Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumAncient Indian Civilizations and Early Empires

Which of the following statements regarding the administration and epigraphic record of the Mauryan Empire are correct? Select all that apply.

  1. The municipal administration of Pataliputra was managed by six committees consisting of five members each.Answer
  2. Ashoka's edicts located in the central and eastern regions of the Indian subcontinent were primarily inscribed in the Brahmi script.Answer
  3. C
    The royal princes appointed as provincial governors were officially designated as Mahamatras across all Ashokan edicts.
  4. D
    The text Arthashastra was authored by Megasthenes to document the diplomatic missions sent to the Mauryan court.

Answer

The correct statements state that Pataliputra's city administration was organized into six boards of five members each, and that Brahmi was the primary script used for Ashokan edicts in central and eastern India.
The accounts of Megasthenes explicitly detail that Pataliputra was governed by a 30-member municipal commission structured into six committees of five members each. Additionally, Ashokan epigraphy shows that Brahmi was the dominant script throughout central and eastern India, while Kharosthi was confined mainly to northwestern sites like Shahbazgarhi.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Evaluate the statement concerning municipal governance of Pataliputra.
Confirm that Megasthenes recorded six specialized boards of five members each handling civic affairs in Pataliputra.
This matches the historical records from Megasthenes' Indika regarding civic governance under Chandragupta Maurya.
2
Analyze the regional distribution of scripts in Ashokan edicts.
Confirm that Brahmi script was used across central, eastern, and southern India, while Kharosthi was restricted to the north-west (e.g., Shahbazgarhi and Mansehra).
Ashoka adapted scripts to regional vernaculars: Brahmi for most of India, Kharosthi in the north-west, and Aramaic/Greek in the far west.
3
Assess administrative titles used for provincial governors versus high-ranking officials.
Identify that viceroys of royal blood were called Kumara or Aryaputra, not Mahamatras.
Mahamatras were general administrative officers (e.g., Dhamma Mahamatras), distinct from royal princes governing major provinces like Ujjain or Taxila.
4
Verify authorship of ancient Indian literary works on governance.
Recognize that Kautilya authored Arthashastra, whereas Megasthenes wrote Indika.
Conflating foreign ambassador accounts with indigenous political treatises is a common historical misattribution.

Key Concept

Mauryan Municipal Administration and Regional Distribution of Ashokan Epigraphs
Rate this question

Topics

Ancient Indian Civilizations and Early Empires

More questions from this topic