In Mauryan Empire, the villages enjoyed what level of Independence
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The Mauryan Empire (322 – 185 B.C.E.), ruled by the Mauryan dynasty, was a geographically extensive and powerful political and military empire in ancient India. Originating from the kingdom of Magadha in the Indo-Gangetic plains of modern Bihar, Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bengal, the empire's capital city was at Pataliputra near modern Patna. Chandragupta Maurya founded the Empire in 322 B.C.E. after overthrowing the Nanda Dynasty. He began rapidly expanding his power westward across central and western India. Local powers had been disrupted by the westward withdrawal of Alexander the Great's and his Macedonian and Persian armies. By 316 B.C.E. the empire had fully occupied Northwestern India, defeating and conquering the satraps left by Alexander.
At its zenith, the Empire stretched to the northern natural boundaries of the Himalaya Mountains, and to the east into Assam. To the west, it reached beyond modern Pakistan and significant portions of Afghanistan, including the modern Herat and Kandahar provinces and Balochistan. Emperor Bindusara expanded the Empire into India's central and southern regions, but it excluded a small portion of unexplored tribal and forested regions near Kalinga, India.
The Empire was divided into four provinces, with the imperial capital at Pataliputra. From Ashokan edicts, the names of the four provincial capitals follow: Tosali (in the east), Ujjain in the west, Suvarnagiri (in the south), and Taxila (in the north). The head of the provincial administration had been the Kumara (royal prince), who governed the provinces as king's representative. Mahamatyas and council of ministers assisted the kumara. That organizational structure mirrored the imperial level with the Emperor and his Mantriparishad (Council of Ministers).
Historians theorize that the organization of the Empire was in line with the extensive bureaucracy described by Kautilya in the Arthashastra: A sophisticated civil service governed everything from municipal hygiene to international trade. The expansion and defense of the empire was made possible by what appears to have been the largest standing army of its time.[6] According to Megasthenes, the empire wielded a military of 600,000 infantry, 30,000 cavalry, and 9,000 war elephants. A vast espionage system collected intelligence for both internal and external security purposes. Having renounced offensive warfare and expansionism, Ashoka nevertheless continued to maintain that large army, to protect the Empire and instill stability and peace across West and South Asia.[7]
The head of the provincial administration had been the Kumara (royal prince), who governed the provinces as king's representative. Mahamatyas and council of ministers assisted the kumara. That organizational structure mirrored the imperial level with the Emperor and his Mantriparishad (Council of Ministers).