Officers of the Mauryan Era

Mauryan Dynasty belongs to Ancient Indian History. History is an important section of the general knowledge syllabus of the government exams. Following we are describing the topic of the important officers of the Mauryan dynasty. Questions were asked about this topic in government exams like SSC CGL, RAILWAYS, BANKING, and some other related exams. 

Introduction of Mauryan Administration-

• Mauryan administration has an important place in Indian administrative history.  
• It was the first centralized administrative system in India.  
• The point of administration was the king.  
• He was the head of the executive, legislature, and judiciary.
• From Kautilya’s Arthashastra, we get the mention of the King’s Council (Council of Ministers). 
• The members of the Council of Ministers were selected from amongst the Amatyas by examination of their merits. 
• The members of the Council of Ministers used to get an annual salary of 12,000 panas. 
•  In the Arthashastra itself, there is a mention of 48 thousand pana annual salary for the Prime Minister, Purohit, Senapati, Sannidhata, and Yuvraj.
• From Kautilya’s Arthashastra we get the mention of 26 presidents. 
• All these were the heads of different departments. And the ministers worked under observation.
• These presidents have been called “magistrates” by Megasthenes.
• Political unity is seen for the first time in India only under the Mauryan administration.
• Despite the centralization of power in the king, the king was not autocratic.
• The republics began to decline during the Mauryan period, as a result of which the position of the monarchical system had become very strong during the Mauryan period.
• Kautilya has propounded the ” Saptang Theory” of the state in a book called Arthashastra.
• According to this theory, Kautilya has prescribed seven organs of the state –
  1- King
  2-Amatya
  3-District
  4-Fortress
  5- Fund
  6- Army
  7- Friends
• During the Mauryan period, the Chief Minister and the appointment were made after a thorough investigation of his character. This was called the “Upadha test”.
• In Kautilya’s Arthashastra, the word “Tirtha” has been used for the top officials of the Mauryan period. Their number was 18.
• Following we are presenting a table of important Mauryan  Officers and their related work-
  

Officer	Related Department And Work
Pradhan Mantri	This was the highest official of the state.
Samaharta	He was head of the Revenue Department
Sannidhata	He was head of the State Treasurer
sena pati	He was Head of the war department
Yuvraj	Heir of the king
Pradeshta	This was the chief justice of the criminal court
Nayak	He used to lead the army
Karmantik	This was the principal inspector of industries
Vyabharika	He was the Chief Justice of the Civil Court
Council of Ministers	He was the head of the Council of Ministers
Dandapal	This was the officer who collected the materials of the army
Antpal	He was the protector of the border forts
Durgpal	He was the protector of the inner forts of the country
Nagarak	This was the chief officer of the city
Prashasta	He was the official to preserve the royal orders,  as well as it used to write down the state orders
Dwarik	This was the chief officer overseeing the palaces
Ant vashik	This was the chief officer of the bodyguard army of the emperor
Atvik	This was the principal officer of the forest department
Purohita	He was the highest religious authority of the state
Dhamma mahamatra	These officers used to propagate Dhamma
Pradeshik	He was the chief officer of the state.
Rajjuk	This was the chief officer of the district.
Yukta	This was the revenue officer.
Prativedak	He was the messenger
Sarpa Mahamatya	The Chief officer of the intelligence department
Gudhapurushas	These were ordinary spies