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UPPCS Ancient History Gap Sheet: Mauryas, Administration and Ashokan Inscriptions.
UPPCS has asked 23 of these. 4 have not been asked yet. Lock the first list, then read the second: it holds what UPPCS has not used yet.
First, the concept
Mauryan power rested on a large army, revenue collection and officials managing resources. The Arthashastra presents an ideal of statecraft; it should not be read as a literal record of every practice under every Mauryan king.
Ashoka’s inscriptions are public instructions, not one religious scripture. Match each edict with its message, then distinguish language from script and major rock edicts from pillar or minor edicts.
✅ Already asked (23)
Empire and statecraft
- Chandragupta founds Mauryan rule · Established Mauryan rule about 322 BCE after the Nandas.
- Seleucus settlement · Chandragupta's conflict and settlement with Seleucus belong around 305–303 BCE.
- Bindusara's Greek envoy · Deimachus visited Bindusara's court.
- Arthashastra authorship · Traditionally attributed to Kautilya, also called Chanakya and Vishnugupta.
- Saptanga state · Ruler, ministers, territory and people, fort, treasury, force and ally.
- Samaharta revenue · Chief revenue-collection official.
- Sitadhyaksha agriculture · Superintendent of agriculture, especially crown lands.
- Akaradhyaksha mines · Superintendent of mines.
- Pautavadhyaksha measures · Superintendent of weights and measures.
- Rajuka administration · Officers with judicial and administrative duties; mentioned in Ashoka's pillar edicts.
Edicts and messages
- Kalinga war · About 261 BCE; Ashoka describes remorse over its suffering.
- Major Rock Edict II · Mentions medical care and southern kingdoms including Cholas and Pandyas.
- Major Rock Edict XII · Respect for other sects and restraint in praising one's own sect.
- Major Rock Edict XIII · Kalinga suffering and conquest through dhamma.
- Rummindei pillar inscription · Records Ashoka's visit to Lumbini and Buddha's birthplace.
- Maski personal name · A minor rock edict identifies the ruler by the name Ashoka.
- Shahbazgarhi and Mansehra · Major rock edicts in Kharoshthi, written right to left.
- James Prinsep decipherment · Deciphered Brahmi in 1837.
- Major Rock Edict I · Restricts animal killing and certain festive gatherings.
- Nigali Sagar pillar · Records Ashoka's enlargement of the stupa of the former Buddha Kanakamuni.
- Separate Kalinga edicts · Dhauli and Jaugada carry instructions for officials in the newly conquered region.
UP pillar evidence
- Sarnath lion capital · Ashokan capital with four lions; basis of India's state emblem.
- Prayagraj Ashokan pillar · Carries Ashokan texts and the later Prayag Prashasti of Samudragupta.
❌ Not asked yet (4)
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🔒 4 items not asked yet
Empire and statecraft: 1 · Edicts and messages: 3
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⚠️ Samaharta collects revenue; Sannidhata manages the treasury. Kalinga is discussed in Major Rock Edict XIII, religious tolerance in XII.
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