Mauryan Administration and Ashokan Edicts
~12 min read
- Dynasty: ~321-185 BCE. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya with Kautilya's help. Capital Pataliputra.
- Ashoka (~268-232 BCE): Kalinga War (261 BCE) led to conversion. Edicts on rocks and pillars across the empire in Prakrit, Greek, Aramaic.
- Administration: Centralised; Mantriparishad, four provinces under viceroys, espionage network. Arthashastra is the policy manual.
The Mauryan Empire is India's first true imperial polity and a CDS-OTA favourite. The 2016 PYQs on the Rummindei and Nigalisagar inscriptions, and the 2018 PYQ on the Mahavamsa, all test the precise vocabulary of Ashokan history.
Chandragupta Maurya and Bindusara
- Chandragupta Maurya (~321-297 BCE): Defeated Dhana Nanda with the strategy of Kautilya / Chanakya / Vishnugupta. Empire extended over modern N India and Afghanistan.
- Treaty with Seleucus Nicator (305 BCE): After defeating Alexander's general, Chandragupta gained Afghanistan and parts of Balochistan in exchange for 500 war elephants. Megasthenes came as Seleucid ambassador to Pataliputra; his Indica (surviving only in fragments) describes the seven social classes.
- Conversion and death: Embraced Jainism in old age; abdicated and accompanied Bhadrabahu south, dying by sallekhana at Shravanabelagola.
- Bindusara (~297-273 BCE): Called Amitraghata (slayer of foes) by Greeks. Maintained diplomatic ties with Seleucids — Deimachus and Dionysius were envoys. Patron of the Ajivika sect.
Ashoka the Great (~268-232 BCE)
- Accession: Crowned around 268 BCE after a four-year succession struggle.
- Kalinga War (261 BCE): Eighth regnal year. Recorded in Rock Edict XIII. Casualties (100,000 dead, 150,000 deported) led to his renunciation of digvijaya (military conquest) and adoption of dhammavijaya (moral conquest).
- Dhamma: An ethical code, not Buddhist monasticism. Tenets - non-violence, respect for elders and Sramanas, tolerance of all sects, social welfare. Ashoka calls himself Devanampiya Piyadasi (Beloved of the Gods, of Gracious Mien).
- Dhamma Mahamattas: Officials specifically for dhamma propagation; instituted in the 13th regnal year.
- Welfare: Wells, rest houses (dharmasalas), planting of banyans and mangoes along roads, medical care for humans and animals (separate veterinary hospitals).
- Buddhist mission (3rd council, 250 BCE): Sent missions to Sri Lanka (Mahinda and Sanghamitra), Suvarnabhumi (Burma), Central Asia, Macedonia (Antiochus II), Egypt (Ptolemy II), Cyrene (Magas) - named in Rock Edict XIII.
- Rummindei (Lumbini) pillar inscription: Records Ashoka's pilgrimage and reduction of land tax (bhaga) at Buddha's birthplace from 1/6 to 1/8. (A 2016 CDS-I PYQ tests that this inscription is not about dhamma but about specific welfare).
- Nigalisagar pillar inscription: Records that Ashoka enlarged the stupa of Buddha Konagamana (a previous Buddha) — and visited it in his 20th regnal year.
- Sarnath lion capital: Adopted as India's national emblem (1950).
Ashokan Edicts
| Type | Number | Key examples | Scripts and languages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Major Rock Edicts | 14 | Girnar, Kalsi, Shahbazgarhi, Mansehra, Dhauli, Jaugada, Sopara, Erragudi, Yerragudi | Brahmi (Prakrit); NW edicts in Kharoshthi |
| Minor Rock Edicts | ~15 | Brahmagiri, Maski (first to name 'Ashoka'), Gujarra (also names Ashoka), Sasaram, Bhabru (Bairat - addressed to Sangha) | Brahmi (Prakrit) |
| Bilingual Edicts | 2 | Kandahar (Greek and Aramaic), Laghman (Aramaic) | Greek, Aramaic |
| Major Pillar Edicts | 7 | Delhi-Topra (longest), Delhi-Meerut, Allahabad-Kosam, Lauriya-Araraj, Lauriya-Nandangarh, Rampurva | Brahmi |
| Minor Pillar Inscriptions | Several | Rummindei (Lumbini), Nigalisagar, Sarnath, Sanchi, Allahabad-Queen's edict | Brahmi |
| Cave inscriptions | 3 | Barabar caves (donated to Ajivikas) | Brahmi |
Script note: Brahmi was deciphered in 1837 by James Prinsep (East India Company numismatist). Most edicts are in Prakrit. Only Maski, Gujarra, Nettur and Udegolam name 'Asoka'; elsewhere he is 'Devanampiya Piyadasi'.
Mauryan Administration
- Sources: Kautilya's Arthashastra, Megasthenes' Indica, Ashokan edicts, Ashokavadana, Mahavamsa.
- Centralisation: King at apex. Council of ministers (Mantriparishad) — full council and an inner cabinet of three or four ministers.
- Provinces (Chakras), four main:
- Uttarapatha — capital Taxila (NW)
- Avantirashtra — capital Ujjain (west)
- Dakshinapatha — capital Suvarnagiri (south)
- Prachya — capital Tosali (east, after Kalinga annexation)
- District (ahara/vishaya) officers: Pradeshikas (overall), Rajukas (revenue-cum-judicial - similar to a modern collector), Yuktas (subordinate officers).
- Village: Headed by Gramini. Cluster of villages under Gopa.
- City administration (Pataliputra): Six committees of five members each described by Megasthenes - industry, foreigners, vital statistics, retail trade, manufacture, customs.
- Espionage: Sansthana (stationary) and Sanchara (wandering) spies. Female spies (Vishakanyas) — Arthashastra describes them in detail.
- Army: Six wings — infantry, cavalry, elephants, chariots, transport, navy — managed by 30 officers in six boards.
- Revenue: Bhaga (1/6 of produce), bali, kara, vishti (forced labour), pranaya (emergency tax). Sitadhyaksha managed crown lands.
- Currency: Punch-marked silver karshapana and copper masha.
Decline and Aftermath
- Post-Ashoka rulers: Dasharatha, Samprati, Salisuka, Devavarman, Shatadhanvan, Brihadratha.
- End (~185 BCE): Last Maurya Brihadratha was assassinated by his Brahmin general Pushyamitra Shunga, founding the Shunga dynasty.
- Causes of decline: Over-centralisation, financial strain (Ashoka's gifts to monks per Divyavadana), Brahmanical reaction (D.D. Kosambi's view), weak successors, provincial revolts.
CDS/OTA PYQ Examples
Q: Consider the following statements (CDS-I 2016): (1) The inscriptions on the pillar at Rummindei give vivid details of Ashoka's Dhamma. (2) The Nigalisagar inscription records the fact of Ashoka having visited the Konagamana stupa.
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: (b) 2 only. The Rummindei inscription records Ashoka's pilgrimage to Lumbini and tax reduction — not vivid dhamma details. The Nigalisagar pillar records the enlargement of Konagamana's stupa.
Q: Statement I: King Ashoka abolished capital punishment and disbanded his army. Statement II: After Kalinga War, Ashoka was remorseful and became a Buddhist. (CDS-II 2016)
(a) Both true and II explains I (b) Both true but II does not explain I (c) I true, II false (d) I false, II true
Answer: (d) Statement I is false — Ashoka did not abolish capital punishment or disband his army (Pillar Edict IV grants three days' respite to condemned prisoners only). Statement II is true.
Q: Which Buddhist text contains an account of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka? (CDS-I 2018)
(a) Vinaya Pitaka (b) Sutta Pitaka (c) Abhidhamma Pitaka (d) Mahavamsa
Answer: (d) Mahavamsa (and also Dipavamsa) — Sri Lankan Pali chronicles.
Q: Megasthenes' Indica describes how many social classes in Mauryan India?
(a) Four (b) Five (c) Six (d) Seven
Answer: (d) Seven — philosophers, farmers, herdsmen, artisans, soldiers, magistrates and councillors.
Q: Brahmi script was deciphered by:
(a) John Marshall (b) James Prinsep (c) Alexander Cunningham (d) Mortimer Wheeler
Answer: (b) James Prinsep (1837).
Q: The Mauryan provincial capital of Dakshinapatha was:
(a) Ujjain (b) Taxila (c) Tosali (d) Suvarnagiri
Answer: (d) Suvarnagiri (Karnataka).
Drill Mauryan Administration and Ashokan Edicts for CDS/OTA
CDS/OTA-pattern items on Mauryan Administration and Ashokan Edicts with answer keys and explanations.
Start Free Mock TestFrequently Asked Questions
Was Ashoka a Buddhist convert or did he merely patronise Buddhism?
Inscriptional evidence (Bhabru Edict to the Sangha, Minor Rock Edict I confessing he is an upasaka) shows he was a lay Buddhist. But his Dhamma in the Major Rock Edicts is presented as an ethic for all subjects, not Buddhist doctrine — making him a Buddhist with a universalist public face.
What is Arthashastra and is it really Kautilya's?
Arthashastra is a 15-book Sanskrit treatise on statecraft, economy, war and espionage. Scholarly view is mixed — sections likely date from Kautilya (4th c BCE), but the present text was compiled and edited in the early centuries CE. Discovered and edited by R. Shamasastry (1909).
Why are some edicts in Greek and Aramaic?
Ashoka's empire included Gandhara and parts of Afghanistan where Greek and Aramaic were the languages of administration after Alexander. The Kandahar bilingual edict is in Greek and Aramaic; Laghman in Aramaic. This shows the empire's reach and Ashoka's pragmatism.
Who succeeded Ashoka?
His grandson Dasharatha (mentioned in Nagarjuni cave inscriptions) and another grandson Samprati (Jain sources) divided the empire. The line ended with Brihadratha, killed by Pushyamitra Shunga around 185 BCE.
What is the Sarnath capital and why is it the national emblem?
A polished Chunar sandstone capital with four addorsed lions on an abacus carrying a chakra and four animals (lion, bull, horse, elephant). Adopted as India's State Emblem on 26 January 1950; the chakra became the central motif of the national flag.