Questions: Classical India: The Maurya and Gupta Empires

Question 1

What event did Ashoka's own edicts describe as the turning point that led him to renounce wars of conquest?

• A. Alexander the Great's invasion of the Punjab
• B. The conquest of Kalinga and the suffering it caused
• C. The founding of the Gupta dynasty
• D. A defeat by the Seleucid Empire

Answer: (B)

In one of his rock edicts Ashoka expresses remorse for the death and deportation of many thousands of people in the Kalinga war. He then presents himself as a ruler who conquers by dhamma, not by force.

Question 2

Ashoka's edicts order all of his subjects to convert to Buddhism.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: False

The edicts promote ethical conduct, nonviolence toward living beings and respect for all religious groups, including Brahmins and other ascetics. Ashoka supported Buddhist institutions, but the edicts do not demand conversion.

Question 3

Give two achievements often used to describe the Gupta period as a classical age.

Model answer: Any two of: Sanskrit literature such as the works of Kalidasa; advances in mathematics and astronomy, such as the work of Aryabhata and the use of place-value numerals; Hindu temple building and sculpture; the founding of the Buddhist center of learning at Nalanda.

The label 'classical age' rests on cultural rather than military achievements. Writers, mathematicians and artists of the period set standards that later Indian culture looked back to.

Question 4

How did Gupta rule differ from Mauryan rule?

• A. The Guptas ruled a larger area through a single bureaucracy
• B. The Guptas ruled a smaller area and relied more on tributary and allied local rulers
• C. The Guptas abolished kingship and ruled through councils
• D. The Guptas made Buddhism the only legal religion

Answer: (B)

The Mauryas built a large centralized state. The Guptas held a core in the north and gained loyalty from many regional rulers who paid tribute and kept local control.