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Sources and the founding of the empire

मराठीत स्पष्टीकरण

The Mauryan empire · Part 1 / 3 · Fact-checked on 8 November 2026 · how we check

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

The sources for the Mauryan age (the Arthashastra, Megasthenes' Indica, the Mudrarakshasa, Buddhist and Jain texts, the Puranas, inscriptions and archaeology); the origins of the Mauryas; Chandragupta and Kautilya overthrow the Nandas; the treaty with Seleucus; the reach west and south and the Jain tradition of Shravanabelagola; Pataliputra; and the reign of Bindusara.

Each idea is explained first in Marathi (मराठी), 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 Marathi and revise it in English.

हर्यंक, शिशुनाग, नंद राजांनी वाढवलेल्या मगध राज्याचे मौर्यांनी उपखंडाचा बहुतेक भाग चालवणारे पहिले साम्राज्य केले — साधारण इ.स.पू. 321 ते 185, पाटलिपुत्रातूनच अफगाणिस्तानपासून कर्नाटकपर्यंत आदेश. एखादे छोटे दुकान मोठी कंपनी व्हावी तसे. या भागात दोन प्रश्न: आपल्याला कसे कळते (पुरावे), साम्राज्य कसे उभे राहिले (चंद्रगुप्त, कौटिल्य, बिंदुसार). (→ English: Mauryan empire · Pataliputra · हिन्दी: मौर्य साम्राज्य · पाटलिपुत्र)

In exam EnglishThe Mauryas turned the kingdom of Magadha, built up by the Haryanka, Shishunaga and Nanda kings, into the first state that ruled most of the Indian subcontinent. From about 321 BCE until about 185 BCE, one court at Pataliputra sent its orders from Afghanistan in the northwest to Karnataka in the south. This part asks two questions: how do we know about the empire, and how was it founded? It sorts out the sources, then follows Chandragupta Maurya and his adviser Kautilya as they replaced the Nandas, pushed back the Greeks and ruled from a great capital, and it ends with the reign of his son Bindusara. Ashoka is the subject of Part 2, and the working of the state and its decline are taken up in Part 3.

अर्थशास्त्र म्हणजे राज्य कसे जिंकावे, टिकवावे, चालवावे हे सांगणारा ग्रंथ — एखाद्या मोठ्या संस्थेची 'कारभार पुस्तिका' जणू. लेखक कौटिल्य (चाणक्य, विष्णुगुप्त) अशी परंपरा. पंधरा भाग: राजा, मंत्री, हेर, कर, खाणी-व्यापाराचे अधिकारी, शिक्षा, युद्ध-मुत्सद्देगिरी (मंडल). 1905 मध्ये म्हैसूरमध्ये शामशास्त्रींनी ओळखला, 1909 मध्ये प्रकाशित केला. हे आदर्श चित्र आहे, मौर्यांची रोजनिशी नाही. (→ English: Arthashastra · Kautilya · हिन्दी: अर्थशास्त्र · कौटिल्य)

In exam EnglishThe Arthashastra is a treatise on how a king should win, keep and run a state. Tradition names its author Kautilya, also called Chanakya or Vishnugupta, the Brahmana who guided Chandragupta to the throne. Its fifteen books deal with the duties of the king, his ministers and spies, the collection of revenue, the work of superintendents in charge of mines, trade, forests and weights, law and punishment, and war and diplomacy, including the idea of a circle (mandala) of friendly and hostile neighbouring kings. The work dropped out of sight for centuries until R. Shamasastry identified a manuscript of it in Mysore in 1905 and published the text in 1909. Its date is argued over: many historians think it was added to over several centuries, so its rules are best read as a picture of an ideal, tightly managed kingdom rather than a record of what the Mauryas actually did. Even so, several of its official titles also appear in Ashoka's inscriptions, and it remains the fullest Indian account of government from this age.

मेगॅस्थिनीस — सेल्यूकसने पाठवलेला ग्रीक राजदूत, चंद्रगुप्ताच्या दरबारात होता. त्याची 'इंडिका' हरवली; नंतरच्या लेखकांनी (स्ट्रॅबो, डायोडोरस, एरियन) उद्धृत केलेले तुकडेच उरले — एकाने सांगितलेली गोष्ट दुसऱ्याने पुन्हा सांगावी तसे. पाटलिपुत्र, अधिकारी, सात वर्ग यांबद्दल लिहिले; 'गुलाम नव्हते' अशी काही विधाने चुकीची. ग्रीकांचा 'सँड्रोकोट्टस' = चंद्रगुप्त हे 1793 मध्ये विल्यम जोन्स यांनी ओळखले; कालगणनेला एक पक्का खुंटा मिळाला. (→ English: Megasthenes · Indica · हिन्दी: मेगस्थनीज़ · इंडिका)

In exam EnglishThe best-known foreign witness is Megasthenes, whom the Greek ruler Seleucus Nicator sent as his envoy to Chandragupta's court. His book, the Indica, is lost. What survives are passages that later Greek and Roman authors such as Strabo, Diodorus and Arrian quoted or retold, often centuries afterwards, so every report reaches us second-hand. Megasthenes wrote about Pataliputra, which he called Palibothra, about the king's officials and about a society he divided into seven classes. Some of his claims are plainly wrong, such as his remarks that India had no slaves and that Indians did not know writing. The Greek writers call the king Sandrokottos, and in 1793 the scholar William Jones matched that name with Chandragupta. Since the Greek sources also date Alexander and Seleucus, this match gave historians a fixed point from which to build the chronology of early India.

आपले ग्रंथ कथा सांगतात, पण बहुतेक खूप नंतर लिहिलेले. विशाखदत्ताचे नाटक 'मुद्राराक्षस' — चाणक्याने नंदांचा मंत्री राक्षस याला डावपेचात हरवल्याची कथा. बौद्ध ग्रंथ (दीपवंश, महावंश, अशोकावदान) अशोक, त्याने संघाला दिलेली दाने आणि श्रीलंकेतील मोहीम सांगतात. हेमचंद्राचा जैन ग्रंथ चंद्रगुप्त जैन झाला असे सांगतो. पुराणे राजांची यादी देतात. प्रत्येक ग्रंथाचा स्वतःचा हेतू — चित्रपटाची कथा इतिहासाच्या पुस्तकाशी ताडून पाहावी तसे, कोरीव लेखांशी ताडून पाहतात. (→ English: Mudrarakshasa · Mahavamsa · sangha · हिन्दी: मुद्राराक्षस · महावंश · संघ)

In exam EnglishIndian writings add stories, though most were composed long after the events. Vishakhadatta's Sanskrit play Mudrarakshasa, written several centuries later, perhaps in the Gupta age, shows Chanakya outwitting Rakshasa, the last minister of the Nandas, to make Chandragupta's throne secure. Buddhist works give Ashoka the lead role: the Sri Lankan chronicles Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa describe his gifts to the sangha and the mission that carried Buddhism to the island, and the Ashokavadana, a Sanskrit collection of legends, tells of a cruel young prince who later became a pious ruler. The Jain Parishishtaparvan of Hemachandra, written in the twelfth century CE, keeps the tradition that Chandragupta became a Jain. The Puranas list the Mauryan kings and the lengths of their reigns, though the lists do not always agree. Each text had its own aim, so historians check these stories against the inscriptions.

सर्वात भक्कम पुरावा दगड आणि मातीतून येतो. अशोकाचे कोरीव लेख राजाच्या स्वतःच्या शब्दांत — भाग 2 मध्ये पाहू. नंतरचा रुद्रदामनाचा जुनागढ लेख (साधारण इ.स. 150): सौराष्ट्रातील सुदर्शन तलाव चंद्रगुप्ताचा अधिकारी पुष्यगुप्त याने बांधला, अशोकाच्या काळात तुषास्फाने कालवे जोडले — जुन्या घराच्या खरेदीखतात आजोबांची नावे असावीत तसे. पाटण्यात कुम्हरार, बुलंदीबाग उत्खनन; चांदीची आहत नाणी, चकचकीत दगडी स्तंभ. (→ English: Junagadh inscription · punch-marked coins · हिन्दी: जूनागढ़ अभिलेख · आहत सिक्के)

In exam EnglishThe firmest evidence comes from stone and soil. Ashoka's own inscriptions on rocks and pillars, studied in Part 2, speak in the king's own words. A later inscription confirms the Mauryan hold on the west. The Junagadh rock inscription of the Shaka ruler Rudradaman, from about 150 CE, records that the Sudarshana lake in Saurashtra was first built by Pushyagupta, Chandragupta's provincial governor, and that channels were added to it in Ashoka's time by Tushaspha. Digging at Kumrahar and Bulandibagh in Patna has exposed the remains of a pillared hall and of the timber walls of the capital. Silver punch-marked coins, Northern Black Polished Ware pottery, and the polished stone pillars and animal capitals found at many sites complete the picture of a rich and well-connected state.

The main sources for the Mauryan period
Source	Kind and date	What it tells us
Arthashastra (Kautilya)	Sanskrit treatise on statecraft; compiled over a long period	Ideal government: king, ministers, officials, revenue, law, diplomacy
Indica (Megasthenes)	Greek envoy's account; lost, known from Strabo, Diodorus, Arrian	Pataliputra, officials, seven classes of society
Mudrarakshasa (Vishakhadatta)	Sanskrit play, centuries later	Chanakya's plot against the Nanda minister Rakshasa
Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa	Pali chronicles of Sri Lanka	Ashoka, the sangha and the mission to Sri Lanka
Ashokavadana	Sanskrit Buddhist legends	Ashoka's early life and turn to Buddhism
Parishishtaparvan (Hemachandra)	Jain work, 12th century CE	Chandragupta's conversion to Jainism
Ashoka's inscriptions	Rock and pillar inscriptions, 3rd century BCE	Ashoka's dhamma, officials and the extent of the empire
Junagadh inscription of Rudradaman	Sanskrit rock inscription, about 150 CE	Sudarshana lake; Pushyagupta and Tushaspha in Saurashtra

मौर्य कुठून आले? कथा दोन प्रकारच्या. बौद्ध — पिप्पलिवनचे मोरिय क्षत्रिय कुळ. काही नंतरचे ब्राह्मण ग्रंथ — हीन कुळ, 'मुरा' नावाच्या स्त्रीवरून 'मौर्य'; रोमन इतिहासकार जस्टिनही सामान्य स्थितीतून म्हणतो. लग्न ठरवताना दोन्ही बाजूचे लोक आपापला रंग देऊन सांगतात तसे — म्हणून काळजीपूर्वक वाचायचे. जन्म काहीही असो, कौटिल्याच्या मदतीने चंद्रगुप्ताने नंदांना सत्तेवरून हटवले. (→ English: Moriya clan · Chandragupta Maurya · हिन्दी: मोरिय कुल · चंद्रगुप्त मौर्य)

In exam EnglishWhere the Mauryas came from is told in conflicting ways. Buddhist texts place Chandragupta in the Moriya clan, a kshatriya people of Pipphalivana who, the Buddhist tradition says, received a share of the remains from the Buddha's funeral pyre. Some later Brahmanical works call him low-born, and one later commentary even explains the name Maurya through a woman named Mura; the Roman historian Justin also says he rose from humble beginnings. Historians read both kinds of account with caution, because each tradition had its own reason to raise or lower the dynasty's standing. Whatever his birth, the sources agree that Chandragupta, guided by Kautilya, overthrew the most powerful dynasty of the north.

शेवटचा नंद राजा धननंद — संपत्ती, मोठे सैन्य, पण प्रजेला नावडता. चंद्रगुप्त आणि कौटिल्याने नंद राज्याच्या कडेला, बहुधा वायव्येत बळ जमवले — अलेक्झांडर (इ.स.पू. 325) परतल्यावर तिथे ग्रीक चौक्या आणि भांडणारे सरदार उरले होते. साधारण इ.स.पू. 321 पर्यंत पाटलिपुत्र ताब्यात. जुन्या मालकाचे दुकान, माल, हिशेब सगळे नव्या मालकाला मिळावे तसे — मगधचे सैन्य, खजिना, जमीन चंद्रगुप्ताला मिळाली. (→ English: Dhana Nanda · Chandragupta Maurya · हिन्दी: धननंद · चंद्रगुप्त मौर्य)

In exam EnglishThe last Nanda king, Dhana Nanda, was famous for his wealth and his huge army, but Greek writers report that his subjects disliked him. Chandragupta and Kautilya appear to have gathered strength on the edges of the Nanda realm, quite possibly in the northwest, where Alexander's retreat in 325 BCE had left behind Greek garrisons and quarrelling local chiefs. The Roman writer Justin credits Chandragupta with freeing India from the Greek governors after Alexander's death. By about 321 BCE he had captured Pataliputra and ended Nanda rule, although historians still debate whether he took the Ganga valley or the northwest first. Whatever the details, the new king inherited Magadha's army, treasury and fertile land, and he used them to build a state much larger than any before it.

अलेक्झांडरचे पूर्वेकडील प्रदेश त्याचा सेनापती सेल्यूकसकडे गेले; त्याने भारतीय प्रांत परत जिंकण्याचा प्रयत्न केला. साधारण इ.स.पू. 305 मध्ये लढाई — ग्रीक विजय नव्हे, तह. सेल्यूकसने अफगाणिस्तान, बलुचिस्तानचे प्रदेश (अराकोसिया, गेड्रोसिया, पॅरोपॅमिसडी) दिले, विवाहसंबंध ठरला; बदल्यात 500 युद्धहत्ती घेतले — शेत देऊन बैल घ्यावेत तसा सौदा. मेगॅस्थिनीस राजदूत म्हणून आला. म्हणूनच पुढे अशोकाचे लेख कंदाहारपर्यंत. (→ English: Seleucus Nicator · Arachosia · हिन्दी: सेल्यूकस निकेटर · अराकोसिया)

In exam EnglishAlexander's eastern lands passed to his general Seleucus Nicator, who tried to win back the Indian provinces. Around 305 BCE his forces clashed with Chandragupta's, and the contest ended not in a Greek victory but in a treaty. Seleucus gave up territories in present-day Afghanistan and Baluchistan, usually identified as Arachosia (around Kandahar), Gedrosia (Baluchistan) and the Paropamisadae (around Kabul), and the two sides agreed on a marriage alliance. In return Seleucus received 500 war elephants. The treaty also began lasting diplomatic ties: Seleucus sent Megasthenes to live at Pataliputra as his ambassador, and envoys kept travelling between India and the Greek kingdoms under the next Mauryan kings. With these gains the Mauryan frontier ran deep into Afghanistan, which is why Ashoka's inscriptions were later set up as far west as Kandahar.

चंद्रगुप्ताची सत्ता पश्चिमेला सौराष्ट्रापर्यंत (पुष्यगुप्त, सुदर्शन तलाव). दक्षिणेत किती दूर हे स्पष्ट नाही: संगम कवितांमध्ये 'मोरियर' दक्षिणेत आल्याचा उल्लेख; कर्नाटकात अशोकाचे लेख असूनही अशोक तिथे युद्ध सांगत नाही — म्हणजे आधीच (चंद्रगुप्त किंवा बिंदुसार) पोहोचले. जैन परंपरा: दुष्काळात सिंहासन सोडून भद्रबाहूंसोबत श्रवणबेळगोळला गेला, चंद्रगिरी टेकडीवर सल्लेखना व्रत. एखाद्या गावाच्या नावात कुणाची आठवण टिकावी तसे. (→ English: Shravanabelagola · Bhadrabahu · हिन्दी: श्रवणबेलगोला · भद्रबाहु)

In exam EnglishChandragupta's rule also reached west to Saurashtra, as the Junagadh inscription shows through his governor Pushyagupta and the Sudarshana lake. How far south he went is less clear. Tamil Sangam poems speak of the Moriyar (the Mauryas) pressing into the south, and Ashoka's inscriptions stand in Karnataka even though Ashoka claims no conquest there; this suggests the Deccan had been brought under Mauryan control earlier, under Chandragupta or Bindusara. A Jain tradition, recorded in later texts and in inscriptions at Shravanabelagola in Karnataka, says that late in life Chandragupta gave up the throne during a long famine, went south with the Jain teacher Bhadrabahu, and ended his life by sallekhana, the Jain vow of fasting to death, on the hill now called Chandragiri. The story cannot be proved, but it explains why Shravanabelagola has kept his name.

पाटलिपुत्र — सोन नदी गंगेला मिळते तिथे, आजच्या पाटण्याजवळ; उदयिनच्या काळापासूनच मगधची राजधानी. मेगॅस्थिनीसनुसार लांब अरुंद नगर, 570 बुरूज आणि 64 दरवाजे असलेली लाकडी भिंत, भोवती खंदक. बुलंदीबागमध्ये लाकडी खांबांच्या रांगा, कुम्हरारमध्ये चकचकीत दगडी स्तंभांचे मोठे सभागृह (ऐंशी स्तंभ) सापडले. दोन महामार्ग मिळतात त्या जंक्शन शहरासारखे — गंगेचा जलमार्ग, तक्षशिला, उज्जैनचे रस्ते इथे जुळले. (→ English: Pataliputra · Kumrahar · हिन्दी: पाटलिपुत्र · कुम्हरार)

In exam EnglishPataliputra, the Mauryan capital, stood where the Son river met the Ganga, near modern Patna, on a site that the Haryanka king Udayin had already made the capital of Magadha. In Megasthenes' account the city was stretched out along the river, measuring roughly 80 stadia by 15, and was enclosed by a wooden wall with 570 towers and 64 gates and protected by a broad moat. Excavation bears out his stress on timber: at Bulandibagh archaeologists found long lines of heavy wooden posts from the city's palisade, and at Kumrahar they uncovered the remains of a large hall with rows of polished stone pillars, often called the eighty-pillared hall. The city housed the king, his council and the treasury. Its hold on the river traffic of the Ganga tied the eastern heartland to the great roads that ran to Taxila in the northwest and to Ujjain in the west.

चंद्रगुप्तानंतर, साधारण इ.स.पू. 297 मध्ये, मुलगा बिंदुसार. ग्रीक त्याला 'अमित्रोकेटीस' म्हणत — म्हणजे 'अमित्रघात', शत्रूंचा नाश करणारा. अँटिओकस पहिल्याने डायमेकसला राजदूत पाठवले; बिंदुसाराने गोड द्राक्षारस, सुके अंजीर आणि एक तत्त्वज्ञ मागितला म्हणे — 'तत्त्वज्ञ विकत नाहीत' असे उत्तर! शेजाऱ्यांशी गमतीदार गप्पा माराव्यात तसे. आजीवक तपस्व्याला मान; तक्षशिलेच्या बंडावर अशोकाला पाठवले, अशोक उज्जैनचा शासकही होता. साधारण इ.स.पू. 273 मध्ये मृत्यू, मग अशोक. (→ English: Bindusara · Amitraghata · हिन्दी: बिंदुसार · अमित्रघात)

In exam EnglishChandragupta was succeeded, in about 297 BCE, by his son Bindusara, about whom fewer facts survive. Greek writers call him Amitrochates, which is taken to stand for the Sanskrit title Amitraghata, 'destroyer of enemies'. He kept up the ties with the Seleucid court: Antiochus I sent the envoy Deimachus to him, and a Greek anecdote says Bindusara asked Antiochus for sweet wine, dried figs and a philosopher, and was told that Greek custom did not allow philosophers to be sold. Buddhist texts say an Ajivika ascetic was honoured at his court, and that when the people of Taxila rose against oppressive officials he sent his son Ashoka to restore order; Ashoka also served as governor at Ujjain. The much later Tibetan historian Taranatha credits Bindusara's reign with winning the lands between the eastern and western seas. Bindusara died around 273 BCE, and after a disputed succession the throne passed to Ashoka.

एकत्र पाहिले तर दोन पिढ्यांतच साम्राज्य उभे राहिले: कौटिल्याची केंद्रीय नियंत्रणाची कल्पना, मगधची संसाधने, नंद आणि सेल्यूकस दोघांवर चंद्रगुप्ताचा विजय — अफगाणिस्तानपासून दख्खन, सौराष्ट्रापर्यंत. बिंदुसाराने ते टिकवले, बहुधा दक्षिणेत वाढवले. प्रत्येक तथ्यावर त्याच्या स्रोताची छाप असते — आदर्श ग्रंथ, उद्धरणांतून कळणारे ग्रीक वर्णन, नंतरच्या धार्मिक कथा, समकालीन कोरीव लेख. चार साक्षीदारांच्या जबान्या ताडून सत्य ठरवावे तसे. पुढे अशोक — त्याच्या लेखांपासून भाग 2. (→ English: Mauryan empire · sources · हिन्दी: मौर्य साम्राज्य · स्रोत)

In exam EnglishPut together, the sources show an empire assembled within about two generations. Kautilya's ideas of firm central control, Magadha's resources, and Chandragupta's success against both the Nandas and Seleucus gave the Mauryas a realm stretching from Afghanistan to the Deccan and Saurashtra, run from a fortified capital on the Ganga. Bindusara held it together, probably widened it to the south, and kept the diplomatic links with the Greek world alive. Every fact about this period carries the stamp of where it comes from: a treatise that describes an ideal state, a Greek envoy's account known only through quotation, religious legends written centuries later, or inscriptions and excavated remains that are contemporary but brief. The next ruler, Ashoka, left the oldest substantial written records of any Indian king, and Part 2 begins with them.

Exam traps

Megasthenes' Indica is lost; we know it only from later writers such as Strabo, Diodorus and Arrian.
R. Shamasastry found the Arthashastra manuscript in 1905 and published it in 1909; it describes an ideal state and is not a chronicle of Mauryan events.
Mudrarakshasa is Vishakhadatta's play written centuries after the Mauryas, not a text of the Mauryan age.
The Junagadh inscription belongs to Rudradaman (about 150 CE), not to Ashoka, even though it names Chandragupta's governor Pushyagupta and Ashoka's Tushaspha.
In the treaty it was Seleucus who gave up land (Arachosia, Gedrosia, Paropamisadae) and Chandragupta who gave 500 elephants.
Sandrokottos is Chandragupta; Amitrochates (Amitraghata) is Bindusara.
Megasthenes was sent by Seleucus to Chandragupta; Deimachus was sent by Antiochus I to Bindusara.
The Shravanabelagola tradition and Bhadrabahu belong to Chandragupta, not to Ashoka.

Recap

The Mauryas ruled from Pataliputra from about 321 to about 185 BCE, the first empire over most of the subcontinent.
Arthashastra: Kautilya's treatise in fifteen books; manuscript found by R. Shamasastry (1905, published 1909); an ideal picture, possibly compiled over centuries.
Indica of Megasthenes, envoy of Seleucus, survives only in quotations; William Jones identified Sandrokottos with Chandragupta in 1793.
Other texts: Mudrarakshasa, Dipavamsa, Mahavamsa, Ashokavadana, Hemachandra's Parishishtaparvan, the Puranas.
Junagadh inscription of Rudradaman (about 150 CE): Sudarshana lake built by Pushyagupta, channels added by Tushaspha under Ashoka.
Origins disputed: Buddhist Moriya clan of Pipphalivana versus later low-birth stories.
Treaty with Seleucus (about 305 BCE): Arachosia, Gedrosia, Paropamisadae to Chandragupta, 500 elephants to Seleucus, marriage alliance, Megasthenes at Pataliputra.
Jain tradition: Chandragupta went with Bhadrabahu to Shravanabelagola and died by sallekhana.
Pataliputra: Ganga-Son confluence; timber wall with 570 towers and 64 gates; Bulandibagh palisade and Kumrahar pillared hall.
Bindusara (about 297-273 BCE): Amitraghata, envoy Deimachus from Antiochus I, Ajivika links, Ashoka sent to Taxila.

Practice questions

Q1. Which scholar first identified 'Sandrokottos' of the Greek writers with Chandragupta Maurya?

James Prinsep
William Jones
Alexander Cunningham
R. Shamasastry

Show answer

Answer: B. William Jones

Answer (b). William Jones made the identification in 1793. James Prinsep (a) is known for deciphering the Brahmi script of Ashoka's inscriptions, Alexander Cunningham (c) for founding the Archaeological Survey, and R. Shamasastry (d) for bringing the Arthashastra to light.

Q2. Consider the following statements:
1. The Indica of Megasthenes survives as a complete manuscript.
2. The text of the Arthashastra was published in the early twentieth century after a manuscript was identified in Mysore.
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 1 is wrong: the Indica is lost and is known only through quotations in later writers. Statement 2 is right: R. Shamasastry identified the manuscript in 1905 and published it in 1909. So (a) and (c) are wrong because they accept statement 1, and (d) is wrong because statement 2 is true.

Q3. Match the work with its author:
A. Arthashastra 1. Vishakhadatta
B. Mudrarakshasa 2. Kautilya
C. Indica 3. Hemachandra
D. Parishishtaparvan 4. Megasthenes
Select the correct code:

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-2, B-4, C-1, D-3

Show answer

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

Answer (a). Kautilya wrote the Arthashastra, Vishakhadatta the play Mudrarakshasa, Megasthenes the Indica and Hemachandra the Jain Parishishtaparvan. Option (b) swaps the authors of the Arthashastra and the Mudrarakshasa, (c) swaps Megasthenes and Hemachandra, and (d) gives the Mudrarakshasa to Megasthenes and the Indica to Vishakhadatta.

Q4. With reference to the treaty between Chandragupta Maurya and Seleucus Nicator, consider the following statements:
1. Seleucus gave up territories that included Arachosia and Gedrosia.
2. Seleucus received 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 statements are correct: Seleucus ceded lands in present-day Afghanistan and Baluchistan, including Arachosia and Gedrosia, and received 500 elephants in return. Options (a) and (b) each leave out one true statement, and (d) rejects both.

Q5. According to the Junagadh inscription of Rudradaman, the Sudarshana lake in Saurashtra was first built by:

Tushaspha
Pushyagupta
Bindusara
Rudradaman

Show answer

Answer: B. Pushyagupta

Answer (b). Pushyagupta, Chandragupta's provincial governor, first built the lake. Tushaspha (a) added channels to it in Ashoka's time; Bindusara (c) is not named in this connection; Rudradaman (d) repaired it centuries later and set up the inscription.

Q6. Consider the following statements about Bindusara:
1. Greek writers call him Amitrochates.
2. Antiochus I sent the envoy Deimachus to his court.
3. Jain tradition links him with Bhadrabahu and Shravanabelagola.
Which of the statements given above are correct?

1 and 2 only
2 and 3 only
1 and 3 only
1, 2 and 3

Show answer

Answer: A. 1 and 2 only

Answer (a). Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Statement 3 is wrong: the Jain tradition of Bhadrabahu and Shravanabelagola concerns Chandragupta, Bindusara's father. So (b), (c) and (d), which all include statement 3, are wrong.

Q7. The remains of a large Mauryan hall with rows of polished stone pillars have been excavated at:

Bulandibagh
Kumrahar
Rajgir
Vaishali

Show answer

Answer: B. Kumrahar

Answer (b). The pillared hall was found at Kumrahar in Patna. Bulandibagh (a), also in Patna, yielded the timber palisade of the city, not the hall; Rajgir (c) was the older hill-ringed capital of Magadha, and Vaishali (d) was the seat of the Vajji league.

Q8. According to the Buddhist tradition, Chandragupta Maurya belonged to:

the Moriya clan of Pipphalivana
the Shakya clan of Kapilavastu
the Lichchhavi clan of Vaishali
the Malla clan of Kushinara

Show answer

Answer: A. the Moriya clan of Pipphalivana

Answer (a). Buddhist texts make him a kshatriya of the Moriya clan of Pipphalivana. The Shakyas (b) were the Buddha's own clan, the Lichchhavis (c) led the Vajji league, and the Mallas (d) ruled Kushinara and Pava; none of them is linked with the Mauryas.

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Sources

Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (Ministry of Culture): material on ancient Indian history, the Mauryan empire and its sources — https://ccrtindia.gov.in
Archaeological Survey of India: site notes and excavation reports on Kumrahar and Bulandibagh (Pataliputra), and the Girnar (Junagadh) rock inscriptions — https://asi.nic.in