Mauryan Empire MCQs for UPSC Prelims

Correct answer: B - James Prinsep

James Prinsep, an officer of the East India Company mint, first deciphered the Brahmi and Kharoshthi scripts in 1837, which made it possible to read Ashoka's edicts. Georg Bühler was a later Indologist who worked on Indian scripts and inscriptions but did not achieve the first decipherment, so option (a) is wrong. Max Müller was renowned for his work on the Vedas and comparative philology, not epigraphy, ruling out option (c). William Jones founded the Asiatic Society and identified Indo-European linguistic links but did not decipher the Ashokan edicts, eliminating option (d).

Correct answer: B - Only two pairs

Dhauli, near Bhubaneswar in Odisha, and Erragudi in Andhra Pradesh are both genuine major rock edict sites correctly placed, so pairs 1 and 2 are right. Jaugada is also in Odisha, in the Ganjam region, not in Madhya Pradesh, so pair 3 is wrong. Kalsi lies in Uttarakhand near Dehradun, not in Karnataka, so pair 4 is wrong. With exactly two correct matches, the answer is only two pairs.

Correct answer: A - Ashoka

This passage is from Ashoka's Major Rock Edict XII, which preaches restraint in glorifying one's own sect and condemns disparaging other sects, urging concourse and respect among all religious communities. The sentiment of tolerance expressed through royal edicts inscribed on rocks and pillars is the hallmark of Ashoka's dhamma policy in the third century BCE. Samudragupta is known from the Allahabad pillar inscription, a eulogy of his conquests, not a sermon on sectarian tolerance. Harshavardhana patronised Buddhism but issued no such edict series, and Krishnadeva Raya of Vijayanagara is associated with literary works like Amuktamalyada, not rock edicts.

Correct answer: B - district-level administration

Ashoka's Rock Edict III directs the Pradeshika, Rajuka and Yukta to go on tours every five years for the propagation of dhamma and administrative work; these functionaries operated at the district tier of Mauryan administration, with the Pradeshika as district head, the Rajuka in charge of land and justice, and the Yukta as a subordinate accounting official. Hence (b) is correct. Village-level functionaries were the gramika and gramabhojaka, so (a) is wrong. Provinces were governed by princes (kumaras) as viceroys, so (c) is wrong, and the central administration revolved around the king, mantriparishad and amatyas, so (d) is also wrong.

Correct answer: B - 2 and 3 only

The Arthashastra lays down that when a master begets a son on his female slave, both the mother and the child are to be treated as free, and the child gets the legal standing of the master's own son, so statements 2 and 3 are correct. The official UPSC key treated statement 1 as incorrect, reflecting the text's strong protections for Aryas, who could not be reduced to slavery, with bondage arising chiefly through capture, sale or self-pledge rather than as a judicial punishment. Several historians read the text differently, which made this question controversial, but the official key settles on 2 and 3 only.

Correct answer: A - Kanganahalli

At Kanaganahalli (near Sannati in Kalaburagi district, Karnataka), excavations of the Maha Stupa revealed a sculpted slab showing the emperor with his queens, labelled 'Ranyo Ashoka' in Brahmi, one of the very few labelled stone portraits of Ashoka. Sanchi has rich relief sculpture but no labelled portrait of Ashoka identifying him by name. Shahbazgarhi in Pakistan is a Major Rock Edict site inscribed in Kharosthi script, not a relief sculpture portraying the king. Sohgaura is associated with a Mauryan copper plate inscription, not with any Ashokan portrait.

Correct answer: B - The royal treasury and storehouse (custodian of the treasury)

In Kautilya's Arthashastra, the Sannidhata was the chief treasurer and custodian of the state storehouse, while the Samaharta was the collector-general of revenue. Distinguishing these two high officials is a common point of testing.

Correct answer: C - All three

All three statements are correct. Rajukas were officers associated with rural/provincial administration; Ashoka's Pillar Edicts mention entrusting them with the welfare of the people. Dhamma Mahamattas were a special cadre of officers created by Ashoka to spread and supervise Dhamma. In the Arthashastra, 'sita' denotes crown land cultivated directly by the state (often with hired labour or slaves). As each statement is accurate, the answer is 'All three'.