7 Editorial8 Important Facts of Indian History8 History of Ancient India

13 History of Midieval India17 History of Modern India22 Important Dates of Indian History31 Indian History31 Sources of Ancient Indian History37 Indus Valley Civilization and Culture40 Vedic Civilization and Culture42 Sangam Literature44 Religious Movements46 India in 6th Century BC and Rise of

Magadh49 Social Composition of Ancient India51 Invasion of Alexander on India51 Mauryan Empire54 The Age of Sunga-Satvahan55 The Indo-Greeks and Indo-Parthians

(Pahlav)57 Rise of Gupta Empire58 Cultural Development in Gupta Age60 Vardhan Empire61 States of South India63 Rise of Rajput States67 Turk’s Invasion on and Conquest of India68 Delhi Sultanate72 Administration of the Sultanate75 Agriculture and Land Revenue System

of Sultanate75 Economic and Cultural Development82 Vijay Nagar Empire84 Bahmani Kingdom85 The Religious Movements of 15th and

16th Centuries

87 Historians of Medieval India and theirHistorical Texts

91 Mughal Empire95 Mughal Architecture and Culture97 Mughal Administration98 The Mughal Maratha Conflict99 The Downfall of Mughal Empire

101 Beginning of European Trade102 Rise of English Power in Deccan and

Bengal104 The Anglo-Maratha Conflict106 Impact of Colonialism on Indian

Economy107 The Armed National Revolt of 1857 and

other Uprisings110 India Under British Crown114 Social and Cultural Awakening—Lower

Castes, Labour Union and PeasantMovement

116 Freedom Struggle123 Partition of India124 India’s Constitutional Development

(1858–1947)128 From Indian Freedom to 1964132 Prominent Individuals in Indian History138 Famous Places of Indian History141 Historical Definition—Words143 Objective Questions143 Ancient India150 Medieval India157 Modern India169 History in Maps177 Objective Type Questions

The concurrence of the views of the Editor is not necessary for anymatter or figure published in Pratiyogita Darpan. —Editor

Contents

Indian

History

Indian History / 5

Dear Readers,

It gives us great pleasure to present to you the English version ofthe extra issue of Indian History, a prize publication of Pratiyogita Darpan.This star issue of our examination oriented series has been widelyaccepted and greatly admired by our readers. The English versionanswers the long felt need of readers who opt for English as their mediumof study and examination.

We have made an earnest effort to present Indian History in simpleand understable language. It has been our policy to give factual andunbiased description of events which the students may commit to memoryfrom the point of view of examinations. Along with it, we have also givenhistorical facts, great personalities of Indian history, famous historicalplaces and definition terminology so that the candidates preparing forUnion Public Service and State Public Service Examinations may bebenefited in the general study (G.S.) and history papers for both thepreliminary and the final examinations. The issue includes all aspects ofhistory, e.g., political, economic, social and cultural which make itextremely useful.

Not only this, questions on maps and map reading studies aregiven separately to give our inquisitive readers a better insight of historicalevents. Carefully selected objective questions are profusely given. Thesequestions are mostly those which have been asked in these and otherequivalent examinations. A study of these questions will make the readerconfident to face any such examination.

We feel confident that this issue will be extremely useful to youand you will be able to enter any examination of your choice with fullself-confidence. We constantly wish for the success of our readers.

With thanks for your kind co-operation.

Mahendra Jain

(Editor)

Indian History / 6

To Our Readers

Indian History / 7

Originality is a high watermark of a great personality. Originality has been defined in various ways, but the most convincing meaning of originality is the power of being what one really is. In other words, it is the power to express exactly what you think and feel. It is the transcription in expression of what you feel, think, or stand for. It is also the capacity to think and express fearlessly what you stand for. There are risks involved since many wouldn’t like to hear or read what they don’t like to hear or read. Socrates, Christ and Galileo and a host of other great persons had to pay dearly for what they stood for. But then, they have left permanent imprints on the sands of time, which the subsequent generations have so religiously cherished and held in regard. The real worth of an individual lies in his individuality and originality and not in treading the beaten path.

Editorial Try To Be OriginalTry To Be OriginalTry To Be OriginalTry To Be Original

Do you, like so many otherpeople, aspire to be original ? Mean-ing thereby, you want to say some-thing, which no one has said so far,or you want to do something, whichno one else has done or performed sofar ?

When you want to act like this,you have certainly in your mind thatother persons have said and perfor-med so far.

What is original then is a diffi-cult question to answer. A thinkerJ.K. Stephen answers this questionthus—originality does not consist insaying what no one has ever saidbefore, but in saying exactly whatyou exactly think yourself.

Many persons may be originalthat way, because, every humanbeing is in possession of the thought(thinking) faculty. But the difficultyis that very few persons are in a posi-tion to express or act freely, i.e., mostof the people do not express them-selves freely on account of restric-tions imposed by the society and thegovernment. They may not say or dosomething which is not liked by theelder members of the family or is notwelcome by the society in which theylive. In short, fear is a great factorwhich does not let persons be free inexpressing their own ideas. You maycall these persons cowards, if you solike. It is their conditioned life whichstands between them and their origi-nality of ideas. While in a mood to beoriginal, the person has in his sub-conscious mind the fate whichpersons like Socrates. Jesus Christ,Mansoor etc. had to meet. If you arecourageous enough to shake off thesecomplexes and come out of the shell,then you will have blessings of theworld to come. The road will be clearfor you and your well-wishers willwish you God-speed.

In this regard, you will have toremember that to pass for an originalthinker, it is not enough that onegives a new explanation to something

in vogue or puts old wine in a newbottle. Voltaire sarcastically andaptly said to one of his friends thatorigi-nality is nothing but judiciousimita-tion. So long as quotations ofother persons and the books ofknowledge are in your mind, ourmind will remain confined within acertain cir-cumference of knowledgeand what-ever we think or say, willbe with reference to our book-knowledge. The noise of books doesnot let us hear the inner voice or thevoice of the silence, not allows us tobe in isolation. We can not escape theblanket of outer knowledge whichconstantly covers us. Our minds arefilled with traditio-nal thoughts,which are too difficult to be taken outand thrown away. How you and I canget rid of the ideas inherent in ourblood, is a difficult question toanswer. But we have to answer it. Itis rightly said that to be an originalthinker or an original author, onemust unlearn all that he has learnt inhis life. The filament of the electricbulb gives light only when there iscomplete vacuum in the bulb, so,when our mind is free of learningand is in a state of vacuum spark ofwisdom will generate a flash of newideas and a new way of thinking.When that is put in words, readsoriginal and a work genius. Unlessthe mind is in a state of photographer’snegative, all that one gets, will beblurred and difficult to decipher.

Whatever we get in a state ofvacuum and negativity is alwaysvaluable and that adds somethingnew to the creative power of thesociety. Then the society accepts usas creative persons a n d originalthinkers. Barthhold G. Niebuler hasrightly said, “It is better to createto be learned, creating is a trueessence of life.” There can be nocontroversy over the statement thatall the signifi-cant things that existfor a long time, were born in thewomb of originality and creativity.

The spark of creativity is produced inthe state of self-reali-sation. It is thenthe person–you or I—instinctivelycries out like saint Kabir “you saywhat you have read or heard, but Isay what I have per-ceived or seenwith my eyes.”

The easiest way to achieve thisstate of mind is to be innocent–devoid of all outer knowledge. To beinnocent is very useful, but is moredifficult to become so. We will getthousands of thinkers from amongstcrores of authors, and hardly oneoriginal thinker or a man of self-reali-sation out of thousands ofthinkers or our one ideal innocentsoul. Marxists and Gandhists areborn in thousands everyday, butanother Marx or Gandhi is yet to beborn. Such persons can serve left-overs only and are not able to serveany new dish. Thoughts are like akitchen in which available material isa ‘turned’ in into spicy and tastefulfood. We expect our own young menand women to bringforth such booksas contain more of wisdom andleast of thoughts and ideas. Onlysuch books can tell us the realities oflife, and show us a true picture of theuniverse. When you come across theold manuscripts, try to extract fromthem the hidden and inner meaningof life and try to see how you canbetter know your ownself. Be surethat every individual contains withinhimself a divine spark, which is asource of inner light. Only thefortunate ones are able to read in thislight the writings on the soul or theinner triangle of will, wisdom andloving activity. Believe the Rishis,when they say that a store ofuntouched and unseen knowledgelies hidden within you, the key towhich is in your hands.

●●●

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IMPORTANT FACTS OF INDIAN HISTORYIMPORTANT FACTS OF INDIAN HISTORYIMPORTANT FACTS OF INDIAN HISTORY

History of Ancient India

● The Harappan Fort in the shape ofa parallel square is 460 yards inlength (north-south) 215 yards inbreadth (east-west) and 15-17yards in height.

● The script of Indus civilizationwas pictorial in which there weremore than 600 picture-letters and60 original letters.

● The excavations of Chanhudarowere carried out in 1925 under theleadership of Earnest M’ckay.This town had no fort.

● Naal, Daburkot, Rakhi Garhi,Banawali, Rangpur, Lothal, DesMorasi, Kulli, Rana Ghundai,Anjira, Gumla, Amri, Ghundai,Mundigak, Diplabaga, Sahar-i-Sokhta, Bampur and Queta etc.are famous historical sites wherethe remains of Indus civilizationand pre Indus civilization havebeen excavated.

● Daburkot, Periano, Ghundai, Kulli,Mehi, Chanhudaro, Amri, Lohum-jodaro, Alimurad, Ropar, Rangpur,Sutkegender are the prominent(spots) places of Indus Valleycivilization.

● The excavations of Kalibangan, ahistorical place in Rajasthan beganin 1961 under the direction of B.K. Thapar and B. B. Lal. From thelower layer of the excavation, theremains of pre Indus civilizationand from the upper layer of theIndus civilization are discernible.The fortress and the city bothwere surrounded with walls.

● The excavations at Rangpur—anIndus site in Gujarat were carriedout in 1953-54 under the leader-ship of Rangnath Rao. Forts ofraw bricks, drainage, terrecotautensils, weights and slabs ofstone have been found but the idolof mother Goddess (Matridevi)and coins have not been found.

● Lothal was situated at that timenear the ocean. In excavations the

remains of a dockyard have beenfound which testify to the traderelations of Indus people withwestern Asia.

● In the district of Kutchh inGujarat state, 12 kms north-east ofAdesar is situated Surkotda whichwas explored and excavated in1964 under the guidance ofJagatpati Joshi.

● In the excavation of Indus civi-lization, a very big building hasbeen explored. It is 242 ft longand 112 ft broad. The walls are 5ft thick.

● Some figurines on tables havebeen found in Indus civilization inthe centre of which is a roundshaped Sun and around it are thepictures of 6 gods arranged in away that they appear as if they arethe Sun beams. This testifies tothe worship of Sun in the period.

● The proof of the existence of aMan-like being are 1 crore to 20lacs years old.

● In the Indian population, there arefour basic racial sub-difference.These are Negrito, Astro Austra-lians, Kakeshisi and Mongoloids.

● In India, skeletons (human body inbones-kankal) have been found inSarai Nahar Rai near Allahabad,Bataikhor and Lekhania. High inlength, flat nose and broad mouthare their characteristics. Thesebelong to Mesolithic age.

● The pre stone civiliation came tobe knwon in the region of riverSohan a subsidiary of Sindhu.Hence it is called Sohan civiliza-tion. The Vatikapoom in the formof (Gandasa) axe and Khandakwere its main implements.

● In Harappan culture, the worshipof Earth as goddess was in vogue.This is indicated by the idol of awoman with a plant growing outof her womb.

● Along with the Elephants, Rhino-ceros, Buffalos, Lions and Deers,the picture of Yogi engraved ona seal (Muhar) suggests the wor-ship of Shiva in Harappan civili-zation. This god had three headsand he sat with crossed legs.

● The Talismans obtained in largenumbers indicate that the peopleof Harappan culture believed inwitchcraft or the dead souls.These talismans were made ofbronze and copper in the form ofplate.

● In Harappan culture the weight(for measuring) were 16 or of itsmultiplied numbers.

● The dogs and cats were thedomesticated animals and theirfoot prints confirm this fact.

● The remains of the horses havebeen found at Surkotda. The exis-tence of the horse is not knownfrom the upper layer of Mohan-jodaro excavation. The terrecotasmall figurines provide know-ledge about it.

● The people of Lothal used rice in1800 B.C.

● As Sindh was one of the oldestregion for cultivating cotton, theGreeks named it as Sedon.

● In Harappan culture, silver wasobtained from Afghanistan, Iran,South India, Arabia and Baluchis-tan. Gold was imported fromAfghanistan and Persia.

● The stone Lajward was broughtfrom Badakshan, Feroza wasbrought from Iran. Jayumani wasbrought from Maharashtra,Moonga and redstone werebrought from Saurashtra andWestern India and the preciousgreenstone (Panna) was broughtfrom Central Asia.

● The Ahar culture (Rajasthan)belonged to the Copper age. Thehouses were built of stone and amixture of lime and soil. Paddywas cultivated and Metal Work inBronze were in vogue. All thesewere the characteristics of thisculture which existed about 2000B.C.

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● The remains of Malwa stone andBronze culture have been found inNavdatoli where the houses werebuilt of mud, bamboo and drygrass in a square and round shape.The terrecota utensils and agricul-tural products of wheat, oil seeds,pulses (Masur) and green andblack gram are the characteristicsof this culture.

● The Rishis (Sages) like Gritsa-mad, Vishwamitra, Bhardwaj,Atri and Vashishta composed theSuktas or the Vedic Mantras.

● The prominent female sages wereLopamudra, Ghosa, Shachi andPoulomi.

● Sam Ved is divided into threebranches—(1) Kouthum, (2) Rana-yaniya, (3) Jaminiya.

● Prominent among the Ayurveda-charyas were Acharya AshwiniKumar, Dhanvantari, Banabhatt,Sushrut, Madhav, Jeevan andLolimbaraja etc.

● Ayur Ved is an ‘Upaved’ of RigVed, Dhanur Ved is ‘Upaved’ ofYajur Ved, Gandharva Ved is the‘Upaved’ of Sam Ved and ShilpaVed is the ‘Upaved’ of AtharvaVed.

● Rig Ved has two Brahmans—

(1) Aitereya, (2) Kaushitaki.

● Krishna Yajur Ved has the Brah-man—Taitteriya and Shukla YajurVed has the Shatpath Brahman.

● The Brahmans of Sam Ved areTandav, Panchvish, Sadvish andChhandogya.

● The Aranyakas deal with life,death and other serious themes.These are written and studied inloneliness of the forests.

● Aitereya and Kaushitaki are theAranyakas of Rig Ved. The authorof Aitereya was Mahidas Aitereya.

● Taitteriya Aranyaka belongs toKrishna Yajur Veda.

● Sam Ved and Atharav Ved haveno Aranyakas.

● Prominent among the Upanishadsare Ish, Ken, Kath, Prashn,Mundak, Mandukya, Taitteriya,Aitereya, Chhandogya, Vrihada-ranyak, Shwetashwara, Kaushitakiand Mahanarayana.

● During the Rigvedic period Nishkwas an ornament for the neck;Karnashobhan was an ornamentfor the ear and Kumbh was theornament for the head.

● In the Rigvedic age, the Aryansdomesticated the cow, the buffalo,goat (ajaa), horse, elephant andcamel etc.

● Bheeshaj was the person whotreated the sick people.

● The Rigvedic Aryans worshippedthe Sun as Savita, Mitra, Pooshanand Vishnu. Sun was called the‘Eye of Gods’; and Agni the‘Mouth of Gods’. Agni wasconsidered to be the Purohit of theAryans. They thought that theoffering of the Yajna reaches tothe gods through Agni. Varun wasworshipped as a spatial god.

● In Rig Veda, Usha, Sita, Prithvi,Aranyani, Ratri, Vak are wor-shipped as goddesses.

● Besides Rig Ved, the reference ofSita as the goddess of agricultureis made in Gomil Grihya Sutraand Paraskar Grihya Sutra.

● The ancient idols of Ganesh showhis main weapons as Paash andAnkush.

● In the Rigvedic age the traderswere called ‘Pani’. They stoleaway the cattle of the Aryans.

● Das’ or Dasyas were more hatedthan the ‘Pani’. They have beenreferred as black complexionedinauspicious and opposed toYajnas. They were the worship-pers of Phallus (Shishnadev).

● In the Rigvedic age, the cow wasthe backbone of economy. It wascalled ‘Aghanya’—not to bekilled, war has been referred asGavisthi, the guest as Mohan andthe daughter as Duhiti. One Rikrefers to the domestication ofsheep.

● Vashishtha who replaced Vishwa-mitra as Purohit of King Sudas,has been mentioned as adoptedson of Urvashi, and born of the‘Virya’ of Mitra and Varun on anearthen pot.

● Ballabh and Tarukshadas werechieftains who lavishly donated tothe Purohits and through theirgrace obtained respect and highplace in the Aryan society.

● Savitri is referred in the famousGayatri Mantra. In Rig Ved themaximum reference is made ofIndra. After him Varun is referredto. In the earlier Richas Varun andMarut have been mentioned as‘Gan’. Twasta also was a VedicGod.

● Prajapati has been referred as theAdi Purush—the first human(male). The gods were his child-ren.

● In Rig Ved, the king has beenmentioned as the Protector of theclan or the Gopta Janasya. Thereference to Sabha, Samiti, Gan,Vidath is made as the TribalCouncils.

● No bureaucracy developed in Rig-vedic age. Yet the officer ofGochar land were called Vrajpati,the officer of the village wascalled Gramani. He was thecommander. The chief of thefamily is referred as ‘Kulap’.

● The words like Vrat, Gan, Gramand Shardh have also been usedfor indicating the group ofSoldiers.

● In Rig Ved Jan is used 275 times,Vish is used 170 times. Sangramis the word which indicates warbetween the villages.

● The God of Vegetation. It wasalso an intoxicating drink andthe method of its preparation isreferred in the Rig Ved.

● The later Vedic literature waswritten during 1100 to 600 B.C.The painted grey ware—bowlsand plates were used and the toolswhich they used were made ofiron.

● The main crop of the later Vedicage was wheat and paddy insteadof barley.

● In the later Vedic age, the Vidathwere extinct but the Sabha and theSamiti existed.

● In this period, the King performedthe rites of Rajsuya Yajna with adesire to obtain divine power,Ashwamedha Yajna to expand theempire and the Vajpeya Yajna forchariot racing with friends andrelatives of his Gotra.

● The Gotra system began in thelater Vedic age. The custom ofmarrying outside the Gotra alsostarted.

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● In the literature of later Vedicage, the first three Ashrams arementioned—(1) Brahmcharya,(2) Grihastha, (3) Banprastha. TheSanyas Ashram is not mentioned.

● In later Vedic period the plantSom could not be obtained easily.As such other drinks were alsoused.

● Gold and Silver were mainly usedfor making ornaments and utensils.Other metals were used for makingmany other implements in thelater Vedic era.

● In later Vedic period, the com-mercial classes (Traders) organi-zed themselves in ‘Sangh’. TheAryans conducted sea trade. Nisk,Satman and Krishal were usded ascoins for trade purposes.

● In comparison to the religion ofRigvedic period, the later Vedicreligion had become very com-plex. Purohits, Yajna and sacrificewere considered important. Manytypes of Yajnas were performed.

● The Shatpath Brahman refersto the various steps in progressof cultivation—Jutai (ploughing),Buwai )planting), Lawani (wean-ing), Mandai (cutting) are thevarious processes mentioned in it.

● Sangam literature is compiled in8 books. They are—(1) Narune,(2) Kuruntoge, (3) Aigunuru,(4) Padirupyuttu, (5) Paripadal,(6) Karlittorga, (7) Nedultoge,(8) Purnanuru.

● In the Sangam age, the TamilGrammar was written in a detailedbook, ‘Tolakappiyam’.

● With the songs of the musicians,the dancers known as Panar andWidelier used to dance.

● Pedinekilkanku is a famous com-position of Sangam literature.

● Sangam is a Sanskrit word mean-ing a Congregation and a Council.

● The main theme of the Sangamliterature is ‘Romance’ (Shringar)and heroism (Veergatha). Shri-ngar is called as ‘Aham’ andVeergatha has been called as‘Puram’.

● The first Sangam was organizedat Madurai under the chairman-ship of Rishi Agastya.

● The second Sangam was orga-nized at Kapatpuram again underthe chairmanship of Rishi Agastya.

● The third Sangam was organizedat Madurai and it was chaired by‘Nakkirar’.

● Avey was the family of Sangamage which meant Sabha (assem-bly).

● Panchvaram was the assembly ofthe advisors of the King ofSangam age.

● Ur was the institution whichlooked after the city administra-tion.

● The excavation of Arikmedu, pro-vide enough evidence to provethat once opon a time, the can-tonements of the Roman tradersresided there.

● The teachers in the Sangam agewere called as Kanakkaters.

● The students in the Sangam agewere called Bhanwan or Pillai.

● Parshvanath arranged for fourfoldvows (Chaturvrata) for theBhikshus (monks)—(1) I shall notkill the living beings, (2) I shallalways speak the truth, (3) I shallnot steal, (4) I shall not keep anyproperty.

● Mahavir Swami has been calledNigashtha, Naatputra and Nir-granth Saatputra.

● Mahavir Swami left his mortalframe and attained Nirvana atPawapuri near Patna in Bihar.

● The Triratna in Jainism are descri-bed as Samyak Shraddha (vene-ration), Samyak Gyan (knowle-dge) and Samyak Acharana (con-duct).

● According to Jainism, Nirvana(redemption) to free the soul fromthe physical bondage.

● Mahavir Swami has describedfive vows for the common peoplewhich are called as Panchmaha-vrat. These are—Truth, Non-violence, No stealing, No collec-tion of wealth or anything andcelibacy (Satya, Ahimsa, Astey,Aparigrah and Brahamacharya).To these was later added, ‘Not toeat at Night’.

● Kaivalya is total knowledge whichthe Nirgranthget.

● Buddha was born in the Lumbiniforest, 14 km beyond Kapilvastuin Nepal Tarai.

● Kaundinya, a Brahmin astrologer,was contemporary of Buddha.

● Gautam obtained knowledge atGaya. Hence the place is calledBodh Gaya.

● The first sermon of Buddha isknown as ‘Dharma ChakraPravartan’.

● Mahatma Buddha delivered hisfirst sermon at Rishipattan (Sar-nath).

● The followers of Buddha weredivided into four sections—(1)Bhikshu or the monks, (2) Bhik-shuni or lady monks, (3) Upasaksor devotees, (4) Upasikas or ladydevotees.

● After delivering his teachings forconstant 45 years, MahatmaBuddha attained Mahaparinirvanat the age of 80 at Kushinara(Kushinagar).

● Tripitaks are—(1) Vinay Pitak,(2) Suttpitak, (3) AbhidhammaPitak.

● Vinay Pitak is divided into threesections—(1) Sutta Vibhag, (2)Khandhak, (3) Pariwar.

● Suttpitak contains—Diggh Nikay,Majjhim Nikay, Anguttar Nikayand Khuddak Nikay.

● In Abhidhamma Pitak, philosoph-ical and spiritual thoughts arecontained.

● There are seven treatises of Abhi-dhamma Pitak—(1) DhammaSangeeti, (2) Vibhang, (3) DhatuKatha, (4) Puggal Panjati, (5)Katha Vastu, (6) Yamak, (7)Patthan.

● The eightfold paths are—(1) Rightbelief, (2) Right thought, (3) Rightspeech, (4) Right action, (5) Rightmeans of livelihood, (6) Rightexecution, (7) Right remembr-ance, (8) Right meditation.

● In Buddhism, the Astangik-marg(eight fold path) is classified as—(1) Praja Skandh, (2) SheelSkandh, (3) Samadhi Skandh.

● Under Praja Skandh come—Samyak Drishti, Samyak Sankalpand Samyak Vani (speech).

Indian History / 11 / 2

● Under Sheel Skandh come—Samyak Karmant, Samyak Aajeev.

● Under Samadhi Skandh come—Samyak Vyayam, Samyak Smritiand Samyak Samadhi.

● Mahatma Buddha was silent onthe existence of God or otherwisebut he did not believe in theexistence of soul.

● The first Buddhist Council wasconvened after a few years ofBuddha’s death under thechairmanship of Mahakassap inSaptparna caves near Rajgrih.

● The second Buddhist Council wasorganized at Vaisali.

● The third Buddhist Council wasconvened at Patliputra during theregime of Asoka.

● The fourth Buddhist Council wasconvened at Kashmir during theregime of Kanishka.

● Purans are said to be 18 innumber of which Bhagwat Puranis very renowned.

● Bhagwatism is mentioned for thefirst time in the Bhishm Parva ofMahabarat.

● The Dravida Vaishnav devoteesare known as the Alwars.

● A Brahman named Kautilya orChanakya played a significantrole in the establishment of theMauryan empire.

● In the Greek writings, ChandraGupta Maurya is called Sandro-cottus.

● Arien and Plutarch have calledhim Androcottus.

● In the Mudra Rakshas written byVishakhdutt, Chandra GuptaMaurya is called ChandragiriChandrashree.

● In Buddhist literature, MahavanshTika is the book which throwsample light on the life of ChandraGupta Maurya.

● ‘Indika’ was written by Megas-thenese.

● In the book Mahavansh, ChandraGupta Maurya is said to beKshatriya by caste.

● After being defeated in war withChandra Gupta, Selukose offeredhim Gadrosia (Baluchistan),Acrosia (Kandahar), Aria (Herat)and a part of Hindukush.

● Sudarshan Lake at Junagarh wasbuilt by Chandra Gupta Maurya.

● The Mahasthan inscription pointsout Chandra Gupta’s ascendancyover Bengal.

● The Rudradaman inscription ofGirnar testifies to the suzeraintyof Chandra Gupta over Sau-rashtra.

● According to Jain Texts, ChandraGupta in the last years of his life,accepted Jainism and went toMysore with the Jain monkBhadrabahu.

● The empire of Chandra Guptaspread from Himalaya in the northto Mysore in the south; and fromBengal in the east to Baluchistanin the west. It covered Punjab,Sindh, Kashmir, Doab of Gangaand Yamuna, Magadh, Bengal,Malwa, Saurashtra and the regionof Mysore.

● The administrative system ofChandra Gupta Maurya wasMonarchy. In order to administerwell, Chandra Gupta Mauryaappointed a Council of Ministers.

● In the Mauryan age, the officerwho collected the trade taxes wascalled Shulkadhyaksha.

● The Chairman of the Governmentservices was known as Sutra-dhyaksha in the Mauryan age.

● The officer-in-charge of Weightand Measures was known asPeetadhyaksha in the Mauryanage.

● In Mauryan age, the officer whocontrolled the manufacture ofwine, its sale and purchase and itsconsumption was Suradhyaksha.

● The chairman of the agriculturaldepartment was called Seeta-dhyaksha in Mauryan age.

● There were many officers such asGanikadhyaksha,`Mudradhyaksha,Navadhyaksha, Ashwadhyakshaand Devtadhyaksha etc. in theMauryan Age.

● The officer who kept the details oftotal income and expenditure ofthe State and decided the econo-mic policy was called Sannidhata.Under him, worked officers likeTreasurer and Shulkadhyaksha.

● In Mauryan age, the minister offactories and mines was called

Karmantirak. His main task wasto excavate different metals fromthe mines and look after thefactories.

● In Mauryan age the Amatya ofFauzdari (Criminal) Court wascalled Pradeshta.

● The Amatya of the Civil Courtwas known as Vyavaharik.

● The Greek scholars have descri-bed the Amatyas as the seventhcaste.

● The successor of Chandra GuptaMaurya is called by the name ofBindusara in majority of thePuranas. Ceylonese works, Budd-hist texts-and in Deepvansh andMaha-vansh. In Vayu Puran, hisname is given as Bhadrasaar. Insome of the Purans he is called asVarisaar. In the Chinese text—Fa-Uen-Chu-Lin, he is called asBindupal. In another book Raja-balikatha, the successor and sonof Chandra Gupta is called asSinhasen.

● Ptolemy, the ruler of Egypt sentDioniyas as his ambassador to theCourt of Bindusaar.

● In Chandra Gupta Maurya’s time,the chief of the city was calledNagaradhyaksha who worked likethe modern District Magistrate.

● The smallest unit of the adminis-tration was the village. Its chiefofficer was called Gramik orGramani.

● Gramani was elected by thepeople of the village.

● In every village, there was anofficer who was called GramBhojak.

● In the administration of ChandraGupta Maurya the department ofespionage was well organized.According to Kautilya, there weretwo sections of the secret ser-vice—(1) Sansthan, (2) Sancharan.

● In the inscriptions, Asoka is calledDevanampriya and Priyadarshi.

● The Ceylonese sources and Deep-vansh, call him, Priyadarshan andPriyadarshi. Scholars think thatthese were his titles.

● Asoka appointed an officer calledMahamatras in every city anddistrict.

● In the 13th year of his reign, heappointed Dharma Mahamatra and

Indian History / 12

Dharmayukta for the first time forthe happiness and peace of hispeople.

● Upagupta was a Bauddhist monkof Mathura under his influence,Asoka changed his religion andaccepted Buddhism.

● Asoka sent his daughter Sangh-mitra and son Mahendra to spreadBuddhism in Sri Lanka.

● In the mini edicts Asoka callshimself a Buddha Shakya.

● Asoka sent Majjhantik to propo-gate Buddhism in Kashmir.

● In 1750, it was Teffenthaler whofirst explored the Asokan pillars.

● Asoka’s last edict was found byBeadon in 1915 at Maski.

● The small edicts of Asoka are oftwo types. According to Smith,they were written in 259-232 B.C.

● The first kind of Asokan smallpillar edicts are available at Roop-nath in Jabalpur district, Sahasa-ram in Shahabad district of Bihar,Maski, in Raichoor district, andVairat in Rajasthan.

● The second type of Asokan edictshave been found at Siddhpur(Chitralahug, Mysore) Jatig,Rameshwar and Brahmagiri.

● The Bhabru edict was found atBairath near Jaipur in Rajasthan.In this edict seven precepts ofBuddhism have been given whichAsoka liked most and he desiredthat the people should read themand make their conduct accor-dingly. This edict is preserved inKolkata Museum.

● Two edicts about Kalinga havebeen found at Dhauli and Jaugarh.In these, the principles of be-haviour with he people of Kalingaand with the frontier people havebeen outlined.

● Asokan small edicts have beenfound at about 15 places.

● The Erangudi edict was found inKurnool district of AndhraPradesh at a place known asErangudi.

● The Maski small edict was foundfrom Maski village of Raichoordistrict of Andhra Pradesh. Itcontains the name of Asoka.

● The Rajul Mandgiri edict wasfound on a mound 20 miles

beyond Erangudi in Kurnooldistrict of Andhra Pradesh.

● The Gurjara edict has been foundfrom a village named Gurjara inDatia district of Madhya Pradesh.It also mentions the name ofAsoka.

● Ahraura edict was found from ahill of the village Ahraura inMirzapur district of U.P.

● Palgoraria edict was found in1975.

● The Sannati inscription (edict) hasbeen found in the village Sannatiin the district of Gulbarga ofKarnatic State.

● The cave inscription are three innumber which have been found inthe Barabar hills of Gaya city inBihar. These refer to the charityperformed by the King to theAjivaks.

● The language of the Kandaharedict is Greek and Aramaic.

● The Topara pillar edict has beenfound from a village namedTopara in Haryana. In the courseof time Firoz Tughlaq brought itto Delhi where it is kept at FerozShah Kotla ground.

● Rumindei small pillar edict wasfound from the Tarai of Nepal.

● Most of Asokan edicts are writtenin Prakrit language.

● In Gupta age ships and boats weremanufactured in large numbers.Gujarat, Bengal and Tamilnaduwere the main centres of cotton-industry.

● Trade between India and Chinawas carried on before Gupta age,in 2nd century.

● India had trade relations witheastern, countries. They werecalled Swarnabhumi (land ofgold).

● Peshawar, Bharaunch, Ujjaini,Varanasi, Prayag, Patliputra,Mathura, Vaishali and Tamraliptiwere trade centres.

● In west Bharaunch and in east,Tamralipti were prominent ports.

● Gold, silver, bronze, tin, campher,dates and horses were imported.

● The collective unit of the peoplewho worked in various industries,were known as ‘Kuliks’.

● ‘Kulik Nigam’ and ‘ShreshthiNigam were the unions of wealthytraders. The Kulik Nigam had itsown seal which was used incommercial correspondence andthe trade-goods.

● In the Gupta age, India main-tained trade relations with Arabia.Horses were imported fromArabia and Iran.

● The Seals of Kulik have beenexcavated from the town Meetanear Allahabad.

● From Vaishali 274 Seals ofSarthwah Kulik Nigam have beenexcavated prove that it was a greatinstitution of the Gupta age.

● Trade with China, Japan andSumatra was carried from the portof Tamralipti.

● In Gupta age the land tax wasknown as ‘Udrang’.

● Kadur and Charpal were the portssituated in Andhra Pradesh.

● Kaveripattanam and Tondai werethe ports of Chola State.

● Kokai and Saliyur were the portsof Pandya State.

● Kottayam and Mujris were theports of Malwa State.

● Sindhu, Orhoth, Kalyan andMibor were other main ports fortrade.

● Hiranya was the tax realized incash. Bhutavat Pratyaya was thetax levied upon the imports fromother countries.

● Haldand was the tax charged onthe ploughed land.

● A definite portion of the producefrom agricultural land was chargedas the land tax by the State. It wascalled Bhag tax. Generally it wascharged in kind.

● In the Gupta age, the land wasdonated only to the Brahmans.

● The land donated to Brahmanswas called Brahmdeya.

● The tax free villages of theBrahmans were called Agrahara.

● In the Gupta age, the GramParishads (village councils) wereautonomous and free from theState control.

● The uncultivated land was theproperty of the king.

● The women who remained un-married throughout their life and

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