Social Science [2 Mark Questions]

The Dhamma Mahamattas (officers responsible for promoting the policy of Dhamma) looked after the welfare activities across the empire. Ashoka had friendly relations with his neighbours and sent special envoys to them. His son, Mahendra went to Sri Lanka to spread Buddhism there. Buddhist missionaries also went to Burma and other South-east Asian countries to spread Buddhism.

Ashoka's edicts propagate Dhamma vis- vis Buddhism. Dhamma lays down principals of disciplined living and how to be a good human being.

Bindusara was succeeded by his son Ashoka, the most famous of the Mauryan kings. The Mauryan Empire reached its zenith under the rule of Ashoka. He undertook military campaign against Kalinga and after defeating it in a bloody war, annexed it.

The Lion capital is carved in stone. The Wheel "Ashoka Chakra" is found in both our National Flag and the Lion capital.

Dhamma Mahamattas, as the term implies spread the word of Dhamma amongst the people. They saw the carving of the edicts and even read them out to people who were unable to read it.

The slaves were mostly prisoners of war and servants did menial jobs. They were ill-treated of the emperor could have made the slaves free. if the servants were ill-treated the master could be punished.

Chandragupta, his son Bindusara, and Bindusara's son, Ashoka were three important rulers of the Mauryan dynasty.

People who lived in the forest areas were more or less independent, but they were expected to provide elephants, timber, honey and way to Mauryan officials.

Disunity in North-western janapadas encouraged foreigners to invade India in the fourth and fifth century BC. One such invasion was of the Greek in North-western India in 326 BC. Alexander opened new trade routes to India but weakened the authority of North-western rulers.

These are names of books, one in Sanskrit and two in Sinhalese which describe the life and times of Ashoka.

Dynasty. When members of the same family become rulers one after another, the family is generally called a dynasty. For example, the Mauryan dynasty or the Gupta dynasty.

It was originally placed atop the Ashokan pillar at Sarnath, now in the state of Uttar Pradesh. There are four lions in this Lion capital.

There were several cities in the empire such as the capital city Pataliputra, Taxila and Ujjain.

The Sarnath lions are our National emblem and the Ashoka chakra occupies the palce of pride on our National Flag.

Taxes were collected from farmers, herders, crafts persons and traders, who lived in villages and towns in the area. They were collected by officials appointed by the emperor.

The Mauryan Empire stretched from Bengal and Assam in the east to Afghanistan and Balochistan in the west and Kashmir and Nepal in the north to the Deccan Plateau in the south. It included large cities like Pataliputra which was the capital, Ujjain and Taxila.

Tribute was collected not on regular basis and people gave it more or less willingly, taxes were collected on regular basis and it was compulsory for the people to pay them.

The army was a deterrent for anyone who thought of attacking the far flung frontiers of Ashoka's empire.

Ashoka conveyed his message through inscriptions and his officials.

In the Kalinga war, about 1,00,000 people were killed and another 1,50,000 were made prisoners. However, the sight of the large scale killing moved Ashoka and he embraced Buddhism. The Kalinga war was the turning point in Ashoka’s life as he shunned all forms of violence for the rest of his life.