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ETERNAL
INDIA
encyclopedia
A GREAT DESTINATION
EARLY TRAVELLERS
The first authentic description of India by a foreign observer is
that of Megasthenes, the Greek Ambassador at the Court of Chan-
dragupta Maurya in Pataliputra (circa 305 B.C.). Megasthenes
wrote a detailed account of India but only fragments have survived
through numerous citations by Roman and Greek authors like
Strabo, Pliny, Arrian, Diodorus and others.
The first thing which struck Megasthenes on entering India
was the road from the frontier to Pataliputra (Patna) down which
the envoy must have travelled to the capital. It was constructed in
eight stages and ran from the frontier town of Peukelaotis, the
capital of Gandhara, the region around Peshwar and Rawalpindi in
Pakistan, to Taxila, from Taxila across the Indus to the Jhelum, then
to the Beas and the Sutlej, from the Sutlej to the Jamuna and from
the Jamuna to the Ganges. From the Ganges the road ran to Kanauj
and Prayag and from Prayag to Pataliputra.
At regular distances along the road were milestones. The road
was of immense commercial and strategic value. It enabled troops
to be moved to the farthest confines of the empire and facilitated
the movement of goods to and from India. The prosperity of the
foreign trade is attested by the elaborate regulations made by
Chandragupta, as described by Megasthenes, for the entertain-
ment of foreign merchants. There was a special board or municipal
commission to look after their interests.
Megasthenes remarks on the hugeness of the animals — ele-
phants, pythons, tigers and hunting - hounds — and the curious
plants and trees — the "reed" (the palmyra) out of which boats
could be made, the banyan with its spreading branches, the "vege-
table wool" or cotton, the "honey - bearing reed" or sugar-cane and
the ubiquitous rice plant.
Megasthenes wrote that the Emperor Chandragupta lived in a
magnificent palace at Pataliputra (Patna) which was built of wood
and unburnt brick and surrounded by a wide moat. It was the
custom, says Megasthenes, to use wood where floods were com-
mon, and brick and mud when the buildings were on elevated
ground.
Chandragupta's rule was considered tyrannous and oppressive.
Megasthenes says he was obliged to dwell amid strict seclusion.
He was in constant fear of assassination and changed his bedroom
every night. He had tunnels dug under the palace walls. He was
surrounded by a bodyguard of women who cooked his food, served
his wine and carried him to his apartment and lulled him to sleep
with Indian music.
In the day he sat in the Hall of Justice, hearing complaints, while
his attendants massaged him with wooden rollers, rubbed scented
ointment on his feet and combed and dressed his long hair.
On rare occasions when the monarch left the seclusion of the
royal palace, to offer sacrifice or go hunting, he was surrounded by
his Amazonian guard. One or two women heavily armed rode in the
chariot, while others were mounted on horses or elephants. The
road used by the monarch was cordoned off with ropes and no one
was allowed to come near.
The women bodyguards were foreigners, mostly Greek women.
Being foreign mercenaries they were likely to be loyal to their
employer and not participate in plots against him.
Megasthenes divided Indian society into seven castes. He
mixes up the traditional four castes of Hindu society with the
official bodies created by Chandragupta. First, in order in the
catalogue of Megasthenes came the Philosophers employed in
literary, scientific or religious pursuits — the Brahmins. Next came
the Husbandman, who was exempted from military service, took no
part in war and politics, lived and worked on his farm, rarely going to
the city. Often, say Megasthenes, you might see him calmly
ploughing while two armies were fighting a battle a little distance
off.
The third class consisted of Herdsmen, and included shepherds
and hunters. They were mostly members of aboriginal tribes and as
such belonged to the Sudras, the lowest stratum of Hindu society.
They cleared the fields of the tigers, boars and other wild animals
which molested the flocks, herds and crops of the villagers. They
caught and tamed the elephants which played an important part in
the army of Chandragupta. In return for their services they received
an allowance of corn from the Royal Exchequer.
The fourth consisted of Artisans. These were Vaisyas like the
Agriculturists and included Armourers and Shipwrights.
The fifth caste was the Military caste, the Kshatriyas, who
were employed in the immense standing army of Chandragupta.
Sixth came the Overseers or Inspectors, a branch of the civil
service specially maintained by Chandragupta. These officials
travelled round inspecting the work of the government officials and
furnishing confidential reports to the Emperor on their conduct.
The seventh and last caste was that of the Royal Councillors,
the ministers who formed the Privy Council of the Emperor.
Apart from these seven castes there was the civil service
proper — the body of officials who looked after the repair of roads,
collected taxes, superintended irrigation and the construction of
irrigation works, kept an eye on the woodcutters and saw to it that
they did not indulge in any unauthorised cutting of trees.
Slavery, a universal custom in Graeco - Roman times, was un-
known in India. Megasthenes notes this with admiration. Polyg-
amy was common among the upper classes but women enjpyed