Discuss the main features of Mauryan administration. Which of these elements are evident in the Asokan inscriptions that you have studied?
Asokan inscriptions mention all the main features of the administration of the Mauryan Empire. Thus, the features of the administration are evident in the inscriptions of the Asokan age. The important features of the same are as follow:
1. The capital of the Mauryan Empire was Pataliputra. Apart from the capital there were four other centres of political power in the empire. They were Taxila, Ujjaini, Tosali and Suvarnagiri.
2. Committee and subcommittees were formed to run the administration and safety of boundaries. Megasthenes has mentioned that there was one committee and six sub-committees.
The six subcommittees and their areas of activities are as follows:
(i) The first sub committee looked after the navy.
(ii) The second sub committee looked after transport and communications.
(iii) The third sub committee looked after infantry.
(iv) The fourth sub committee had the responsibility of horses.
(v) The fifth had the responsibility of chariots.
(vi) The sixth had the responsibility of elephants.
3. Strong network of roads and communications were established. It is notable that no large empire can be maintained in the absence of the same.
4. Asoka made an attempt to keep the empire united by the philosophy of Dhamma. Dhamma are nothing but moral principles that actuate people towards good conduct. Special officers called Dhamma Mahamatras were appointed to propagate Dhamma. In fact Romila Thapar has made it the most important element of the Asokan state’s governing principle
Discuss whether the Mahabharata could have been the work of a single author.
How do historians reconstruct the lives of ordinary people?
Discuss whether kings in early states were invariably Kshatriyas.
How important were gender differences in early societies? Give reasons for your answer.
Look at Fig. 1.30 and describe what you see. How is the body placed? What are the objects placed near it? Are there any artefacts on the body? Do these indicate the sex of the skeleton?
On Map 1, use a pencil to circle sites where evidence of agriculture has been recovered. Mark an X against sites where there is evidence of craft production and R against sites where raw materials were found.
Discuss the evidence that suggests that Brahmanical prescriptions about kinship and marriage were not universally followed.
Describe some of the distinctive features of Mohenjodaro.
Describe the salient features of mahajanapadas.
Were the ideas of the Upanishadic thinkers different from those of the fatalists and materialists? Give reasons for your answer.
How do archaeologists trace socio-economic differences in Harappan society? What are the differences that they notice?
Why do you think women and men joined the sangha?
Were the ideas of the Upanishadic thinkers different from those of the fatalists and materialists? Give reasons for your answer.
The following is an excerpt from the Mahabharata, in which Yudhisthira, the eldest Pandava, speaks to Sanjaya, a messenger:
Sanjaya, convey my respectful greetings to all the Brahmanas and the chief priest of the house of Dhritarashtra. I bow respectfully to teacher Drona ... I hold the feet of our preceptor Kripa ... (and) the chief of the Kurus, the great Bhishma. I bow respectfully to the old king (Dhritarashtra). I greet and ask after the health of his son Duryodhana and his younger brother ... Also greet all the young Kuru warriors who are our brothers, sons and grandsons ... Greet above all him, who is to us like father and mother, the wise Vidura (born of a slave woman) ... I bow to the elderly ladies who are known as our mothers. To those who are our wives you say this, “I hope they are well-protected”... Our daughters-in-law born of good families and mothers of children greet on my behalf. Embrace for me those who are our daughters ... The beautiful, fragrant, well-dressed courtesans of ours you should also greet. Greet the slave women and their children, greet the aged, the maimed (and) the helpless ...
Try and identify the criteria used to make this list – in terms of age, gender, kinship ties. Are there any other criteria? For each category, explain why they are placed in a particular position in the list.
Compare and contrast the dharma or norms mentioned in the stories of Drona, Hidimba and Matanga.
Look at Fig. 1.30 and describe what you see. How is the body placed? What are the objects placed near it? Are there any artefacts on the body? Do these indicate the sex of the skeleton?
List the materials used to make beads in the Harappan civilisation. Describe the process by which any one kind of bead was made.
Discuss the evidence of craft production in Early Historic cities. In what ways is this different from the evidence from Harappan cities?
List some of the problems faced by epigraphists.
Discuss whether the Mahabharata could have been the work of a single author.