The Mauryan Empire
ICSE Class 9 · History & Civics · Chapter 9
What this chapter covers
- Sources of Mauryan history
- Sources: the Arthashastra
- Sources: the Indika
- Sources: the Ashokan Edicts
- Sources: the Sanchi Stupa
- The Mauryan kings in chronological order
- Mauryan administration: the king and the central government
- Mauryan administration: provinces, districts, villages and cities
- Mauryan administration: revenue, army and justice
- Ashoka's Dhamma: principles
- Ashoka's Dhamma: impact
Key points
- Sources: the Arthashastra of Kautilya (statecraft and administration), the Indika of Megasthenes (Pataliputra, court, society), the Ashokan Edicts (Ashoka's own words in Prakrit, mostly Brahmi, deciphered by James Prinsep in 1837) and the Sanchi Stupa (Ashokan Buddhist monument with carved gateways).
- Kings in order: Chandragupta Maurya (c. 321 to 297 BCE), Bindusara (c. 297 to 273 BCE), Ashoka (c. 273 to 232 BCE), then the later Mauryas until Brihadratha was killed by Pushyamitra Shunga around 185 BCE.
- Central administration: an all-powerful king advised by the mantriparishad, with the Samaharta (revenue), the Sannidhata (treasury), adhyakshas heading departments, and a network of spies.
- Provinces under prince-governors at Taxila, Ujjain, Tosali and Suvarnagiri; districts under pradeshikas, rajukas and yuktas; villages under the gramika.
- Pataliputra was run by thirty officials in six committees of five; the army by a war office of six boards of five.
- Land revenue (bhaga) was usually one-sixth of the produce; justice was given through dharmasthiya (civil) and kantakashodhana (criminal) courts.
- Ashoka's Dhamma was a moral code for all faiths: respect for elders, kindness to servants, ahimsa, tolerance, generosity, moderation, rejection of empty rituals and Dhamma-vijaya in place of war.
- Dhamma was spread through edicts, Dhamma Mahamattas, Dhamma-yatras, officials' tours, welfare works and missions abroad.
- Its impact: peace and unity, a welfare state, the spread of Buddhism abroad, monumental stone art, and India's State Emblem and Ashoka Chakra; historians debate whether it weakened the empire.
Questions answered
Name the four sources of Mauryan history listed in your syllabus, and classify each as literary or archaeological.
The Arthashastra and the Indika are literary sources; the Ashokan Edicts (inscriptions) and the Sanchi Stupa (a monument) are archaeological sources.
Who was Kautilya? What does the Arthashastra deal with?
Kautilya, also called Chanakya or Vishnugupta, was the minister and adviser of Chandragupta Maurya. The Arthashastra is a Sanskrit treatise on statecraft, dealing with the king's duties, ministers, departments, revenue, trade, law, the army, diplomacy and spies.
What is the saptanga theory? Name any four of the seven limbs.
The saptanga theory, set out in the Arthashastra, holds that a state has seven essential elements. They are the king, the ministers, the territory and people, the fort, the treasury, the army and the ally (any four).
Why must the Indika be used with caution as a source?
The original is lost and survives only as fragments quoted by later writers; Megasthenes was a foreigner who saw India mainly from the capital, and some of his statements are wrong, such as his claim that there was no slavery in India and his division of society into seven classes.
Who deciphered the Brahmi script, and when? How was it established that Devanampiya Piyadasi was Ashoka?
James Prinsep deciphered Brahmi in 1837. The Minor Rock Edict at Maski, found in 1915, uses the name Ashoka together with the title Devanampiya, showing that the two were the same king.
In which language and scripts were the Ashokan Edicts written? Why?
Mostly in Prakrit, in the Brahmi script; in the north-west in Kharosthi, and near Kandahar in Greek and Aramaic. Ashoka used the languages and scripts the people of each region understood, so that his message would reach everyone.
Name the parts of a stupa.
The anda (dome), harmika (railed platform on top), yashti and chhatra (mast and umbrella), medhi (terrace), vedika (railing) with the pradakshina patha (circular path), and the toranas (gateways).
Name the Mauryan kings in chronological order and the last Mauryan ruler.
Chandragupta Maurya, Bindusara and Ashoka, followed by the later Mauryas such as Dasharatha and Samprati; the last ruler was Brihadratha, killed by Pushyamitra Shunga around 185 BCE.
Past board exam questions
ICSE 2019 sample paper · 2 marks
List any two sources of information about the Mauryan Empire.
Show answer
1. Literary source: Kautilya's Arthashastra (also Megasthenes' Indica).
2. Archaeological source: the Edicts (rock and pillar inscriptions) of Ashoka (also the Sarnath Lion Capital, stupas).