RAS question
According to Kautilya's Arthashastra, the state had how many Tirthas (high-ranking officials)?
Correct answer: (B) 18.
According to Kautilya's Arthashastra tradition, the state had 18 Tirthas, meaning high-ranking councillors and officials.
Explanation
The answer is 18 because tirtha denotes the eighteen chief councillors and officials of a country, with all eighteen treated as a defined set. This fits the MCQ's framing of Tirthas as high-ranking state officials. Examples include the Mantrin, Purohita, Senapati, Yuvaraja, Dauvarika, Antarvamsika and Samaharta; the group is treated as a defined administrative set under the king's supervision. The point tested is not a vague idea of bureaucracy but the specific numerical category attached to Tirthas in the Arthashastra-style account of state administration.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Sixteen is short of the stated administrative set, since Tirthas are eighteen chief councillors and officials.
- (C) Twelve is too few because it omits part of the defined group of eighteen high-ranking officials.
- (D) Twenty-four is too high; the number of Tirthas is fixed at eighteen.
Concept
This tests ancient Indian polity, especially the administrative machinery described in Arthashastra-linked traditions. It recurs in RAS because polity terms such as Mantrin, Purohita, Yuvaraja and Tirtha connect factual recall with the structure of early Indian statecraft.