Ans: D

Exp:

A closer look at Asokan edicts illustrates that basic attributes of Dhamma included compassion (daya), charity (dana), truthfulness, purity and gentleness. 

• Pillar Edict III asks subjects to control violence, cruelty, anger and envy. 
• Rock edict I call for a ban on animal sacrifice and social gatherings like samaj. 
• The Rock Edict II declares measures to be taken for the construction of hospitals, roads, inns, wells and planting of shade giving trees. 
• Third, Fourth and Twelfth rock edicts ask people to respect parents, relatives, brahmanas and shramanas(monks). He also appointed a special type of officials called dhamma mahamatras. Their main function was to oversee and supervise the peaceful function of the principles of Dhamma. Twelfth rock edict is specially important since it says “ the king Piyadassi, the beloved of the gods, respected all sects whether ascetics or householders, and he honours them with gifts and honours of various kinds…let an alien sect also be respected on every occasion.”

Ans: C

Exp: 

Indica is an account left by a Greek ambassador, Megasthenes. This book has not survived, but its fragments are preserved in later Greek and Latin works of Diodorus, Pliny (Roman scholar who cite Megasthenes ’s observations), and Arrian. 

Indica describes the sub-continent in terms of its size and shape (India is a quadrilateral-shaped country, bound by the ocean on the southern and the eastern side), soil, climate, rivers, plants, animals (contains lengthy descriptions of elephants, horses, and monkeys as it appears that Greeks were specially captivated by Indian animals), produce, administration, society, legends, and folklore. Hence, Option 1 is correct.

Megasthenes in his book Indica wrote all Indians are free and not even one of them is a slave.Hence, Option 2 is incorrect.

Megasthenes, influenced by Herodotus’s classification of the Egyptian society into seven classes based on the professional criterion, mentioned the existence of seven castes in India too. Hence, Option 3 is correct.

The Greek ambassador also refers to the administration of Pataliputra, the capital of the Mauryas. The city was administered by six committees, each of which consisted of five members. Hence, Option 4 is correct.

Ans: A

Exp:

Ashoka, the renowned Mauryan ruler, notably pioneered the dissemination of his message through inscriptions, predominantly scripted in Prakrit and composed in the Brahmi script. However, some inscriptions in the northwest were inscribed in Kharosthi. To ensure comprehension among local communities, the scripts in Afghanistan were also translated into Aramaic and Greek. The decipherment of the Brahmi script, facilitated by James Princep, a British civil servant during British rule, occurred in 1837.

Ans: A

Exp: 

Samaharta was in charge of collection of revenue from various parts of the Mauryan kingdom and looked after the income and expenditure by supervising the works of the akshapatal adhyaksha (Accountant General). Among all the executive officials, Samahartri was the most important and his responsibility involved maintaining accounts and collection of taxes from all types of sources.

Ans: B

Exp:

Statement 1 is incorrect: Agriculture formed the backbone of the economy. It was the largest sector in terms of its share in total revenue to the state and employment. Besides food grains, India also grew commercial crops such as sugarcane and cotton, described by Megasthenes as a reed that produced honey and trees on which wool grew. These were important commercial crops.

Statement 2 is correct: Crafts were predominantly urban based hereditary occupations and sons usually followed their fathers in the practice of various crafts. Craftsmen worked primarily as individuals, though royal workshops for producing cloth and other products also existed. Each craft had a head called pamukha (pramukha or leader) and a jettha (jyeshtha or elder) and was organised in a seni (srenior a guild), so that the institutional identity superseded the individual in craft production.

Statement 3 is correct:  The Mauryan Empire contained smaller kingdoms with a range of administrative structures not necessarily similar to that in Magadha. Different parts of the empire like the core, the metropolis and the peripheries were administered in different ways. Thus there did not exist a uniform method of administration in the whole Mauryan Empire. While the core and the metropolis were directly administered by the state; the periphery region was given more autonomy as more importance was given to the collection of taxes and tributes from these regions