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Quick recap: The Mauryan empire on one page
All three parts condensed for quick revision: the sources and the founding of the empire under Chandragupta and Bindusara; Ashoka, the Kalinga war, his dhamma and edicts; and Mauryan administration, economy, society, decline and legacy, with one table at a glance.
Part 1 showed how the Mauryas built the first empire over most of the subcontinent, ruling from Pataliputra from about 321 to about 185 BCE. The sources are of very different kinds: the Arthashastra, an ideal picture of statecraft whose manuscript R. Shamasastry found in 1905; the Indica of Megasthenes, known only through later Greek and Roman writers; much later plays and religious chronicles; and inscriptions and excavations. Guided by Kautilya, Chandragupta overthrew Dhana Nanda, and around 305 BCE his treaty with Seleucus Nicator brought him lands in Afghanistan and Baluchistan in return for 500 elephants, with Megasthenes sent to his court. Jain tradition takes him south with Bhadrabahu to Shravanabelagola. His son Bindusara, called Amitrochates by the Greeks, kept up the ties with the Seleucid kings.
Part 2 turned to Ashoka. Crowned some four years after Bindusara's death in about 273 BCE, he called himself Devanampiya Piyadasi, and his own name appears only in a few minor rock edicts such as Maski. About 261 BCE he conquered Kalinga; Major Rock Edict XIII counts the dead and captives and voices his remorse, and from then on he spoke of conquest by dhamma. He became a lay Buddhist, addressed the sangha in the Bhabru edict and sent missions abroad, but his dhamma was a moral code for everyone: respect for parents, elders and teachers, kindness to servants, non-violence and tolerance of all sects. He spread it through the dhamma mahamatta, officers' tours and public welfare works, and through rock and pillar inscriptions written mostly in Prakrit in the Brahmi script, which James Prinsep deciphered in 1837.
Part 3 opened up the machinery of the state. The Arthashastra pictures a saptanga state of seven limbs headed by a king who consults a council, with superintendents (adhyakshas) for every department, a samaharta to collect revenue and a sannidhata to keep the treasury, a network of spies, and two kinds of courts, dharmasthiya for civil disputes and kantakashodhana for crimes. Princes governed the provinces from Taxila, Ujjain, Tosali and Suvarnagiri; rajukas, pradeshikas and yuktas toured the districts, and the gramika ran the village. Megasthenes adds six boards of five for the capital and six for the army. Land paid the bhaga, normally one-sixth, along with bali; Ashoka cut Lumbini's share to one-eighth. Guilds, silver punch-marked coins and the northern and southern trade routes carried the economy, and Megasthenes sorted society into seven occupational classes.
The empire weakened soon after Ashoka's death in about 232 BCE. Branches of the family divided the realm, Dasharatha and Samprati are remembered for their gifts to the Ajivikas and the Jains, and Bactrian Greeks pressed into the northwest. Around 185 BCE the commander Pushyamitra Shunga killed the last king, Brihadratha, and founded the Shunga dynasty. Historians explain the fall in several ways, from a Brahmanical reaction and Ashoka's pacifism to an over-centralised government and money trouble, and none is enough alone. The legacy lasted: the first government over most of the subcontinent, and Ashoka's Sarnath lion capital, which became the State Emblem of India on 26 January 1950, with its wheel at the centre of the national flag.
| Ruler or topic | Key points to hold |
|---|---|
| Chandragupta (about 321-297 BCE) | Ended the Nandas with Kautilya; treaty with Seleucus (about 305 BCE); Megasthenes; Jain tradition of Shravanabelagola |
| Bindusara (about 297-273 BCE) | Amitrochates (Amitraghata); envoy Deimachus; Ajivika links |
| Ashoka (crowned about 4 years after 273 BCE; died about 232 BCE) | Kalinga war about 261 BCE (Major Rock Edict XIII); dhamma; edicts in Prakrit, mostly Brahmi |
| Administration | Saptanga; samaharta and sannidhata; dharmasthiya and kantakashodhana courts; provinces under princes |
| Economy and society | Bhaga usually one-sixth, bali; guilds; punch-marked coins; Megasthenes' seven classes |
| End and legacy | Brihadratha killed by Pushyamitra Shunga about 185 BCE; Sarnath lion capital as State Emblem |
Exam traps
- In the treaty of about 305 BCE Seleucus gave up land and Chandragupta gave 500 elephants, not the other way round.
- Sandrokottos is Chandragupta; Amitrochates is Bindusara; Devanampiya Piyadasi is Ashoka (named Ashoka only in a few minor rock edicts such as Maski).
- The Kalinga war is described in Major Rock Edict XIII, which is missing at Dhauli and Jaugada inside Kalinga; 'all people are my children' is in the Separate Kalinga Edicts.
- Ashoka's dhamma was a moral code for all subjects, not the same as Buddhism.
- Samaharta collected revenue; sannidhata kept the treasury. Dharmasthiya courts were civil, kantakashodhana courts criminal.
- The six boards of five come from Megasthenes, not the Arthashastra; his seven classes are not varnas.
- Brihadratha was killed by his own commander Pushyamitra Shunga about 185 BCE; Satyameva Jayate on the State Emblem is from the Mundaka Upanishad.
Recap
- Mauryan rule from Pataliputra: about 321 to about 185 BCE.
- Sources: Arthashastra (found 1905), Megasthenes' Indica (only in quotations), later texts, inscriptions and excavations.
- Chandragupta: ended the Nandas, treaty with Seleucus (500 elephants), Jain tradition at Shravanabelagola.
- Bindusara (Amitrochates): ties with Antiochus I through Deimachus.
- Ashoka: Kalinga war about 261 BCE, Major Rock Edict XIII, dhamma, dhamma mahamattas, missions.
- Edicts mostly in Prakrit and Brahmi; Kharoshthi in the northwest; Greek and Aramaic at Kandahar; Prinsep 1837.
- State: saptanga, adhyakshas, samaharta, sannidhata, spies, two kinds of courts, provinces under princes.
- Megasthenes: six boards of five for the city and army; seven classes.
- Fall: Brihadratha killed by Pushyamitra Shunga about 185 BCE; Sarnath lion capital became the State Emblem on 26 January 1950.
Practice questions
Q1. Consider the following statements about the treaty between Chandragupta Maurya and Seleucus Nicator:
1. Seleucus gave up territories in present-day Afghanistan and Baluchistan.
2. Chandragupta gave Seleucus 500 war elephants.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer
Answer: C. Both 1 and 2
Answer (c). Both are correct: land went to Chandragupta and 500 elephants to Seleucus. Options (a) and (b) each drop a true statement, and (d) rejects both.
Q2. The Greek name Amitrochates refers to
- Bindusara
- Chandragupta Maurya
- Ashoka
- Dhana Nanda
Show answer
Answer: A. Bindusara
Answer (a). Amitrochates stands for Bindusara's title Amitraghata. Chandragupta (b) is Sandrokottos in Greek writings; Ashoka (c) calls himself Devanampiya Piyadasi; Dhana Nanda (d) was the last Nanda king, not a Mauryan.
Q3. Which of Ashoka's inscriptions describes the losses of the Kalinga war and his remorse?
- Major Rock Edict XIII
- Major Rock Edict XII
- The Bhabru edict
- The Rummindei pillar
Show answer
Answer: A. Major Rock Edict XIII
Answer (a). Major Rock Edict XIII records the dead and captives of Kalinga. Edict XII (b) is about tolerance among sects; the Bhabru edict (c) addresses the Buddhist sangha; the Rummindei pillar (d) records tax relief at Lumbini.
Q4. Consider the following statements:
1. Ashoka's dhamma was identical with the teachings of Buddhism.
2. Most of Ashoka's inscriptions are written in Prakrit.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer
Answer: B. 2 only
Answer (b). Statement 2 is correct. Statement 1 is wrong: dhamma was a moral code for all subjects, not Buddhism itself. So (a) and (c) fail by accepting statement 1, and (d) rejects the true statement 2.
Q5. Match the following terms of Mauryan administration with their meaning:
A. Samaharta 1. Treasurer and keeper of stores
B. Sannidhata 2. Chief collector of revenue
C. Kantakashodhana 3. Courts for civil disputes
D. Dharmasthiya 4. Courts for crimes
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- A-2, B-1, C-4, D-3
- A-1, B-2, C-4, D-3
- A-2, B-1, C-3, D-4
- A-1, B-2, C-3, D-4
Show answer
Answer: A. A-2, B-1, C-4, D-3
Answer (a). The samaharta collected revenue, the sannidhata kept the treasury, kantakashodhana courts tried crimes and dharmasthiya courts civil disputes. Option (b) swaps the two officers, (c) swaps the two courts, and (d) swaps both.
Q6. According to Megasthenes, the city of Pataliputra was administered by
- six boards of five members each
- five boards of six members each
- a single superintendent called the nagaraka
- an elected assembly of citizens
Show answer
Answer: A. six boards of five members each
Answer (a). Megasthenes speaks of thirty officers in six boards of five. Option (b) reverses the numbers; the single nagaraka (c) is the Arthashastra's picture, not Megasthenes'; and no elected assembly (d) is described.
Q7. The last Mauryan king, Brihadratha, was killed by
- his commander-in-chief Pushyamitra Shunga
- the Bactrian Greek king Demetrius
- the Kalinga king Kharavela
- his grandson Samprati
Show answer
Answer: A. his commander-in-chief Pushyamitra Shunga
Answer (a). Pushyamitra Shunga, his own commander, killed him about 185 BCE. The Bactrian Greeks (b) pressed into the northwest but did not end the dynasty; Kharavela (c) ruled Kalinga later and was not involved; Samprati (d) was a grandson of Ashoka, not of Brihadratha.
Q8. Consider the following statements:
1. The State Emblem of India was adopted on 26 January 1950.
2. The State Emblem is adapted from the lion capital at Sanchi.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer
Answer: A. 1 only
Answer (a). Statement 1 is correct. Statement 2 is wrong: the emblem comes from Ashoka's lion capital at Sarnath. So (b) and (c) fail by accepting statement 2, and (d) rejects the true statement 1.
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Study this in the app →Sources
- Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (Ministry of Culture): material on the Mauryan empire, Ashoka and Mauryan administration — https://ccrtindia.gov.in
- Archaeological Survey of India: site notes on Kumrahar and Bulandibagh, the Ashokan edicts and the Sarnath lion capital, and the texts in the Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, vol. I — https://asi.nic.in
- State Emblem of India (Prohibition of Improper Use) Act, 2005; Constituent Assembly Debates, 22 July 1947 — https://www.indiacode.nic.in