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Q1. How did political organisation change from the Vedic period to the age of large empires such as the Mauryas and the Guptas? Explain the administrative system of the early Indian states.
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Political organisation began with the jana , a kin-based group led by a raja who functioned mainly as a clan chief, leading in warfare and protecting his people. Between about 1000 BCE and 600 BCE , identity increasingly became linked to territory, producing janapadas . From about the 6th century BCE , larger units called mahajanapadas emerged; historical sources usually speak of sixteen. Magadha gradually became the most powerful and its expansion led to the Mauryan Empire.
Northern India included both monarchical states (rajyas) and republican states (ganas or samghas) .
Large states were administered through several territorial levels: provinces, divisions, districts, groups of villages and villages . The king remained the supreme authority, while provincial and local officers carried out administration. The Satavahana example includes aharas with amatyas and villages under a gramika . The Guptas retained much of the earlier system and introduced posts such as the sandhivigrahika and kumaramatyas . Villages remained the lowest administrative units; in several later kingdoms, village assemblies handled important local functions.
