In the beginning of the Vedic age people did not have
a settled life and were nomads but with development in agriculture
people started to settle down in groups. The organization was mainly
tribal and the head of the tribe was supposed to be the raja or the
King, though the concept of King had yet not developed. With the passage
of time large kingdoms started to grow and by the 6th century BC there
were 16 Mahajanapadas (Kingdoms).
There were many small republics also in ancient India. These republics
had some elements of democracy in their administration. The king (raja)
was the supreme head of the legislative, executive and judiciary
branches. He was assisted in administration by a number of officials.
The members of the council of minister could give advice to the king,
but final decisions were left to the king. The ministers and other
officials were directly appointed by the king.
During the Mauryan period there existed both civil and military
officials. They were paid a salary in cash. The highest official was
paid the salary of 48000 panas (Unit of money) per year. The soldiers
were paid 500 panas per year. There were officials who maintained the
records of population, income and expenditure of government. We find
reference to officials and clerks who collected income tax and custom
duties. Spy system was an important feature of Mauryan administration.
The royal agents and the spies could contact the king at any time and
they reported to the king about various developments in his kingdom. The
empire was divided into many provinces and each one of these provinces
was governed by a governor and council of ministers. In the provinces
there were local officials called rajukas, who became more powerful
during the reign of Ashoka. There were certain departments which decided
certain important matters of administration. There existed a standing
army which was again controlled by certain committees.
Administration structure during the Gupta period was exceptionally good
in spite of large empire. During the Gupta period also the
administration was more or less like the Mauryas. The most important
difference between the Gupta and Mauryan administration was
centralization and decentralization of administration. In the Gupta
administration, the governors of the provinces were more independent as
compared to the Mauryans, where the administration was highly
centralized.
