Page:Indian Shipping, a history of the sea-borne trade and maritime activity of the Indians from the earliest times.djvu/157

 being a unique production of its kind in the entire Sanskrit literature, and a most valuable historical document, conveying as it does a perfectly complete picture of the extraordinarily rich and varied civilization that was developed in Maurya India over 2,000 years ago. I have, therefore, no hesitation in drawing largely upon the contents of this remarkable work of Chāṇakya and placing before the reader all such passages as tend to throw any light on the condition of the national shipping, navigation, and sea-borne trade of India in the glorious age of the Mauryas.

The Naval Department seems to have been very well organized. At its head was placed an officer who was called the नावध्यक्ष or the Superintendent of Ships. He was entrusted with the duty of dealing with all matters relating to navigation, including not only navigation of the oceans, but also inland navigation on rivers and lakes, natural or artificial. The matters relating to navigation were of course manifold. The Superintendent of Ships seems to have been something like a modern Port Commissioner, and his first duty was to see that all the dues of his port were paid, and not one evaded.