Which of the following was a feature of the mauryan political system?

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The main features of Mauryan administration were:

• There were five important political centres in the Mauryan Empire: Patliputra (the capital city) and the provincial centres of Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali and Suvarnagiri.
• It was not possible for such a large empire to have a uniform administrative system so historians believe that the administrative control was perhaps strongest in the capital and in provincial centres.
• Communications along the land and riverine routes were developed to administer the Empire.
• The army was an important tool for not only extending the territories of the empire but also for administering them.
• Committees and sub-committees were formed for coordinating military activities. They looked after the navy, horses, chariots, elephants, recruiting soldiers and managing transport and food supplies for soldiers.
• Asoka held his Empire together by propagating the doctrine of Dhamma, whose principles were simple and universally applicable. The doctrine propagated the ideas of peace, non-violence and respect towards elders. Dhamma mahamattas were appointed to spread the principles of Dhamma.

The last feature of the Mauryan administration is evident in the Asokan inscriptions that we have studied. It is because Ashoka inscribed the main features of his policy of 'dhamma'. According to the inscriptions, he had also appointed Special officers called Dhamma Mahamtras to spread Dhamma. 

Answered by Expert 30th May 2018, 9:11 AM

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Learning Objective

• Describe the significance of the political stability offered by the Mauryan Empire

Key Points

• The Mauryan Empire was divided into four provinces, each governed by the Kumara, who served as the king’s representative.
• Emperor Ashoka maintained a massive standing army to protect the Mauryan Empire and instill stability and peace across West and South Asia.
• Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka’s grandfather, had established a single currency across India, a network of regional governors and administrators, and a civil service to provide justice and security for merchants, farmers and traders that continued throughout the Mauryan Dynasty.
• The Mauryan international network of trade extended to the Greek states and Hellenic kingdoms in West Asia and into Southeast Asia.

An ancient Indian treatise on government, statecraft, military, and economy.

Khyber Pass

A strategically important trade stop on the modern boundary of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

standing army

A permanent army composed of full-time soldiers that is not disbanded during times of peace.

Kumara

A royal prince who oversaw the Mauryan provinces on behalf of the emperor.

Employing a carefully organized bureaucratic system, the Maurya Empire was able to maintain security and political unity across large parts of western and southern Asia. This included a common economic system supporting stable agriculture in its vast landholdings, as well as successful trade and commerce. Through this centralized authority, which included a powerful military, the rulers of the empire bound together the previously fractured regions of the Indian Subcontinent.

Unification and Military

Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Maurya Empire, ruled from 324-297 BCE, before voluntarily abdicating in favor of his son, Bindusara, who ruled from 297 BCE until his death in 272 BCE. This led to a war of succession in which Bindusara’s son, Ashoka, defeated his brother, Susima, and rose to the throne in 268 BCE, eventually becoming the greatest ruler of the Maurya Dynasty.

Before the Mauryan Empire, the Indian subcontinent was fragmented into hundreds of kingdoms. These were ruled by powerful regional chieftains with small armies that engaged in internecine warfare. The Mauryan Army eliminated regional chieftains, private armies, and even gangs of bandits, who sought to impose their own supremacy in small areas.

The Mauryan Army, the largest standing military force of its time, supported the expansion and defense of the empire. According to scholars, the empire wielded 600,000 infantry, 30,000 cavalry, and 9,000 war elephants, while a vast espionage system collected intelligence for both internal and external security purposes. Although Emperor Ashoka renounced offensive warfare and expansionism, he maintained this standing army to protect the empire from external threats and maintain stability and peace across Western and Southern Asia.

Administration

The Mauryan Empire was divided into four provinces, with the imperial capital at Pataliputra, near the Ganges River in the modern state of Bihar in India. The Edicts of Ashoka, a collection of inscriptions made during Ashoka’s reign from 268-232 BCE, give the names of the Maurya Empire’s four provincial capitals: Tosali in the east, Ujjain in the west, Suvarnagiri in the south, and Taxila in the north.

The organizational structure began at the imperial level with the emperor and his Mantriparishad, or Council of Ministers. The head of the provincial administration was the Kumara, or royal prince, who governed the provinces as the king’s representative, with the assistance of Mahamatyas, who were essentially regional prime ministers. Through this sophisticated system of bureaucracy, the empire governed all aspects of government at every level, from municipal hygiene to international trade.

Maurya Empire at its greatest extent (dark orange), including vassal kingdoms (light orange), 265 BCE. The Maurya Empire provided political stability with a unified central government, which in turn encouraged economic prosperity.

Centralization and Taxation

Chandragupta Maurya, the father of the dynasty, established a single currency across India, a network of regional governors and administrators, and a civil service to provide justice and security for merchants, farmers, and traders.

Through the disciplined central authority of the Mauryan Empire, farmers were freed of tax and crop collection burdens from regional kings. Instead, they paid a nationally administered system of taxation that was strict but fair. The system operated under the principles of the Arthashastra, an ancient Indian treatise on economic policy, statecraft, and military strategy. Written in Sanskrit and adhering to Hindu philosophies, the Arthashastra includes books on the nature of government, law, civil and criminal courts, ethics, and economic topics, including markets and trade, agriculture, mineralogy, mining and metals, forestry, and others.

Although regimental in revenue collection, the Mauryan Empire funded numerous public works projects to enhance productivity. Like his father and grandfather, Ashoka sponsored the construction of thousands of roads, waterways, canals, rest houses, hospitals, and other types of infrastructure.

Under continued Mauryan rule, political unity and military security encouraged a common economic system, increased agricultural productivity, and enhanced widespread trade and commerce for the first time in West and South Asia.

Coins of the Maurya Empire. Chandragupta Maurya established a single currency across India, including these silver punch mark coins with symbols of wheel and elephant, 3rd century BCE

Trade and Commerce

The Maurya Empire’s political unity and internal peace encouraged the expansion of trade in India. Under the Indo-Greek friendship treaty during Ashoka’s reign, the Mauryan international network of trade saw great expansion.

The Khyber Pass, on the modern boundary of Pakistan and Afghanistan, became a strategically important point of trade and interaction with the outside world. Greek states and Hellenic kingdoms in West Asia became trading partners. Trade also extended through the Malay Peninsula into Southeast Asia. India’s exports included silk, textiles, spices, and exotic foods. The outside world gained new scientific knowledge and technology through expanded trade with the Mauryan Empire.

Sources

The Mauryan Empire, which formed around 321 B.C.E. and ended in 185 B.C.E., was the first pan-Indian empire, an empire that covered most of the Indian region. It spanned across central and northern India as well as over parts of modern-day Iran.

The Mauryan Empire’s first leader, Chandragupta Maurya, started consolidating land as Alexander the Great’s power began to wane. Alexander’s death in 323 B.C.E. left a large power vacuum, and Chandragupta took advantage, gathering an army and overthrowing the Nanda power in Magadha, in present-day eastern India, marking the start of the Mauryan Empire. After crowning himself king, Chandragupta took additional lands through force and by forming alliances.

Chandragupta’s chief minister Kautilya, sometimes called Chanakya, advised Chandragupta and contributed to the empire’s legacy. In addition to being a political strategist, Kautilya is also known for writing the Arthashastra, a treatise about leadership and government. The Arthashastra describes how a state should organize its economy and maintain power. Chandragupta’s government closely resembled the government described in the Arthashastra. One notable aspect of the Arthashastra was its focus on spies. Kautilya recommended the king have large networks of informants to work as a surveillance force for the ruler. The focus on deception reveals a pragmatic, and borderline cynical, view of human nature.

Bindusara, Chandragupta’s son, assumed the throne around 300 B.C.E. He kept the empire running smoothly while maintaining its lands. Bindusara’s son, Ashoka, was the third leader of the Mauryam Empire. Ashoka left his mark on history by erecting large stone pillars inscribed with edicts that he issued. After leading a bloody campaign against Kalinga (a region on the central-eastern coast of India), Ashoka reevaluated his commitment to expanding the empire and instead turned to Buddhism and its tenet of nonviolence. Many of his edicts encouraged people to give up violence and live in peace with each other—two important Buddhist principals.

After Ashoka’s death, his family continued to reign, but the empire began to break apart. The last of the Mauryas, Brihadratha, was assassinated by his commander in chief—a man named Pushyamrita who went on to found the Shunga Dynasty—in 185 B.C.E.