Page:History of India Vol 2.djvu/142

 112 CHANDRAGUPTA AND BINDU8ARA each side. Trotting oxen are still largely used for drawing travelling-carriages in many parts of India, but the breed of racers seems to be extinct. The principal royal amusement was the chase, which was conducted with great ceremony, the game in an enclosed preserve being driven up to a platform occu- pied by the king, who shot the animals with arrows; but, if the hunt took place in the open country, he used to ride an elephant. When hunting, he was closely attended by armed female guards, who were obtained by purchase from foreign countries, and formed an indispensable element in the courts of the ancient In- dian monarchs. The road for the sovereign's proces- sion was marked off with ropes, which it was death for any one, even a woman, to pass. The institution of the royal hunt was abolished by Chandragupta's grandson, Asoka, in 259 B. c. As a rule, the king remained within the precincts of the inner palace, under the protection of his Ama- zonian body-guard, and appeared in public only to hear cases, offer sacrifice, and to go on military or hunting expeditions. Probably he was expected to show himself to his subjects at least once a day, and then to receive petitions and decide disputes in person. Like the mod- ern Indians, Chandragupta took pleasure in massage or friction of the limbs, and custom required that he should indulge in this luxury while giving public audi- ence; four attendants used to massage him with ebony rollers during the time that he was engaged in disposing of cases. In accordance with Persian custom, which had