question_answer

What does Ashokan inscriptions tell about the Mauryas? Describe the limitations of the inscriptional evidences.

Or

State any three features of Mahajanpadas. How did Magadha become the powerful Mahajanpada? Explain.

Answer:

Ashokan inscriptions about the Mauryas: The Ashokan inscriptions tell about the Mauryan time 269 BCE to 232 BCE. The pillars are scattered in India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. They are mostly about Buddhism which was prevalent in this subcontinent. They tell about the dharma, social and moral values, about Ashoka?s efforts to spread Buddhism. Ashoka refers to himself as Devanam Piya. His conversion to Buddhism, his advice to the monks and people and the ideas about morals are the major themes.

The limitations of these inscriptions:

We do not know much about the times as the themes are limited.

We have no way of knowing whether the reforms given in the edicts were brought into practice.

Or

Three features of Mahajanapada:

There were sixteen of them.

Two of them were republics and the rest of them were monarchies.

They were named after the Kshatriya tribe who had settled therein like Gandhara Kosala etc.

These Janapadas were settled before the Buddhist era.

Except Magadha, there is no connected history of any mahajanapada.

B) Magadhas was the most prominent Mahajanpadas. Magadha was the most prominent. The confluence of rivers made its land fertile. There were deposits of iron which were used by Magadhans to make powerful weapons. They had agrarian economy which was supported by the military strength. Patliputra was its capital. Its location was convenient for trade. It prospered in trade, and gradually emerged as the most powerful mahajanapada.