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Kings, Farmers And Towns
Question
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What the king’s officials did?

Here is an excerpt from the account of Megasthenes:

Of the great officers of state, some ... superintend the rivers, measure the land, as is done in Egypt, and inspect the sluices by which water is let out from the main canals into their branches, so that every one may have an equal supply of it. The same persons have charge also of the huntsmen, and are entrusted with the power of rewarding or punishing them according to their deserts. They collect the taxes, and superintend the occupations connected with land; as those of the woodcutters, the carpenters, the blacksmiths and the miners.

A. List the jobs done by the officers of the state.

B. Give any three features of the Mauryan administration under Asoka.

C. To what extent does this extract help us to understand about the Mauryan Empire?

D. What are some of the other sources for studying this Empire? Give four of them.

Answer

A. Superintend the rivers, measure the land, inspect the sluices by which water is let out of the main canal into their branches so that every one may have an equal supply of it.
B. 1. Administrative control: The empire was divided into five major political centres—the capital Pataliputra and the provincial centres Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali and Suvarnagiri.

2. Administrative control was strongest in areas around the capital and provincial centres as Taxila and Ujjayini were situated on important long-distance trade routes and Suvarnagiri was important for tapping the gold mines of Karnataka.

3. Strong Army committee with six sub-committees for coordinating military activity.

4. Propagating dhamma the principles of which were simple and universally applicable which would ensure the well being of people in this world and the next.
C. The extract helps us to understand the Mauryan empire is that the empire was very vast and the administration was controlled by various officers who supervised various occupation groups.
D. 1. Archaeological finds like sculptures

2. Account of Megasthenes

3. Arthashastra

4. The inscriptions of Asoka

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Some More Questions From Kings, Farmers And Towns Chapter

Discuss the notions of kingship that developed in the post-Mauryan period.

To what extent were agricultural practices transformed in the period under consideration?

Compare Maps 1 and 2, and list the Mahajanapadas that may have been included in the Mauryan Empire. Are any Asokan inscriptions found in these areas?

Collect newspapers for one month. Cut and paste all the statements made by government officials about public works. Note what the reports say about the resources required for such projects, how the resources are mobilised and the objective of the project. Who issues these statements, and how and why are they communicated? Compare and contrast these with the evidence from inscriptions discussed in this chapter. What are the similarities and differences that you notice.

Collect five different kinds of currency notes and coins in circulation today. For each one of these, describe what you see on the observe and the reverse (the front and the back). Prepare a report on the common features as well as the differences in terms of pictures, scripts and languages, size, shape and any other element that you find significant. Compare these with the coins shown in this chapter, discussing the materials used, the techniques of minting, the visual symbols and their significance and the possible functions that coins may have had.

What is meant by Janapada?

What were the Mahajanapadas? Name a few important Mahajanapadas.

Which Mahajanapada emerged as the strongest one? Name any three of its important rulers.

What was the early capital of Magadha? Tell its one feature. In the 4th century BCE, which city was made the capital of Magadha?

Who was Chandragupta Maurya? Upto where he extended his control of the empire?