Page 63 - SST Class 06

village was the headman. There was an espio-
nage system and the spies were probably used
1. Name any two ancient towns and one modern
town from the map. for bringing information from faraway places.
2. Can you lacate on pillar and one rock edict of The City of Pataliputra
Ashoka? Megasthenes was the Greek ambassador at the
3. Name the three kingdoms in the south not court of Chandragupta and in his book Indiaka
included in his empire. he has written about the birds, animals, people,
the crops grown and the land. He says the capital
ASHOKA AND BUDDISM
city of Pataliputra was large, beautiful and
Though Ashoka followed Buddhism, he never
forced it on his subjects. He treated all religions impressive. Towers and gateways, along a
equally. He sent his son, Mahendra and daugh- wooden wall surrounded the city. People's houses
were made of brick and wood while the palace
ter, Sanghamitra, to Sri Lanka to preach
was made of stone. The city had a group of thirty
Buddhism. A Branch of the original Bodhi Tree
officials divided into six committees, each super-
under which Buddha gained enlightenment was
vising a special department. One committee
sent as a gift. One of his inscriptions mentions
looked after foreigners.
five rulers outside India to whom he sent his
The People
ambassadors. He also held the third Buddhist
council and undertook Pilgrimages. The rule of Since the empire was large there were people
the three Mauryans was most impressive as they speaking different languages, following different
were able to unite different groups of people into food habits and doing different jobs. People lived
one large administrative unit. in villages, towns and forest. Most people were
farmers and this is what Megasthenes has to say
Administration
about the food crops :
Kautilya’s Arthashastra contains guidelines on
In addition to cereals, there grows throughout
how the empire was to be governed. It gives us
details about the Mauryan administration. India much Millet which is kept well watered by a
Kautilya was a brilliant minster or amatya at the large number of river streams and much pulses of
court of Chandragupta. In his book, he calls different sorts and rice also as well as many other
plants useful for food, of which most grow
upon the ruler to look after his subjects well.
The emperor was the most powerful person. He
not only made decisions after consulting his
minister, but also travelled extensively to gain a
first-hand account of what was happening. He
was assisted by several officers to collect taxes
and keep accounts. The tax money was used for
building and maintaining roads, wells, rest
houses, irrigation projects and the army.

The empire was divided into four provinces, each
under a prince. The provinces were further
divided into districts and the districts into villages.
Officers collected taxes, worked as judges and
Ruins of Pillared Hall at Pataliputra
kept records. The most important person in the

Social Science-6 63