Unit 6: The Mauryas - Practice Quiz

1 Who founded the Mauryan Empire?

2 Who is traditionally regarded as Chandragupta Maurya's chief adviser?

3 Which Greek ruler concluded a treaty with Chandragupta Maurya?

4 Which Greek ambassador visited the court of Chandragupta Maurya?

5 What was the relationship of Bindusara to Chandragupta Maurya?

6 By which title was Bindusara known in Greek accounts?

7 Who succeeded Bindusara as Mauryan emperor?

8 Which Greek ambassador is associated with the court of Bindusara?

9 Which war deeply influenced Ashoka's attitude toward violence?

10 Which religion did Ashoka support after the Kalinga War?

11 Which title meaning "Beloved of the Gods" was used by Ashoka?

12 Which Major Rock Edict describes the Kalinga War and Ashoka's remorse?

13 What was the main nature of Ashoka's Dhamma?

14 Which value was strongly promoted by Ashoka's Dhamma?

15 What were the special officers appointed to promote Dhamma called?

16 How did Ashoka mainly communicate his Dhamma to people across the empire?

17 Who is commonly identified as the immediate successor of Ashoka?

18 What happened to the Mauryan Empire after Ashoka's death?

19 Who was the last ruler of the Mauryan dynasty?

20 Who killed the last Mauryan ruler, Brihadratha?

21 Which sequence best represents Chandragupta Maurya's rise and imperial expansion?

22 What was the most important political result of Chandragupta's treaty with Seleucus I?

23 A historian studying Pataliputra under Chandragupta would find which source especially useful as an outsider's account?

24 Why should the Arthashastra be compared with inscriptions and Greek accounts when reconstructing Chandragupta's administration?

25 The Greek rendering Amitrochates, used for Bindusara, is generally connected with which Sanskrit title?

26 The presence of the Greek envoy Deimachus at Bindusara's court most strongly indicates that the Mauryas maintained:

27 Which development is most reasonably associated with Bindusara's reign?

28 Ashoka states that he conquered Kalinga in the eighth year after his consecration. If his consecration occurred around 269 BCE, the conquest is approximately dated to:

29 Which inscription provides the clearest evidence of Ashoka's remorse over the suffering caused by the Kalinga War?

30 Why is the Maski inscription especially important for identifying the ruler mentioned in many Mauryan inscriptions?

31 Which evidence most directly supports the conclusion that Ashoka personally accepted Buddhism, even though his public Dhamma was broader?

32 Which interpretation best explains the nature of Ashoka's Dhamma?

33 Ashoka's measures concerning medical treatment, useful plants, wells, and roadside trees best illustrate which feature of his Dhamma?

34 What was the principal purpose of the Dhamma-mahamattas appointed by Ashoka?

35 Most Ashokan inscriptions used Prakrit and Brahmi, while some northwestern inscriptions used Kharosthi, Greek, or Aramaic. What does this variation suggest?

36 An official following the principle expressed in Major Rock Edict XII would most likely:

37 The dedication of the Nagarjuni caves to the Ajivikas by Dasharatha Maurya suggests that Ashoka's successors:

38 Which Mauryan successor is especially remembered in Jain tradition as a major patron of Jainism?

39 Which event conventionally marks the end of the Mauryan dynasty around 185 BCE?

40 Which explanation offers the most balanced account of the rapid decline of Mauryan power after Ashoka?

41 Which source-critical argument provides the strongest basis for placing Chandragupta Maurya in the late fourth century BCE?

42 What is the most defensible reconstruction of the settlement between Chandragupta and Seleucus I around 305–303 BCE?

43 Megasthenes describes seven social categories and municipal boards, while the Arthashastra presents a different administrative framework. Which conclusion best follows?

44 How should historians assess the Jain tradition that Chandragupta accompanied Bhadrabahu to Karnataka and undertook sallekhana at Shravanabelagola?

45 The Greek rendering Amitrochates, applied to Bindusara, is most plausibly connected with which Sanskrit expression?

46 In the Divyavadana account of unrest at Taxila during Bindusara's reign, what is the politically significant claim attributed to the inhabitants?

47 Ashokan inscriptions occur deep in the Deccan, but direct records of Bindusara's campaigns are absent. What can be concluded most securely?

48 Why was the discovery of the Maski Minor Rock Edict crucial to the identification of the Mauryan ruler called Devanampiya Piyadasi?

49 What does Major Rock Edict XIII establish most directly about the chronology of the Kalinga war?

50 Which conclusion is specifically supported by the Queen's Edict on the Allahabad-Kosam pillar?

51 Which inscription provides the clearest direct evidence of Ashoka's personal reverence for specifically Buddhist teachings, rather than only his promotion of a general ethical policy?

52 Which interpretation best distinguishes Ashoka's Dhamma from a policy of imposing doctrinal Buddhism on all subjects?

53 According to Major Rock Edict V, which administrative development was introduced in Ashoka's thirteenth year after consecration?

54 Which mapping of Ashokan inscriptions to scripts and regions is historically accurate?

55 Major Rock Edict XII treats concord among religious communities primarily as requiring which practice?

56 Why would it be inaccurate to interpret Major Rock Edict I as establishing an immediate and absolute ban on killing animals throughout the empire?

57 The Separate Kalinga Edicts are especially important for understanding Dhamma because they connect paternal rhetoric with which governing concern?

58 Which post-Ashokan ruler is directly attested by dedicatory inscriptions in the Nagarjuni caves?

59 Which chronological assessment of the Mauryan dynasty's end is most consistent with the conventional reconstruction?

60 How should the Jain accounts that portray Samprati as a major royal patron of Jainism be used in reconstructing post-Ashokan history?