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English · हिन्दी · తెలుగు · தமிழ் · മലയാളം · मराठी · ಕನ್ನಡ

Administration, economy, society and decline

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ವಿವರಣೆ

The Mauryan empire · Part 3 / 3 · Fact-checked on · how we check

Written with AI from the sources listed at the bottom of this page, then fact-checked by a separate AI.

How the Mauryas governed: the saptanga state, the council, superintendents, the samaharta and sannidhata, spies and the two kinds of courts; provinces under princes and the officers of districts and villages; Megasthenes' six boards; land, taxes, crafts, guilds, coins and trade routes; the seven classes of Megasthenes; the later Mauryas, Pushyamitra Shunga and the explanations of the decline; and the Mauryan legacy in the State Emblem and the national flag.

Each idea is explained first in Kannada (ಕನ್ನಡ), ending with the English and Hindi exam terms, followed by the same point in exam English. UPSC Prelims is in English or Hindi, so understand it in Kannada and revise it in English.

ಇಲ್ಲಿಯವರೆಗೆ ಮೌರ್ಯ ರಾಜರ ಕತೆ ನೋಡಿದೆವು; ಈಗ ಅವರು ಯಾವ ಆಡಳಿತ ಯಂತ್ರದ ಮೂಲಕ ಆಳಿದರು ಎಂದು ನೋಡೋಣ. ಇಷ್ಟು ದೊಡ್ಡ ಸಾಮ್ರಾಜ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ಅಧಿಕಾರಿಗಳು, ತೆರಿಗೆ, ರಸ್ತೆಗಳು ಬೇಕು. ಇದಕ್ಕೆ ಮೂರು ಬಗೆಯ ಆಧಾರಗಳು: ಅರ್ಥಶಾಸ್ತ್ರ 'ರಾಜ ಹೀಗೆ ಆಳಬೇಕು' ಎನ್ನುವ ಗ್ರಂಥ — ಕಟ್ಟಿದ ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲ, ಮನೆಯ ನಕ್ಷೆಯಂತೆ; ಮೆಗಸ್ತನೀಸ್ ಒಬ್ಬ ವಿದೇಶಿ ರಾಯಭಾರಿ ಕಂಡದ್ದು; ಅಶೋಕನ ಶಾಸನಗಳು ನಿಜವಾದ ಆಜ್ಞೆಗಳು. (→ English: Arthashastra · Megasthenes · हिन्दी: अर्थशास्त्र · मेगस्थनीज़)

In exam EnglishParts 1 and 2 followed the Mauryan kings; this part looks at the machinery they ruled through and at how it came apart. Governing a realm that reached from Kandahar to Karnataka needed officials, revenue and roads on a scale India had not known before. Three kinds of evidence describe that machinery, and they do not always agree. The Arthashastra sets out how a king ought to govern, so it gives an ideal rather than a record. Megasthenes reports what a foreign envoy saw, or believed he saw, at Pataliputra. Ashoka's edicts name real officers and real orders. The part moves from the king and his ministers to the provinces and villages, then to taxes, trade and society, and ends with the fall of the dynasty and what it left behind.

ಅರ್ಥಶಾಸ್ತ್ರ ರಾಜ್ಯವನ್ನು ಏಳು ಅಂಗಗಳ ದೇಹದಂತೆ ನೋಡುತ್ತದೆ — ಇದೇ ಸಪ್ತಾಂಗ ಸಿದ್ಧಾಂತ: ರಾಜ, ಮಂತ್ರಿಗಳು, ನಾಡು-ಜನ, ಕೋಟೆ, ಖಜಾನೆ, ಸೈನ್ಯ, ಮಿತ್ರರಾಜ್ಯ. ಒಂದು ಅಂಗ ದುರ್ಬಲವಾದರೂ ದೇಹ ಕುಂಟುತ್ತದೆ ಅಲ್ಲವೇ. ರಾಜ ಮುಂದೆ, ಆದರೆ ಮಂತ್ರಿಪರಿಷತ್ತಿನ ಸಲಹೆ ಪಡೆದೇ ನಿರ್ಧರಿಸಬೇಕು. ಊಟ ಮಾಡುವಾಗಲೂ ಜನರ ಸುದ್ದಿ ತನಗೆ ತಲುಪಬೇಕು ಎಂದು ಅಶೋಕ ಆಜ್ಞಾಪಿಸಿದ. (→ English: Arthashastra · saptanga · mantriparishad · हिन्दी: अर्थशास्त्र · सप्तांग · मंत्रिपरिषद)

In exam EnglishAt the centre stood the king. The Arthashastra describes the state as a body with seven limbs, the saptanga theory: the king (swami), the ministers (amatya), the territory and its people (janapada), the fortified capital (durga), the treasury (kosha), the army or power to punish (danda) and the ally (mitra). The king is the first limb, but the treatise expects him to consult a council of ministers (mantriparishad) and a small circle of trusted advisers before he acts. Ashoka's edicts confirm that a council (parisa) existed. Major Rock Edict VI shows how closely the king meant to follow public business: reporters (pativedakas) were to bring him news of the people at any time and wherever he was, even while he was eating. Mauryan rule was personal and centralised, yet it rested on a large body of salaried officers.

ಅರ್ಥಶಾಸ್ತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರತಿ ಕೆಲಸಕ್ಕೂ ಒಂದು ಇಲಾಖೆ, ಪ್ರತಿ ಇಲಾಖೆಗೂ ಒಬ್ಬ ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷ — ವ್ಯಾಪಾರ, ತೂಕ-ಅಳತೆ, ಗಣಿ, ಕಾಡು, ನೇಯ್ಗೆ... ಹೀಗೆ. ಎಲ್ಲ ಆದಾಯ ವಸೂಲಿ ಮಾಡುವವನು ಸಮಾಹರ್ತ; ಖಜಾನೆ, ಧಾನ್ಯದ ಕಣಜ ನೋಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವವನು ಸನ್ನಿಧಾತ. ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಒಬ್ಬರು ಸಂಪಾದಿಸಿ ತಂದರೆ ಇನ್ನೊಬ್ಬರು ಬೀರುವಿನ ಬೀಗದ ಕೈ ಇಟ್ಟುಕೊಂಡಂತೆ. ಸಂಬಳವೂ ಪಣಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಬರೆದಿದೆ. (→ English: Arthashastra · adhyaksha · samaharta · sannidhata · हिन्दी: अर्थशास्त्र · अध्यक्ष · समाहर्ता · सन्निधाता)

In exam EnglishThe Arthashastra fills its pages with departments, each under a superintendent (adhyaksha). It names superintendents of trade, of weights and measures, of agriculture on crown land, of mines, of shipping, of tolls, of forests, of weaving and of liquor, among many others. Two great officers stand above the revenue system. The samaharta was the chief collector, answerable for income from every source, and the sannidhata was the treasurer and keeper of stores, who built and ran the treasury and the granaries. The treatise even fixes salaries in silver panas: 48,000 panas a year for the highest office-holders, such as the chief minister, the royal priest, the commander of the army and the crown prince. The plan shows how much of economic life the state hoped to manage.

ಅರ್ಥಶಾಸ್ತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ಗೂಢಚಾರರು ಸನ್ಯಾಸಿ, ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿ, ವ್ಯಾಪಾರಿ ವೇಷಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ತಿರುಗುತ್ತಾರೆ. ನ್ಯಾಯಕ್ಕೆ ಎರಡು ಬಗೆಯ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯಗಳು: ಧರ್ಮಸ್ಥೀಯ — ಸಾಲ, ಮದುವೆ, ಆಸ್ತಿ ವ್ಯಾಜ್ಯಗಳು (ಇಂದಿನ ಸಿವಿಲ್ ಪ್ರಕರಣಗಳಂತೆ); ಕಂಟಕಶೋಧನ — 'ಮುಳ್ಳು ತೆಗೆಯುವುದು', ಅಂದರೆ ಅಪರಾಧಗಳು (ಕ್ರಿಮಿನಲ್ ಪ್ರಕರಣಗಳಂತೆ). ಶಿಕ್ಷೆಗಳು ಕಠಿಣ. ಅಶೋಕ ಇದನ್ನು ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಮೃದುಗೊಳಿಸಿದ: ರಜ್ಜುಕರಿಗೆ ಸ್ವತಂತ್ರ ಅಧಿಕಾರ, ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಒಂದೇ ವಿಧಾನ, ಮರಣದಂಡನೆಗೆ ಒಳಗಾದವರಿಗೆ ಮೂರು ದಿನದ ಕಾಲಾವಕಾಶ. (→ English: Arthashastra · dharmasthiya · kantakashodhana · rajuka · हिन्दी: अर्थशास्त्र · धर्मस्थीय · कंटकशोधन · रज्जुक)

In exam EnglishA large secret service watched officials and subjects alike. The Arthashastra describes spies (gudhapurusha) disguised as ascetics, students, householders or traders; some were posted in one place and others kept moving. Justice was handled by two kinds of courts. Dharmasthiya courts heard disputes between people, over contracts, debts, marriage or inheritance, while kantakashodhana courts, literally the courts for 'removing thorns', dealt with crimes and threats to public order. The punishments in the treatise are harsh, from fines to mutilation and death. Ashoka softened this system without taking it apart. Pillar Edict IV gives the rajukas independence in judging and punishing, asks that procedure and penalties be the same for all, and allows three days' respite to prisoners sentenced to death, so that their relatives could plead for them or the prisoners could prepare for the next world.

ಇಷ್ಟು ದೊಡ್ಡ ರಾಜ್ಯವನ್ನು ಪಾಟಲಿಪುತ್ರದಿಂದ ಮಾತ್ರ ನಡೆಸಲಾಗದು. ಮಗಧದ ಸುತ್ತ ರಾಜನೇ ನೇರವಾಗಿ ಆಳಿದ; ಉಳಿದದ್ದನ್ನು ಪ್ರಾಂತ್ಯಗಳಾಗಿ ವಿಂಗಡಿಸಿದರು: ವಾಯವ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ತಕ್ಷಶಿಲೆ, ಪಶ್ಚಿಮದಲ್ಲಿ ಉಜ್ಜಯಿನಿ, ಕಳಿಂಗದಲ್ಲಿ ತೋಸಲಿ, ದಕ್ಷಿಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಸುವರ್ಣಗಿರಿ. ದೊಡ್ಡ ಕುಟುಂಬ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರದಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದೊಂದು ಊರಿನ ಶಾಖೆಯನ್ನು ಒಬ್ಬೊಬ್ಬ ಮಗ ನೋಡಿಕೊಂಡಂತೆ — ಇಲ್ಲಿ ರಾಜಕುಮಾರರು (ಕುಮಾರ, ಆರ್ಯಪುತ್ರ) ರಾಜಪ್ರತಿನಿಧಿಗಳು. ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಗಿರಿ, ಸಿದ್ದಾಪುರ ಶಾಸನಗಳು ಸುವರ್ಣಗಿರಿಯಿಂದಲೇ ಹೊರಟವು. (→ English: Taxila · Ujjain · Tosali · Suvarnagiri · aryaputra · हिन्दी: तक्षशिला · उज्जैन · तोसली · सुवर्णगिरि · आर्यपुत्र)

In exam EnglishThe empire was too large to be governed from Pataliputra alone. The lands around Magadha were ruled directly, and the rest was divided into provinces, each with its own capital. Ashoka's inscriptions name four of these: Taxila in the northwest, Ujjain in the west, Tosali in Kalinga, and Suvarnagiri in the south, whose exact site is still uncertain. Princes of the royal house (kumaras or aryaputras) governed them as viceroys, as Ashoka himself had done at Taxila and Ujjain. The Separate Kalinga Edicts mention the princes at Ujjain and Taxila sending officers out on inspection tours, and the minor rock edicts at Brahmagiri and Siddapur in Karnataka are issued from Suvarnagiri in the name of the aryaputra and the mahamattas there. Princes at the provincial capitals were the threads that tied the distant regions to the court.

ಪ್ರಾಂತ್ಯಗಳ ಕೆಳಗೆ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಗಳು, ಹಳ್ಳಿಗಳು. ಯುಕ್ತರು, ರಜ್ಜುಕರು, ಪ್ರಾದೇಶಿಕರು ಐದು ವರ್ಷಕ್ಕೊಮ್ಮೆ ಪ್ರವಾಸ ಮಾಡಿ ತಮ್ಮ ಕೆಲಸದ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಧಮ್ಮವನ್ನೂ ಬೋಧಿಸಬೇಕು ಎಂಬುದು ಅಶೋಕನ ಆಜ್ಞೆ. ರಜ್ಜುಕ ಎಂಬ ಹೆಸರು ಹೊಲ ಅಳೆಯುವ ಹಗ್ಗದಿಂದ (ರಜ್ಜು) — ಇಂದಿನ ಸರ್ವೇಯರ್ ನೆನಪಾಗುತ್ತಾನಲ್ಲವೇ. ಮೇಲಿನ ಅಧಿಕಾರಿ ಮಹಾಮಾತ್ರ; ಅಶೋಕ ಹೊಸದಾಗಿ ಧಮ್ಮ ಮಹಾಮಾತ್ರರನ್ನು ನೇಮಿಸಿದ. ಹಳ್ಳಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಗ್ರಾಮದ ಮುಖ್ಯಸ್ಥ (ಗ್ರಾಮಿಕ); ಐದು-ಹತ್ತು ಹಳ್ಳಿಗಳ ಲೆಕ್ಕ ಗೋಪ ನೋಡುತ್ತಾನೆ. (→ English: dhamma · dhamma mahamatta · rajuka · gramika · हिन्दी: धम्म · धम्म महामात्र · रज्जुक · ग्रामिक)

In exam EnglishBelow the provinces came districts and villages. Major Rock Edict III orders the yuktas, rajukas and pradeshikas to go on tour every five years, to teach dhamma as well as to do their ordinary work. The rajukas, whose title is linked with the rope (rajju) used to measure fields, seem to have been senior rural officers who also judged cases; the pradeshikas were probably in charge of districts; and the yuktas were junior officers who kept accounts and records. Mahamatta was a general word for a high officer at any level, and Ashoka added a new kind, the dhamma mahamatta. In the village the headman (gramika) looked after local affairs. The Arthashastra adds the gopa, who kept the records of a group of five or ten villages, and the sthanika, who supervised a quarter of a district.

ಮೆಗಸ್ತನೀಸ್ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ಪಾಟಲಿಪುತ್ರ ನಗರವನ್ನು 30 ಅಧಿಕಾರಿಗಳು, ಐವರಂತೆ ಆರು ಮಂಡಳಿಗಳಾಗಿ ನಡೆಸಿದರು: ಕರಕುಶಲ, ವಿದೇಶಿಯರು, ಜನನ-ಮರಣ ನೋಂದಣಿ, ವ್ಯಾಪಾರ-ತೂಕ ಅಳತೆ, ತಯಾರಾದ ಸರಕಿನ ಮಾರಾಟ, ಮಾರಾಟದ ಮೇಲೆ ಹತ್ತನೇ ಒಂದು ಭಾಗ ತೆರಿಗೆ. ಇಂದಿನ ನಗರಸಭೆಯ ಬೇರೆ ಬೇರೆ ಸ್ಥಾಯಿ ಸಮಿತಿಗಳಂತೆ. ಸೈನ್ಯಕ್ಕೂ ಹೀಗೆಯೇ ಆರು ಮಂಡಳಿಗಳು. ಆದರೆ ಅರ್ಥಶಾಸ್ತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ಮಂಡಳಿಗಳಿಲ್ಲ — ಒಬ್ಬನೇ ನಗರಾಧಿಕಾರಿ (ನಾಗರಕ). (→ English: Arthashastra · Megasthenes · nagaraka · हिन्दी: अर्थशास्त्र · मेगस्थनीज़ · नागरक)

In exam EnglishMegasthenes paints a tidier picture of the capital. He says Pataliputra was run by thirty officers divided into six boards of five members each. One board looked after the industrial arts, a second cared for foreigners, a third registered births and deaths, a fourth supervised trade and the weights and measures, a fifth oversaw the sale of manufactured goods, and a sixth collected a tax of one-tenth on the price of goods sold. The army, he says, was managed in the same way, by six boards of five dealing with the navy, transport and supplies, the infantry, the cavalry, the chariots and the elephants. The Arthashastra knows nothing of these boards and places a single city superintendent (nagaraka) over the capital, one reason historians handle the boards with care.
Megasthenes' six boards of five
BoardCity of PataliputraArmy
1Industrial artsNavy
2Care of foreignersTransport and supplies
3Registration of births and deathsInfantry
4Trade, weights and measuresCavalry
5Sale of manufactured goodsChariots
6Tax of one-tenth on salesElephants

ಆದಾಯದ ಮುಖ್ಯ ಮೂಲ ಭೂಮಿ. ಅರ್ಥಶಾಸ್ತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ರಾಜನ ಸ್ವಂತ ಭೂಮಿ 'ಸೀತಾ'; ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ ರೈತರ ಭೂಮಿ ಬೇರೆ. ಮುಖ್ಯ ತೆರಿಗೆ 'ಭಾಗ' — ಬೆಳೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ರಾಜನ ಪಾಲು, ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಆರನೇ ಒಂದು ಭಾಗ (ಮೆಗಸ್ತನೀಸ್ ನಾಲ್ಕನೇ ಒಂದು ಎನ್ನುತ್ತಾನೆ). ಅದರ ಮೇಲೆ 'ಬಲಿ' ಎಂಬ ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ತೆರಿಗೆ, ನೀರಿನ ಕರ. ಅಶೋಕ ಲುಂಬಿನಿಗೆ ಹೋದಾಗ ಆ ಹಳ್ಳಿಗೆ ಬಲಿ ಮನ್ನಾ ಮಾಡಿ, ಭಾಗವನ್ನು ಎಂಟನೇ ಒಂದಕ್ಕೆ ಇಳಿಸಿದ — ಪುಣ್ಯಕ್ಷೇತ್ರಕ್ಕೆ ಕೊಟ್ಟ ತೆರಿಗೆ ರಿಯಾಯಿತಿಯಂತೆ. (→ English: Arthashastra · sita · bhaga · bali · Rummindei · हिन्दी: अर्थशास्त्र · सीता · भाग · बलि · रुम्मिनदेई)

In exam EnglishLand was the main source of the state's income. The Arthashastra separates crown land (sita), farmed under the superintendent of agriculture with hired workers and convicts or given out to sharecroppers, from land held by ordinary cultivators. The chief tax was the king's share of the harvest (bhaga), normally one-sixth in the treatise, though Megasthenes reports that farmers paid a quarter. On top of it came bali, a further levy whose exact nature is debated, and a charge for water from state irrigation works. The Rummindei pillar shows these taxes in practice: when Ashoka visited Lumbini, the Buddha's birthplace, he made the village free of bali and reduced its bhaga to one-eighth. The state also built and repaired irrigation works, as the Sudarshana lake in Saurashtra, met in Part 1, makes clear.

ಅರ್ಥಶಾಸ್ತ್ರದ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ರಾಜ್ಯ ತೆರಿಗೆ ವಸೂಲಿ ಮಾತ್ರವಲ್ಲ, ತಾನೇ ಉತ್ಪಾದನೆ, ವ್ಯಾಪಾರವನ್ನೂ ಮಾಡಿತು: ಗಣಿ, ಉಪ್ಪು, ಆಯುಧ ರಾಜನ ಕೈಯಲ್ಲಿ; ಸರ್ಕಾರಿ ನೇಯ್ಗೆ ಕೇಂದ್ರಗಳು. ಖಾಸಗಿ ಕುಶಲಕರ್ಮಿಗಳು, ವ್ಯಾಪಾರಿಗಳು ಶ್ರೇಣಿ ಎಂಬ ಸಂಘಗಳಲ್ಲಿದ್ದರು — ಇಂದಿನ ವರ್ತಕರ ಸಂಘದಂತೆ, ಸ್ವಂತ ನಿಯಮ, ಸ್ವಂತ ಮುಖಂಡರು. ವ್ಯವಹಾರ ಬೆಳ್ಳಿಯ ಮುದ್ರೆಯೊತ್ತಿದ ನಾಣ್ಯಗಳಲ್ಲಿ (ಕಾರ್ಷಾಪಣ, ಪಣ). ತಕ್ಷಶಿಲೆಯಿಂದ ಪಾಟಲಿಪುತ್ರದ ಮೂಲಕ ತಾಮ್ರಲಿಪ್ತಿಯವರೆಗೆ ಉತ್ತರಾಪಥ, ದಖ್ಖನಿಗೆ ದಕ್ಷಿಣಾಪಥ. (→ English: Arthashastra · shreni (guild) · punch-marked coins · uttarapatha · हिन्दी: अर्थशास्त्र · श्रेणी · आहत सिक्के · उत्तरापथ)

In exam EnglishThe state was a producer and trader as well as a tax collector. The Arthashastra keeps mines, salt and the making of weapons under royal control, runs state workshops for spinning and weaving, and wants forests guarded for their timber and elephants. Private crafts were organised in guilds (shreni (guild)) of artisans and merchants, each with its own rules and headmen. Payments were made in silver punch-marked coins, called karshapanas or panas, and in copper coins, and the treatise names a superintendent of the mint (lakshanadhyaksha). Merchants travelled the great northern route (uttarapatha), which ran from Taxila across the Ganga plain to Pataliputra and on towards the port of Tamralipti in Bengal, while the southern route (dakshinapatha) led into the Deccan. Northern Black Polished Ware, the glossy pottery of the age, spread along these roads.

ಮೆಗಸ್ತನೀಸ್ ಭಾರತೀಯರನ್ನು ಏಳು ವರ್ಗಗಳಾಗಿ ವಿಂಗಡಿಸಿದ: ತತ್ತ್ವಜ್ಞಾನಿಗಳು, ರೈತರು, ಪಶುಪಾಲಕರು-ಬೇಟೆಗಾರರು, ಕುಶಲಕರ್ಮಿಗಳು, ಸೈನಿಕರು, ಮೇಲ್ವಿಚಾರಕರು, ಸಲಹೆಗಾರರು. ಇವು ನಾಲ್ಕು ವರ್ಣ ಅಲ್ಲ — ಒಬ್ಬ ವಿದೇಶಿ ಪ್ರವಾಸಿ ಉದ್ಯೋಗ ನೋಡಿ ಮಾಡಿದ ವಿಂಗಡಣೆ, ಊರ ಜನರನ್ನು 'ಯಾರು ಏನು ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಾರೆ' ಎಂದು ಎಣಿಸಿದಂತೆ. 'ಭಾರತದಲ್ಲಿ ದಾಸರಿಲ್ಲ' ಎಂಬುದು ತಪ್ಪು; ಅರ್ಥಶಾಸ್ತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ದಾಸರ ನಿಯಮಗಳಿವೆ. ರಾಜಸೇವೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮಹಿಳೆಯರು — ಅಂಗರಕ್ಷಕರು, ಗೂಢಚಾರರು, ನೇಕಾರರು. (→ English: varna · Arthashastra · seven classes · dasa · हिन्दी: वर्ण · अर्थशास्त्र · सात वर्ग · दास)

In exam EnglishMegasthenes divided the people of India into seven classes: philosophers, farmers, herders and hunters, artisans, soldiers, overseers who reported to the king, and councillors who advised him and filled the high offices. These seven classes are not the four varnas; they are groups sorted by occupation, the way a foreign visitor saw them. He was also wrong to say that India had no slaves, since the Arthashastra lays down rules for slaves (dasa), and Ashoka's edicts ask for proper treatment of slaves and servants (dasa-bhataka). Women appear in royal service as well: the treatise speaks of armed women guarding the king and of women working as spies and as spinners in state workshops, and Major Rock Edict XII mentions mahamattas who looked after the affairs of women.

ಅಶೋಕ ಸುಮಾರು ಕ್ರಿ.ಪೂ. 232ರಲ್ಲಿ ತೀರಿದ ಮೇಲೆ ಸಾಮ್ರಾಜ್ಯ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಕಾಲ ಉಳಿಯಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಮೊಮ್ಮಗ ದಶರಥ ನಾಗಾರ್ಜುನಿ ಬೆಟ್ಟದ ಗುಹೆಗಳನ್ನು ಆಜೀವಿಕರಿಗೆ ಕೊಟ್ಟ; ಇನ್ನೊಬ್ಬ ಮೊಮ್ಮಗ ಸಂಪ್ರತಿ ಜೈನ ಧರ್ಮದ ಪೋಷಕ. ಮನೆತನದ ಶಾಖೆಗಳು ಬೇರೆ ಬೇರೆ ಪ್ರದೇಶಗಳನ್ನು ಹಂಚಿಕೊಂಡವು — ಪಿತ್ರಾರ್ಜಿತ ಆಸ್ತಿಯನ್ನು ಸಹೋದರರು ಹಂಚಿಕೊಂಡಂತೆ. ಕೊನೆಯ ರಾಜ ಬೃಹದ್ರಥನನ್ನು ಸೈನ್ಯ ಪರಿವೀಕ್ಷಣೆಯ ವೇಳೆ ಅವನದೇ ಸೇನಾಪತಿ ಪುಷ್ಯಮಿತ್ರ ಶುಂಗ ಸುಮಾರು ಕ್ರಿ.ಪೂ. 185ರಲ್ಲಿ ಕೊಂದ; ಶುಂಗ ವಂಶ ಬಂತು. (→ English: Brihadratha · Pushyamitra Shunga · later Mauryas · हिन्दी: बृहद्रथ · पुष्यमित्र शुंग · परवर्ती मौर्य)

In exam EnglishAshoka died around 232 BCE, and the empire did not long outlive him. The later Mauryas are known mainly from king-lists that do not agree with one another. Dasharatha, a grandson of Ashoka, gave caves in the Nagarjuni hills of Bihar to the Ajivikas and, like Ashoka, called himself Devanampiya in the inscriptions there. Jain tradition remembers another grandson, Samprati, as a great patron of Jainism. Different branches of the family seem to have held different regions, and Kalhana's Rajatarangini names Jalauka, a son of Ashoka, as a ruler of Kashmir. Greek kings from Bactria began to push into the northwest. The last Mauryan king, Brihadratha, was killed around 185 BCE by his own commander-in-chief, Pushyamitra Shunga, while the king was reviewing the army, as Bana's Harshacharita tells it, and the Shunga dynasty took over Magadha.

ಸಾಮ್ರಾಜ್ಯ ಏಕೆ ಕುಸಿಯಿತು ಎಂಬುದಕ್ಕೆ ಒಂದೇ ಕಾರಣ ಸಾಲದು: ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣ ಪ್ರತಿಕ್ರಿಯೆ (ಹರಪ್ರಸಾದ್ ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಿ), ಅಶೋಕನ ಶಾಂತಿ ನೀತಿ ಸೈನ್ಯವನ್ನು ದುರ್ಬಲಗೊಳಿಸಿತು (ರಾಯ್‌ಚೌಧುರಿ), ರಾಜನ ಸುತ್ತಲೇ ತಿರುಗುವ ಆಡಳಿತ (ರೊಮಿಲಾ ಥಾಪರ್), ಹಣದ ಕೊರತೆ — ಕಲಬೆರಕೆಯ ಮುದ್ರೆಯೊತ್ತಿದ ನಾಣ್ಯಗಳು (ಕೋಸಾಂಬಿ). ಪ್ರತಿ ವಾದದಲ್ಲೂ ಕೊರತೆ ಇದೆ. ಆದರೆ ಪರಂಪರೆ ಉಳಿಯಿತು: ಸಾರನಾಥದ ಸಿಂಹ ಶೀರ್ಷ 1950ರ ಜನವರಿ 26ರಂದು ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರ ಲಾಂಛನ; ಅದರ 24 ಅರಗಳ ಚಕ್ರ ನಮ್ಮ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಧ್ವಜದ ನಡುವೆ. (→ English: punch-marked coins · State Emblem · Sarnath lion capital · हिन्दी: आहत सिक्के · राजचिह्न · सारनाथ सिंह-शीर्ष)

In exam EnglishNo single explanation of the fall satisfies historians. Haraprasad Shastri saw a Brahmanical reaction against Ashoka's pro-Buddhist policy, yet Ashoka honoured Brahmanas and all sects. H. C. Raychaudhuri blamed Ashoka's pacifism for weakening the army, yet Ashoka kept his army, and the end came half a century later. Romila Thapar points to a government so centred on the king that it worked only under able rulers, and D. D. Kosambi read money trouble in debased later punch-marked coins. The legacy outlasted the dynasty. The lion capital of Ashoka's pillar at Sarnath became the State Emblem of India on 26 January 1950, with Satyameva Jayate from the Mundaka Upanishad beneath it, and its 24-spoked wheel sits at the centre of the national flag adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 July 1947.
Why did the Mauryan empire fall? Four explanations
HistorianExplanationMain objection
Haraprasad ShastriBrahmanical reaction to Ashoka's pro-Buddhist policyAshoka respected Brahmanas and all sects
H. C. RaychaudhuriAshoka's pacifism weakened the armyAshoka kept his army; the fall came about 50 years later
Romila ThaparOver-centralised government that needed able kingsExplains weakness, not the exact timing
D. D. KosambiFinancial strain, seen in debased later coinsCoin evidence is limited and hard to date

Exam traps

Recap

Practice questions

Q1. In the Arthashastra, the samaharta was the officer responsible for

  1. collecting revenue from all sources
  2. keeping the treasury and the granaries
  3. running the network of spies
  4. commanding the royal army
Show answer

Answer: A. collecting revenue from all sources

Answer (a). The samaharta was the chief collector of revenue. Keeping the treasury and stores (b) was the sannidhata's work; spies (c) and the army (d) were separate charges, not the samaharta's.

Q2. Consider the following statements about Megasthenes' account of Pataliputra:
1. The city was run by six boards, each of five members.
2. One of the boards registered births and deaths.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: C. Both 1 and 2

Answer (c). Megasthenes describes thirty city officers in six boards of five, and the third board registered births and deaths. Options (a) and (b) each drop a true statement, and (d) rejects both.

Q3. The Rummindei pillar inscription of Ashoka records that the village of Lumbini was

  1. freed from bali and made to pay only one-eighth as bhaga
  2. freed from all taxes for ever
  3. made the capital of a new province
  4. handed over to the Buddhist sangha as crown land
Show answer

Answer: A. freed from bali and made to pay only one-eighth as bhaga

Answer (a). Ashoka removed bali and reduced the bhaga to one-eighth. It was not freed from every tax (b), since a share was still paid; Lumbini was not a provincial capital (c); and the edict says nothing of giving it to the sangha (d).

Q4. Match the Mauryan provincial capitals with their regions:
A. Taxila 1. Kalinga
B. Ujjain 2. The northwest
C. Tosali 3. The south
D. Suvarnagiri 4. The west (Avanti)
Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  1. A-2, B-4, C-1, D-3
  2. A-2, B-1, C-4, D-3
  3. A-4, B-2, C-1, D-3
  4. A-3, B-4, C-1, D-2
Show answer

Answer: A. A-2, B-4, C-1, D-3

Answer (a). Taxila was the northwestern capital, Ujjain the western, Tosali the capital in Kalinga and Suvarnagiri the southern. Option (b) puts Ujjain in Kalinga, (c) swaps Taxila and Ujjain, and (d) swaps Taxila and Suvarnagiri.

Q5. Consider the following statements:
1. Megasthenes divided Indian society into seven classes.
2. Megasthenes' seven classes correspond to the four varnas and their sub-groups.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: A. 1 only

Answer (a). Statement 1 is correct. Statement 2 is wrong: the seven classes are occupational groups seen by a foreign observer, not the varna order. So (b) and (c) fail because they accept statement 2, and (d) rejects the true statement 1.

Q6. In the Arthashastra, kantakashodhana courts dealt mainly with

  1. crimes and threats to public order
  2. disputes over contracts, marriage and inheritance
  3. disputes among Buddhist monks
  4. appeals against the king's own orders
Show answer

Answer: A. crimes and threats to public order

Answer (a). Kantakashodhana, 'removing thorns', meant criminal justice. Contracts, marriage and inheritance (b) went to the dharmasthiya courts; monastic disputes (c) were the sangha's own concern, addressed by Ashoka's schism edicts, not by these courts; and no court is described as hearing appeals against the king (d).

Q7. Which of the following pairs of historians and their explanations of the Mauryan decline is/are correctly matched?
1. Haraprasad Shastri : Brahmanical reaction to Ashoka's policies
2. H. C. Raychaudhuri : Ashoka's pacifism weakened the army
3. Romila Thapar : an over-centralised government dependent on the king
Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  1. 1 and 2 only
  2. 2 and 3 only
  3. 1 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3
Show answer

Answer: D. 1, 2 and 3

Answer (d). All three pairs are correct. Each of (a), (b) and (c) leaves out one correctly matched pair.

Q8. Consider the following statements:
1. The State Emblem of India is adapted from the lion capital of Ashoka at Sarnath.
2. The words Satyameva Jayate below the emblem are taken from an Ashokan edict.
3. The wheel at the centre of the national flag has 24 spokes.
Which of the statements given above are correct?

  1. 1 and 2 only
  2. 1 and 3 only
  3. 2 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3
Show answer

Answer: B. 1 and 3 only

Answer (b). Statements 1 and 3 are correct. Statement 2 is wrong: Satyameva Jayate comes from the Mundaka Upanishad, not from an edict. So (a), (c) and (d), which all include statement 2, are wrong.

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