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Saturday 29 February 2020

KALINGA WAR MAURYAN ADMINISTRATION


KALINGA WAR MAURYAN ADMINISTRATION

Kalinga war is an event of paramount significance for the history of both Odisha as well as India. Fought in the year 261 B.C. by the third Mauryan emperor Ashoka, the war had a huge impact on political, social, economic, religious and cultural fronts.
The kingdom of Magadha (modern Gaya and Patna region of Bihar) rose into prominence in 6th century B.C. under Haryanka dynasty. It maintained its status-quo during the reign of Saisunagas and Nandas. In 322 B.C. Chandragupta Maurya brought an end to Nanda rule and the foundation of Mauryan empire was laid. He ruled for almost half a century
followed by his son and successor Bindusara. Ashoka was the third ruler of the dynasty who Succeeded his father Bindusara in 273 B.C.
The beginning was however not smooth for Ashoka. He had to face a war of succession with his own brothers. The story goes that Ashoka was extremely cruel and violent towards
his brothers and opponents. It was a bloody beginning for which Ashoka earned the notorious title of Chandasoka. Though there are a lot of fabrications and exaggerations it is certain that he had to face initial problems for which his coronation ceremony was delayed for four years.
It took place in 269 B.C. His position now became safe and secure on the Mauryan throne.
Then he carved out the traditional policy of expansion and conquest to extend the boundaries
of his empire.

KALINGA WAR
An event of far-fetching importance during

Ashoka's reign was Kalinga War. Kalinga
was the neighbouring kingdom of Magadha
which had maintained its unique identity for a
very long period. The long cherished desire of
Ashoka to acquire Kalinga prompted him for a
vigorous military campaign eight years after his
coronation in 26l B.C. A lot of factors worked
behind this aggressive memorable war.

Political Cause
The accounts of Kalinga war have been vividly inseribed by Ashoka himself in Rock Edict XIII. The kingdom of Kalinga since 4th century B.C. was politically vibrant,Economically prosperous,commerciallly affluent and militarily advanced.
Its singular identity,distinctive existence and strategic location led to a prestigious position in the easterm coast of India.
          On the other hand, Magadha had inaugurated its imperialistic policy since 6th century B.C. It began to expand under the ruler of several dynasties. The founder of Mauryan Dynasty, Chandragupta Maurya not being an exception,carried on the same policy of war and aggrandisement. Even though he was the ruler of a vast empire, he didn't run the risk of conquering Kalinga because
Kalinga had been branded as abijita (which cannot be conquered).This indirectly refers to the military prowess and invincibility of the Kalingan people. In fact, the people of Kalinga were  indomitable,independent-minded. The Kalingan army was unconquerable. It is known from the account of Lama Taranath (the Tibetan Buddhist monk)
that Bindusara, the father of Ashoka, Who was a great conqueror and had assumed the title of 'amitraghata' (the slayer of foes), did not venture after Kalingan military expedition.
 Thus, it can be concluded that the first two Mauryan rulers were well aware of the heroism and gallantry of the forces of Kalinga. Therefore, the very independent existence of Kalinga was always a possible danger to growing Magadhan imperialism. Also Kalinga was surrounded by Magadha from North,and west. As a logical outcome, Ashoka, the bold and the bravest, wanted to complete unfnished task of his predecessors. He also wanted to provide a mighty base to his empireby annexing Kalinga.

Economic and Commercial Causes

Besides political considerations, the rivalry between Kalinga and Magadha was further intensified by economic and commercial causes. Kalinga was highly prosperous. Behind this economic abundance of Kalinga, there was the role of an undaunted mercantile class.
This valiant mercantile community had monopolised the overseas trade in Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean. They maintained commercial relationship with Srilanka and other South.
Eastern Asian region of Java, Sumatra and Malay. The people of Kalinga were very rich due to commercial bounty. This thriving economic condition of Kalinga was the cause of jealousy because Magadha was deprived of this economic prosperity. In addition, all the trade routes from Gangetic valley in North passed to Deccan via Kalinga. This commercial predominance of Kalinga prompted Ashoka to pursue his policy of conquest. Another cause has been put forward by Lama Taranath for Kalinga war. As per his account the Nagas (sea-faring people of Kalinga) took away, the valuable presentations of Ashoka coming from abroad. The incident sparked further anger. Therefore, Ashoka made claborate plans to conquer Kalinga.

Legendary Cause

A legendary cause is in vogue for Ashoka's Kalinga war. Ashoka wanted to marry Karuvaki, the beautiful girl from a fishermen class. She was the fiancee of Kalingan prince. In
order to marry her, Ashoka declared war against Kalinga. This Karuvaki episode is very much prevalent among the fishermen class which shows Karuvaki as the cause of the war.
Kalinga War

The much expected Kalinga war took place in 261 B.C. on the bank of Daya river near Bhubaneswar. A narrative account of the war is found from Rock Edict XIII of Ashoka which nuns in the following way "Kalinga was conquered by His Sacred and Gracious Majesty when he had been consecrated cight years. 1,50,000 persons were thence carried away captives. 1,00,000 persons were slain and many times that number died. The description is a brief account of the violence of Kalinga War. The furious nature of the war, death and devastation, the precarious condition of the wounded and orphans, touched Ashoka very much. Psychologically upset and mentally weak, he was in search of solace and peace mind. At this fateful hour, Ashoka came in contact with the Buddhist monk, Upagupta. A complete transformation occurred within him. He embraced Buddhism.

Results

The results of Kalinga war have been summarized by Prof. H.C. Roychoudhury. It narrates :
"The conquest of Kalinga was a great landmark in the history of Magadha and of India.

It marks the close of that career of conquest and aggrandizement xxx, It opens a new era of peace, of social progress, of religious propaganda."
 In fact. Kalinga war proved to be a turning point in the annals of India. The war brought an end to the policy of imperialism and conquest and inaugurated the era of humanitarianism
and peace.
The immediate result of Kalinga war was the transformation of the emperor himself-
from Chandasoka (Ashoka, the ogre or Ashoka the demon) to Dharmasoka (Ashoka, the pious or  Ashoka, the virtuous). The inner realization led him to believe that victory through
vioilence, horror and bloodshed was not the real one. The real victory was the conquest of human heart by lofty ideals of mercy. pity, tolerance, forgiveness and all such humanistic
value.
          Ashoka hes reflected himself very aply in his edict:
"In conquering, indeed an unconquered country the slaying, death and deporting that Ogur there, are considered extremely painful and serious by Devanampriya (Ashoka)...
there commenced in the mind of Devanampriya ardent desire for practice of Dhamma, intense love for Dhamma and longing for inculcation of Dhamma."
Thus, after Kalinga war Ashoka became the universal messenger of truth, non-violence,Peace and amity. Bherighosh or war drums were converted to Dharmaghosa or religious-drum that would sound the message of dharma. Yuddhavijay or conquest through war was replaced by Dharmavijay or conquest of human heart through love and service.
 Dharmayatra or religious tour took the place of Viharijatra or pleasure trip. As a part of religious tour, Ashoka now visited places of Buddhist importance like Lumbini, Sarnath, Bodhgaya etc. This royal effort not only glorified Buddhism but also touched popular minds. Thus, Buddhism got rid of
its regional status to a religion of the masses.
The next phase was to achieve the international status. Ashoka now took concrete steps to spread Buddhism beyond the borders of India - from Greece to Myanmar (Burma) and
Himalaya to Ceylon (Srilanka). The Buddhist message of mercy, love, non-violence touched the foreign heart and soil.
With the spread of Buddhism, art tradition of the country came under this spell Buddhist teachings were inscribed on inscriptions, pillars in Brahmi or Kharosti script. Pali language
became the medium of preaching. Considerable amount of money was spent by Ashoka for he construction of stupas, pillars or vihars etc. A new diversion was added to the artistic
legacy of the country.
The political boundary of the Mauryan empire was extended by the inclusion of Kalinga as the fifth province with its capital at Tosali. It became a part and parcel of Mauryan ministration. The invincible legacy of the Kalingan people was lost. The reformed emperor took healing measure by erecting two separate Kalinga edicts at Tosali (Dhauli) and Samapa (Jaugada) and ushered in a benevolent rule in Kalinga where he declared, "All men are my children. Just as for my children, I desire that they should enjoy all
happiness and prosperity both in this world and the next, so for all men I desire the like happiness and prosperity."
Thus, renouncing warfare for good, Ashoka now became the messenger of universal love and fraternity for all times to come - a feat unequalled in the whole of history.

MAURYAN ADMINISTRATION

The systematic, well-organised, well-planned Mauryan
administration constitutes a significant chapter in ancient Indian polity. The founder of the dynasty Chandragupta Maurya was not only a great conqueror, an imperialist of his time but also a far-sighted administrator who implemented an effective administrative system throughout his empire. The system was further regulated and streamlined during the successive reigns of Bindusara and Ashoka.
          Glimpses of Mauryan administration are available in Arthashastra of Kautilya, Indica of Meghasthenes, various edict of Ashoka and fragmentary references from the writings of Greek authors. Of all these source materials, Arthasastra is the most comprehensive one written by Kautilya, friend, philosopher and guide of Chandragupta Maurya. It is a vivid
informative manual that deals with ideals of kingship, civil and criminal administration, judiciary, revenue, espionage system etc. A fair idea can be formed about Mauryan administrative system from the above mentioned sources which are summarised below.

Central Administration

Monarchy was the prevailing form of government where king or the emperor was the pivot of power. But it was a welfare administration with the aim to provide peace, security and
happiness to the subjects. King was the embodiment of all powers: He was the head of the administration, fountain head of justice, highest law maker and the commander-in-chief of the army. But he was far from being a tyrant. Kautilya has briefly explained this ideal:
         "The happiness of the subject is the happiness of the king; their well-being is his well being. The king's welfare lies not in his own pleasure, but in that of the subjects."
          This ideal was further broadened during the reign of the third Mauryan emperor, Ashoka whose rule was a sort of paternal form of govermment-everything founded for the people by the king. Thus, the life of the king wis almost dedicated to the good and welfare of the subjects.
Kautilya has mentioned in Arthasastra -
          Sahayasadhya rajatwam chakramekam na vartate
          Kurbat sachivamstasmatesam cha sraunuyanmatam.

It means a single wheel cannot move without support. Similarly a king alone cannot manage the entire administration without help and assistance of various officers like sachivas or amalyas.
That is why in the Mauryan administration we find the presence of ministers, adhyakshas, sachivas and amatyas who helped the system to move in proper motion.
       In the stupendous task of administration of the empire, the king was assisted by a council of ministers. Prominent among them were Prime minster, Purohita (Chief priest),
Senapati (commander of the army) and Yuvaraj (prince): They were assisted by Durgapala (Governor of the fort), Antapala (Governor of the frontier), Samaharta (collector-general),Sannidhata (Head of treasury), Antarvamsika (Leader of the harem-guards), Prasasta(Head of the police) etc: In this context, Kautilya has referred to a number of departments under Central administration which included Revenue, Excise, Weights and Measures, Tolls, Spinning and Weaving, Mines, Forest Produce, Metals etc.,. The Adhyakshas were there to royal treasury. Sutradhyaksha was the head of the textile unit while Sulkadhyaksha looked after collection of taxes and tolls. As a matter of fact, Council of ministers was purely an advisory body where the members provided valuable suggestions and inputs to the king.
           Kautilya had also made references to a class of amatyas or sachivas who were also look after the functioning of their respective departments. Kosadhyaksha was in charge of active helping hands to the king in providing administrative details.

Provincial Administration

For administrative convenience the empire was divided into four provinces which were Uttarapatha, Avantiratha, Prachya, Dakshinapatha, with their capitals at Taxila, Ujjain, Pataliputra and Survamagiri respectively. The capital of the newly conquered province Kalinga was Tosali. Provincial governors were usually princes of royal blood and were styled as Kumaras. The province had a separate council of ministers which was an exact replica of the central govemment to help the Kumars in administration.
       Provinces were divided into Visayas (modern district) with Visaypati as the head. He was answerable to Kumar for administrative happenings. According to Dr. A.S. Altekar,
"The provincial government was required to maintain law and order, collect taxes for central government, cooperate in the works of different departments and keep a watch over the feudatories and frontier people."Thus, it acted as the connecting link between Centre on one hand, vishayas and villages on the other.

Village Administration

The lowest administrative unit was the village. The head of the village was Gramika, He was assisted by grama-vriddhas or grama jyesthas (village elders). Above gramika, Arthasastra places Gopa who looked after five to ten villages and then Sthanika who controlled almost one quarter of a janapada. These officers worked under the general supervision of Samaharta and Pradestri (officers in charge of local administration.)

Municipal Administration

The Mauryan rulers had evolved an excellent system of Municipal administration whích carned the admiration of the foreigners. The chief administrative officer of the city was
'Nagaradhyakha' According to Meghasthenes, the capital city of Pataliputra was governed by a group of 30 municipal commissions who formed themselves into 6 boards. Kautilya has too thrown a flood of light on this topic. Each board had separate functions allotted to it.
·         Board of Industries looked after industrial arts,
·         Board of Foreigners looked after the comfort of the foreigners in the city.
·         Board of Census recorded the births and deaths of citizens.
·         Board of Manufactured Goods supervised manufactured articles.
·         Board of Merchants regulated trade and commerce.
·         Board of Taxes collected taxes on the value of the goods sold.
Besides, the commissioners in their collective capacity were in charge of public welfare. repairs of public works and such other matters.

Judicial Administration

Both Meghasthenes and Kautilya have given vivid references to the judicial administration of the Mauryan state. According to Indian jurisprudence, the law of the land was de facto if not the de jure sovereign of the country. Being the fountain head of justice, the king was to administer the existing laws of the land. But the special tribunals in the city and country were presided by Mahamatras and Rajukas respectively. The petty village cases were decided by the village elders,
     Arthasastra refers to two types of law courts - Dharmasthiya Court and Kantakasodhan Court. The former looked after civil matters relating to sales, marriage,agreement, gift, property, contracts, boundary disputes etc. Here three amatyas used to act as judges being assisted by three learned Brahmin pundits. The latter court, that is Kantakasodhana Court, dealt with criminal matters like theft, robbery, murder, fraud and treason. The amatya judges used to impart justice with the help of spies and legal experts.
The cases against the vedict of these subordinate courts could be filed in the Supreme Court at the capital where king was the highest court of appeal. The penal code was very harsh. The culprit was punished by mutilation, whipping and
beheading. Even for ordinary offence, heavy fines with capital punishment was in practice. As a result theft was a thing of rare occurrance.

Revenue Administration

Like other Hindu states the Mauryan state also aimed at realization of trivarga that is dharma, artha and kama. Kautilya too puts emphasis on artha or money because with an insufficient treasury, the king, would be forced to resort to resources which would evoke popular resentment, revolution. So money matters a lot. The primary source of state's income was land revenuc for which lands were divided into two categories. The produce of the crown land was shared in tax form called Sita while Bhaga was the share of revenue from private lands. The collection of taxes varied from one- fourth to one-sixth depending upon the fertility of the soil. Setu was levied on vegetables and fruits. In addition to land tax, villagers also paid Pindakara, Senabhaktam at the time of the
army's march through the village. Bali seems to have been an extra impost from the payment of which certain tracts were exempted. Taxes were collected on excise, trade and forests. A considerable part of revenue was spent on army, artisans, philosophers and sramanas. Vast sums were also spent for irrigation, construction of roads and buildings, fortifications and during the reign of Ashoka on charitable purposes.

Military Administration

The vast Mauryan empire maintained a highly disciplined and
 well-equipped army. The military department itself was very
 competent and advanced under the able stewardship of
military head Baladhakshya. From an account it is known that
 the Mauryan ammy consisted of 6,00,000 infantry, 30,000
cavalry, 8,000 chariots and 9,000 elephants.
       Such a vast army was organised by a council of 30
 members which was further sub-divided into 6 Boards of 5
members each. They were Board of Navy, Board of
ManagingTransport, Board of Infantry, Board of Cavalry,
 Board of Elephantry and Board of Chariore Different Boards had their respective functions. The chief of cavalry, elephantry and charioteers were known as Aswadhakshya, Hastyadhakshya and Rathadhakshve respectively. These 30 members no doubt were collectively responsible for the functioning of the entire military organization. Kaytilya further adds a Board of Medical Aid which was in charge of medicines and herbs, serving the injured during the time of war.

              The recruitment of army was made from various sources. There were hereditaru soldiers. The soldiers of an allied king, capitives from enemy camp, were included at the time of necessity.Swords, spears, bows and arTows were used in the battle-field. A particularly developed weapon Sataghni could kill hundred enemies at a time. Such a vast military organisation was the base of a strong Mauryan empire.


Spy system
The Mauryans had developed an efficient system of
 espionage or spies. Their duty was to supervise what is done throughout the country and in the cities and to make reports to the king. Arthsastra refers to two categories of spies like Samsthah or stationery one and the Samcharaka or mobile one. Women were also appointed in this department who proved themselves more efficient than the men folk. The efficiency of such a spy system helped for the
smooth running of administration to a considerable extent.

Administrative Additions of Ashoka

As mentioned earlier, the foundation of the Mauryan administration was laid by Chandragupta Maurya. It was a highly organised system of administration under a powerful
bureaucracy at the centre though much room was left for local-self-government. The system was further enriched with the addition of some new measures by the third ruler of the dynasty, Ashoka. Being an organiser of victory and peace, had introduced some reforming measures to give it a more benevolent outlook.
               After Kalinga war, he was a changed personality more lofty, humanitarian in approach, and tender hearted in outward manifestations. After becoming a Buddhist, he wanted to make the religion a universal one. So he added certain new steps in administrative machinery. For the first time religion was attached with administration.
          Three new classes of officers like Rajukas, Pradesikas and Yutas were included religious functionaries. The Pradesikas assisted the Kumars in the provincial administratiol.
Rajukas, were appointed for public welfare activities. Yutas or Dharmayutas were meant for the spiritual and moral uplift of the people. Again the three combined were directed to go on
tours to several places of the empire for imparting principles of dharma in alien lands.
        The Dharma Mahamatras were totally a new grade of officers who aimed at bringing material and spiritual progress of the people by inculcating the principles of piety. For the
frontier population, its corollary Anta-Mohamatra group was set up.
            It was benevolence and kindness for all- that marked the improvement of Asokan administration over the previous order. Both man and animal tasted the fruit of welfare dministration in health and hygiene. Construction of hospitals, rest houses, roads and public buildings, planting of trees, digging of wells and tanks were parts of his populist programmes.
Even in the field of judiciary, Ashoka made an egalitarian approach by introducing danda samata (uniformity of punishment), vyavahara samata (uniformity of legal procedure). High-low, poor-rich, touchable-untouchable - all came under the altar of equal treatment.
            To sum up, Mauryan administration created a strong centre which gave stability to the empire. This administrative frame-work being a systematic one, has been highly appreciated for its liberal spirit and humanistic approach. Several aspects of this administration constituted he base for all future administration of the Guplas, the Muslims and the British. To conclude vith the works of K.M.Panikkar:
'If the present Indian administration in analysed to its base the principles and practices of Mauryan state organisation will be found to be still in force.'

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