________________
INTRODUCTION
The Jain Canons, in the manner of the Jatakas, are not administrative manuals like the Arthasästra or the Dharmasútras which can supply us with a full, connected and systematic account of the various aspects of administration. Whatever meagre account of the details of the administrative machinery is found in these texts is furnished by the stories which are told in quite an off-hand manner reflecting the normal life of the day. As a matter of fact, the Jains like the followers of other Šramanic religions concentrated more on the problems of penace and renunciation and they never showed lively interest in worldly affairs. In the following pages an attempt is made to arrange the meagre and isolated information supplied by the Jain Canons in a systematic order, supplementing it with the information available from other sources.
