The Mauryan Polity

In The Mauryan Polity the author has examined the extent and char-acter of the Mauryan Empire, its central administration, and local and provincial governments, and concludes with a chapter on religion in the Mauryan State. He also has shown the similarity in the inscriptions in A?oka's edicts and Kau_til?yan polity by comparing the two. By way of new interpretations suggested for different terms and passages of the edicts, the author holds that one can reconstruct the political history of A?oka and his predecessors, and based on such reconstruction, he has attempted to establish the character of the government of that era.

The work is an amplification of five lectures delivered by the author at the University of Madras in 1929-30. The volume is based on three main sources: Artha?h?stra by Kau_t?lya, inscriptions on A?oka's edicts and the surviving fragments of Megasthenes' work, Indika. The author has critically examined the authenticity of his three main sources of information and maintains that Kau_t?lya's work and A?oka's edicts are highly reliable; the fragments of Megasthenes' work have been used to sup­plement?the?primary?sources.

The author has referred to several other sources such as translations by McCrindle, and Cowell and Thomas, and others; journals and reports including those of the ASI, of the Bombay Historical Society, of the Royal Asiatic Society of both London and Bengal, among numerous others; as well as several works that include those of Buhler, K.V.R. Aiyangar, Vincent?Smith,?Cunningham,?Sir?Henry?Maine,?Rapson,?and?others.