Q1. Make a list of the occupations of the people who lived within the mauryan empire.
Ans. The mauryan empire consisted of the people who were merchants, officials, crafts persons, farmers and herders etc.
Q2. Complete the following sentences.
Officials collected taxes from the area under the direct control of the ruler.
Royal princes often went to the provinces as governors.
The mauryan rulers tried to control roads and rivers which were important for transport.
People in forested regions provided the mauryan officials with elephants, timber, honey and wax.
Q3. State whether true or false.
Ujjain was the gateway to the north-west-false.
Chandragupta’s ideas were written down in the arthashastra- true.
Kalinga was the ancient name of bengal- false.
Most ashokan inscriptions are in the brahmi script- true.
Q4. What were the problems that ashoka wanted to solve by introducing dhamma?
Ans. People in the empire followed different religions, usually causing conflicts. Animal sacrifices was common. Slaves and servants were ill treated by their masters. To solve these problems ashoka introduced his dhamma.
Q5. What were the means adopted by ashoka to spread the message of ‘dhamma’?
Ans. Ashoka appointed officials called dhamma mahamatta to go from place to place and tell people about dhamma. Ashoka got his messages inscribed on rocks and pillars too.
Q6. Why do you think slaves and servants were ill treated? Do you think the order of the emperor would have improved their conditions? Give reasons for your answer.
Ans. Slaves and servants were ill treated because their masters felt superior to them. Ashoka was a king who was loved by his subjects so the emperors order might have improved their conditions.