Administrative system of Maurya rulers:

(i) The Mauryas established an elaborate system of administration. The king played the chief role in the entire administrative system.

(ii) The king was assisted by a council of ministers but the king himself took all final decisions regarding revenue, law and order, war or any other matter related to administration. 

(iii) The king appointed a council of ministers called mantriparishad. There were various other officials, who helped him perform his duties. These officials were known as amatyas, mahamatras and adhayakshas. or superintendents who were responsible for running various economic departments like agriculture, mining, weaving, trade, etc.

(iv) Samaharta was the most important executive officer. He was responsible for the collection of taxes from all types of sources. Most of the superintendents mentioned above, functioned on his orders.

(v) The Mauryas also employed a large number of spies.

(vi) The Mauryans maintained a huge army. According to Greek writer Justin, Chandragupta maintained 6,00,000 infantry, 30, 000 cavalry, 9,000 elephants and 8,000 chariots.

(vii) Megasthenes reports that administration of different branches of army was carried out through six committees of five members each. An officer called antahpala was responsible for the security of frontier forts. 

(viii) As far as judicial administration is concerned, the king was the supreme authority, but various civil as well as criminal courts functioned at the local level right from village to province. It seems most of the cases were disposed off at the village level by village elders.

(ix) The Mauryan Empire was divided into four other provinces with capitals at Texila (north-western India), Suvarnagiri (southern India), Tosali (eastern India) and Ujjain (western India). These were put under the control of royal princes called kumara. Pataliputra was the capital of the entire empire. It was under the control of the king.

(x) The city administration of Pataliputra, according to Megasthenes, was conducted by six committees of five members each. Each committee was assigned different subjects such as industry, foreigners, birth and death registration, trade and market regulations and tax collection to look after.

(xi) However, it is not sure whether the entire Indian subcontinent had similar type of city administration. It seems that while central province of Magadha was under strict supervision of the king, other far-flung areas might have witnessed varied degree of administrative control.