Answer to Question #258537 in History for no name

Question

What is Arthashastra? How did it describe the bureaucracy, army and police system of the Mauryan ages? 

Answer 1

The Arthashastra is an Indian treatise on politics, economics, military strategy, state function, and social organization attributed to the philosopher and Prime Minister Kautilya (also known as Chanakya, Vishnugupta, l. c. 350-275 BCE), who was instrumental in establishing the reign of the great king Chandragupta Maurya (r. c. 321-c. 297 BCE), founder of the Mauryan Empire (322-185 BCE).

The Maurya and Gupta Empires were able to preserve security and political unity throughout broad swaths of western and southern Asia by adopting a well-organized bureaucratic organization. A shared economic structure maintained steady agriculture across enormous land holdings, as well as successful trade and commerce, as part of this bureaucratic framework. The rulers of these empires united the formerly broken regions of the Indian subcontinent by centralized control, which included a powerful military. Senapati was the Emperor's military commander-in-chief, and his rank was next to the Emperor. The Emperor had appointed him. Infantry, cavalry, chariots, elephant forces, navy, and transport and provisions were the five sectors of the military. The army received its pay in cash. There were police stations in all of the major cities. Bandhangara was the name of the jail, and Charaka was the name of the lock-up.