headman chosen locally and not a paid officer.
City government at Pataliputra
- Megasthenes describes six committees of five members each, thirty officials in all, running the capital.
- The committees looked after crafts and industry, foreigners, births and deaths, trade and commerce, manufactured goods, and the collection of sales tax.
- The war office was similarly organised into six boards of five, covering infantry, cavalry, chariots, elephants, the navy and transport.
- Megasthenes also says Indian society was divided into seven classes - a description most historians treat as a Greek misunderstanding of jati and occupation.
Economy
- Land revenue, called bhaga, was the main head, usually one-sixth of the produce, with additional cesses in irrigated areas.
- The state owned mines, forests, salt and large crown farms called sita lands, worked by hired labour and prisoners.
- Punch-marked silver coins, known as pana, circulated widely and show a money economy.
- Royal roads, including the great north-west highway from Pataliputra to Taxila, carried trade; the state maintained rest houses, wells and shade trees along them.
- Northern Black Polished Ware is the characteristic fine pottery of this period.
हिंदी संकेत: समाहर्ता राजस्व वसूलता था और सन्निधाता कोष संभालता था। दोनों के काम अलग हैं - यही सबसे अधिक पूछा जाने वाला अंतर है।
Exam me kaise aata hai
Match-the-following on official and duty, and on province and capital, is very common. Factual questions ask the number of committees at Pataliputra and the rate of land revenue. Statement-based questions test whether the gramika was a paid officer and whether Megasthenes's seven classes are accepted.
UPSC / State PSC ke liye
Note the difference between the Arthashastra's ideal of total control and the practical reality - the edicts show the frontier provinces were managed through local elites, and the empire was really a set of zones with different intensities of control. This "core and periphery" model is the preferred analytical frame.
Yahan confuse hote hain
✗ Sannidhata collected the revenue | ✓ Samaharta collected revenue; Sannidhata was the treasurer
✗ Suvarnagiri was the capital of the western province | ✓ Ujjain was western; Suvarnagiri was the southern capital
✗ Rajuka commanded the army | ✓ Rajuka handled rural revenue and justice
Ek nazar me
- King with a mantriparishad at the centre; adhyakshas ran the departments.
- Samaharta collected revenue, Sannidhata kept the treasury, gudhapurushas were spies.
- Four provinces - Taxila, Ujjain, Suvarnagiri, Tosali - under royal princes.
- Pradeshika, rajuka and yukta below them; gramika headed the village.
- Pataliputra run by six committees of five; war office by six boards of five.
- Land revenue bhaga about one-sixth; punch-marked pana coins; NBPW pottery.