NCERT 6th Class (CBSE) Social Science: The First Empire: The Mauryas

Question: Write a short note to describe the Mauryan people.

Answer: The Mauryan cities had mainly merchants, officials and crafts persons. In village farmers and herders lived. In forested areas, people gathered forest produce and hunted animals for food. People in different parts of the empire used various different languages. They also probably ate diverse kinds of food and same can be said about the clothes they wore.

Question: How was Ashoka unique?

Answer: Ashoka was the most famous Mauryan ruler. He was known to take his message amongst the people through inscriptions. His inscriptions were in the people’s language Prakrit. Ashoka also remains the only king in history who gave up war after winning one. This he did after he observed the violence in the Kalinga war. Ashoka then became a Buddhist and got the idea of the ‘dhamma’.

Question: Describe governance in the Mauryan empire.

Answer: The Mauryan empire consisted of severed different parts which were ruled over differently.

1. The Empire’s capital: The areas adjacent to Pataliputra, the capital of the empire, was under the direct control of the emperor. Officials were supposed to collect taxes from the inhabitants in strict obedience of the ruler’s order.
2. The Provincial capitals: There were provinces with their own capitals, e.g. Taxila and Ujjain in the north west and central India respectively. There was obviously some amount of control from the emperor in Pataliputra: Royal princes were sent as governors.
3. Other areas: In the other areas, the Mauryans controlled roads and rivers, , which were vital for transport. Resources, whatever available, were collected as tribute.

Question: What do the Indika and the Arthashastra tell us about the mauryas?

Answer:

1. The Indika tells us about the political, social and economic conditions of life during that period.
2. The Arthashastra deals with how to govern an empire. It describes the administration of the mauryas.

Question: When was the Kalinga war fought? Why did Ashoka attack Kalinga?

Answer:

1. The Kalinga war was fought in 261 BC.
2. Kalinga was the only kingdom which was not under Mauryan control.