(i) The Empire was divided into four provinces, with the royal capital at Pataliputra. The names of the four provincial capitals are Tosali (in the east), Ujjain (in the west), Suvarnagiri (in the and Taxila (in the north).

(ii) The head of the provincial administration was the Kumara (royal prince), who governed the provinces as king's representative.

(iii) The Kumara was assisted by mahamatyas and council of ministers. This organisational structure was reflected at the imperial level with the Emperor and his. Mantriparishad (Council of Ministers).

(iv) The bureaucracy was not required to restructure conquered areas to conform to a uniform pattern but to ensure the flow of revenue.

(v) At the peak period of the empire, there was a group of officers, basically concerned with revenue administration, who appear to have been centrally appointed and who were required to tour the areas under their jurisdiction and enquire into the well-being of the subjects.

(vi) Irrigation was considerably decentralised, frequently in small-scale systems drawing water from rivers, pools, wells, springs and artificial ponds called tanks. More elaborate reservoirs and river banks were built with local resources, though the empire assisted irrigation works in newly settled lands. Evidence suggests that irrigation works were locally controlled.

(vii) The organisation of the empire was in line with the extensive bureaucracy described by Kautilya in the Arthashastra: a sophisticated civil service governed everything from municipal hygiene to international trade.

(viii) The expansion and defence of the empire was made possible by what appears to have been the largest standing army of its time. According to Megasthenes, the possessed wielded a military of 600,000 infantry, 30,000 cavalry, and 9,000 war elephants. There was a vast espionage system which collected intelligence for both internal and external security purposes. Having renounced offensive warfare and expansionism, Ashoka nevertheless continued to maintain this large army, to protect the Empire and instil stability and peace across West and South Asia.