Page:History of India Vol 2.djvu/176

 142 ASOKA MAURYA frontier of the empire must nearly have coincided with the thirteenth degree of north latitude, or it may be described approximately as a line drawn from the mouth of the Palar River near Sadras on the eastern coast (N. lat. 12 13' 15") through Bangalore (N. lat. 12 58') to the river Chandragiri on the western coast (N. lat. 13 15'). The wilder tribes on the northwestern frontier and in the jungle tracts of the Vindhya Mountains separat- ing Northern from Southern India seem to have enjoyed a limited autonomy under the suzerainty of the para- mount power. The empire comprised, therefore, in mod- ern terminology, Afghanistan south of the Hindu Kush, Baluchistan, Sind, the valley of Kashmir, Nepal, the lower Himalaya, and the whole of India proper, except the southern extremity. The central regions seem to have been governed directly from Pataliputra under the king's personal supervision. The outlying provinces were administered by members of the royal family, holding the rank of viceroys, of whom, apparently, there were four. The ruler of the northwest was stationed at Taxila, and his jurisdiction may be assumed to have included the Pan- jab, Sind, the countries beyond the Indus, and Kashmir. The eastern territories, including the conquered king- dom of Kalinga, were governed by a viceroy stationed at Tosali, the exact position of which has not been ascer- tained. The western provinces of Malwa, Guzerat, and Kathiawar were under the government of a prince, whose headquarters were at the ancient city of Ujjain,