Ashoka: The Emperor Who Gave Up War

Q20. Make a list of the occupations of the people who lived within the Mauryan Empire?

Ans. Merchants, officials, farmers, herders and crafts persons probably lived within the Mauryan Empire.

Q21. Who was sent to the court of Chandragupta as an ambassador by the Greek ruler of West Asia, Seeucus Nicator?

Ans.  Megasthenes was sent to the court of Chandragupta as an ambassador by the Greek ruler of West Asia, Seeucus Nicator.

Q22. Explain the term tribute.

Ans. Unlike taxes, which were collected on a regular basis, tribute was collected as and when it was possible from people who gave a variety of things, more or less willingly.

Q23. Explain the term the Brahmi Script.

Ans. Brahmi is the modern name given to one of the oldest writing systems used in Ancient India. Most modern Indian scripts have developed from the Brahmi script over hundreds of years.

Q24. Why did Ashoka decided to give up wars?

Ans. Ashoka fought a war to conquer Kalinga. However, he was so horrified when he saw the violence and bloodshed that he decided not to fight any more wars.

Q25. What is Rampurwa bull and where it has been placed now?

Ans. The Rampurwa bull is finely polished stone sculpture. This was part of a Mauryan pillar found in Rampurwa, Bihar, and has now been placed in Rashtrapati Bhavan. It is an example of the skill of the sculptors of the time.

Q26. What were the things given as tribute by the people living in the forested areas?

Ans. People living in the forested areas were more or less independent, but may have been expected to provide elephants, timber, honey and wax to Mauryan officials.

Q27. What was Ashoka’s dhamma?

Ans. Ashoka’s dhamma did not involve worship of a god, or performance of a sacrifice. He felt that just as a father tries to teach his children, he had a duty to instruct his subjects. He was also inspired by the teachings of the Buddha.

Q28 How are empires different from kingdoms?

Ans. Empires are different from kingdoms in the following ways:

                          i.        Emperors need more resources than kings because empires are larger than kingdoms, and need to be protected by big armies.

                         ii.        So also they need a larger number of officials who collect taxes.

Q29. What does Dynasty mean?

Ans. When members of the same family become rulers one after another, the family is often called a dynasty. The Mauryas were a dynasty with three important rulers — Chandragupta, his son Bindusara, and Bindusara’s son, Ashoka.

Q30. When did Ashoka's inclination towards Buddhism developed?

Ans. After the Battle of Kalinga, he was so horrified when he saw the violence and bloodshed that he decided not to fight any more wars.

He slowly became the follower of the Buddhist religion and adopted the path of non-violence.

Q31. Why Ashoka known as a unique ruler?

Ans. Ashoka was known as a unique ruler because

                        i.        The most famous Mauryan ruler was Ashoka.

                       ii.        He was the first ruler who tried to take his message to the people through inscriptions.

                      iii.        Most of Ashoka’s inscriptions were in Prakrit and were written in the Brahmi script.