What were the new administrative arrangements during this period?

Why do you think ordinary men and women did not generally keep records of what they did?

Read the story on page 122. In what ways is the monkey king similar to or different from the kings you read about in Chapters 5 and 10?

What kind of evidence from burials do archaeologists use to find out whether there were social differences amongst those who were buried?

Match the following:

Narmada Valley                       The first big kingdom
Magadha                                 Hunting and gathering
Garo                                        hills Cities about 2500 years ago
Indus and its tributaries           Early agriculture
Ganga Valley                          The first cities

What changes do you find in the army at this time?

What were the means adopted by Ashoka to spread the message of dhamma?

What were the problems that Ashoka wanted to solve by introducing dhamma?

Describe the functions of the gramabhojaka. Why do you think he was powerful?

Why did kings want to control the Silk Route?

Fill in the blanks:
(a) ———————— was a word used for large landowners in Tamil.
(b) The gramabhojaka often got his land cultivated by the ————————
(c) Ploughmen were known as ———————— in Tamil.
(d) Most grihapatis were ———————— landowners.

Why do you think slaves and servants were ill-treated? Do you think the orders of the emperor would have improved their condition? Give reasons for your answer.

Complete the following sentences:
(a) Officials collected ———————— from the area under the direct control of the ruler.
(b) Royal princes often went to the provinces as ———

(c) The Mauryan rulers tried to control ———————— and ———————— which were important for transport.
(d) People in forested regions provided the Mauryan officials with ————————

What were the problems that Ashoka wanted to solve by introducing dhamma?

State whether true or false:

(a) Ujjain was the gateway to the north-west.
(c) Chandragupta’s ideas were written down in the Arthashastra.
(d) Kalinga was the ancient name of Bengal.
(e) Most Ashokan inscriptions are in the Brahmi script.

Read the story on page 122. In what ways is the monkey king similar to or different from the kings you read about in Chapters 5 and 10?

Match the following:
Muvendar                                          Mahayana Buddhism
Lords of the dakshinapatha               Buddhacharita
Ashvaghosha                                    Satavahana rulers
Bodhisattvas                                     Chinese pilgrim
Xuan Zang                                        Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas

List one major difference between manuscripts and inscriptions.

Match the following:

Narmada Valley                       The first big kingdom
Magadha                                 Hunting and gathering
Garo                                        hills Cities about 2500 years ago
Indus and its tributaries           Early agriculture
Ganga Valley                          The first cities

Who were the groups who could not participate in the assemblies of the ganas?

What kinds of evidence do historians use to find out about trade and trade routes?