Important Questions for Class 6

Social Science
Chapter 7 - Ashoka, The Emperor Who Gave Up War

Very Short Answer Questions: 1 Mark

1. Fill in the blanks-

(i) Officials collected _____ from the people of their area.

Ans: Taxes - Officials collected taxes from the territory under the ruler's direct
control.

(ii) Royal princes more often went to the provinces as____

Ans: Governors - Royal princes frequently served as governors in the provinces.
The Mauryan emperors attempted to control vital transportation routes and
waterways.

(iii) The Mauryan rulers tried to control ______.

Ans: Roads and rivers - The Mauryas attempted to control roads and waterways
because they were crucial for transportation as well as tax and tribute collection.

(iv) People who lived in the forest provided Mauryan rulers_______

Ans: elephants and forest products - People who lived in forested areas were more
or less self-sufficient, but they may have been expected to furnish Mauryan
officials with elephants, timber, honey, and wax.

2. State true and false.

(i) The gateway of the northeast was Ujjain.

Ans: False - Taxila was on the empire's northwestern boundary, and was thus
regarded as the entrance to the north, including Central Asia. Ujjain was known as

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 the "Gateway to the North" because it served as a link between the south and the
north.

(ii) Arthashstra speaks about the ideas given by Chandragupta.

Ans: False - Kautilya's Arthashastra deals with empire governance. It describes the
Maurya dynasty's governance.

(iii) Ancient name of Kalinga was Bengal.

Ans: False - The old name for coastal Orissa was Kalinga. To defeat Kalinga,
Ashoka waged a war.

(iv) Most of the Ashokan scripts are in Brahmi script.

Ans: True - After the Indus script, the Brahmi script was the first writing system
developed in India.

3. Match the following

i. Empire Area ruled by a king

ii. Capital Very Big Kingdom

iii. Province Ruling city

iv. Official Government appointee

Ans:
i. Very Big Kingdom - Empire is a term used to describe a large kingdom.
ii. Ruling city - As the third monarch of the Maurya dynasty, Ashoka began his
reign about 269/268 BCE, with Pataliputra, in present-day Bihar, as his capital.
iii. Area ruled by a king - The Mauryan Empire was divided into four provinces,
each of which was controlled by a Kumara, the king's agent.
iv. Government appointee - Tax collectors were assigned by kings to collect taxes
from herders, farmers, dealers, and craftsmen, among others.

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4. Choose the correct option
(i) Bindusara, Ashoka, Chandrgupta arrange them in increasing dynasty
order.

a) Chandragupta, Bindusara, Ashoka

b) Ashoka, Bindusara, Chandragupta
c) Bindusara, Chandragupta, Ashoka
d) None of the above
Ans: (a)

(i) Chandragupta- 322–298 BCE is the period between 322 and 298 BCE.,
(ii) Bindusara Between the years 298 and 272 BCE, there was a period known as
the Bronze Age ,
(iii) Ashoka - Between the years 268 and 232 BCE, there was a period of
transition.

(ii) Dynasty means_________

a) Increasing order of rulers from same family

b) Elected Kings
c) Area governed by the king
d) None of the above
Ans: (a) Increasing order of rulers from same family - a succession of monarchs
descended from the same dynasty

5. Define the Following

(i) Tribute
Ans: Gifts offered to emperors and kings are known as tributes.

(ii) Prakrit
Ans: Prakrit is a script used by Buddhists.

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Short Answer Questions 2 Marks
6. What do you mean by Dhamma?
Ans: Dhamma was a set of rules for people to follow.

7. What purpose did Dhamma serve?

Ans: Dhamma was introduced to the people to help them improve their morality
and have a better understanding of life.

8. Why was Ashoka inclined towards Buddism?

Ans: As he had waged a bloody war, Ashoka was influenced by Buddhism. This
caused him a great deal of mental anguish, and he desired to bring peace to the
people.Buddhism provided the solution to his problems.

9. Who constructed the Great wall of China.

Ans: The Chinese kings created the Great Wall of China. China's 6500-kilometer
wall took almost 2000 years to construct.

10. In which language rock edicts were written?

Ans: The rock edicts were written in Brahmi script. Prakrit was the ordinary
people's language.

Short Answer Question 3 Marks

11. Differentiate between tribute and taxes.

Ans: Tribute was not something that was obtained on a regular basis. People
donated it more or less voluntarily, taxes were collected on a regular basis, and

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people were required to pay them. Agriculture, trading, import and export all had
their own set of taxes.

12. What qualities make Ashoka a unique leader?

Ans: Ashoka was one of India's most powerful Mauryan monarchs. He was the
first Indian emperor to utilise inscriptions to communicate with the people he ruled
over. He is recognised as the only ruler in history to abandon conquest after
witnessing a war's disastrous conclusion. He created his own religion and
introduced the well-known Dhamma policy.

13. What did Megathnese write about the Muryan Empire?

Ans: Megasthenes described Pataliputra as a lovely city encircled by a massive
wall. It had 570 towers and 64 gates.The houses were built of wood, mud, and
brick and had two or three stories. The king's palace was constructed of wood with
stone sculptures. It was flanked by gardens and bird-keeping fences.

14. What was Ashoka’s Dhamma?

Ans: god or a sacrificial offering He saw that, like a father to his children, it was
his obligation to educate the empire's people in order to reduce inter-empire strife.
The Buddha's pedagogy had an impact on him.

15. Why did Ashoka stopped fighting war?

Ans: To conquer Kalinga, Ashoka fought. He had just finished his last war. After
the victory against Kalinga, he resolved to stop fighting wars because he was
disgusted by the level of brutality and bloodshed. He is the only king in world
history who has refused to submit after winning a war.

Long Answer Questions 5 Marks

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16. List the occupations of the Mauryan People.
Ans: Empires were the name given to large kingdoms. The Muryan Empire was a
powerful and huge empire at the time. Mauryan people were the inhabitants of the
Muryan Empire. The individuals who lived in the Mauryan Empire had a wide
range of jobs.Craftspeople, farmers, and herders were among the population. Some
of the people were traders and merchants. Some of the individuals were hunters
and gatherers. Some people were also active in carpentry, and a large number of
them were employed in stone cutting.

17. What problems Ashoka felt while introducing Dhamma?

Ans: Dhamma was introduced by Ashoka to solve many of the empire's
difficulties. People in his empire practised a variety of religions. As a result,
numerous confrontations arose. He was determined to find a solution. It was fairly
usual for people to make animal sacrifices. Their masters did not treat their
servants and slaves with respect. There were numerous confrontations within the
family as well as with the neighbours.
Because Ashoka believed it was his obligation to remedy all of these issues, he
introduced dhamma.

18. How Ashaoka spread Dhamma?

Ans: Ashoka utilised the following methods to propagate the dhamma message:-

a) Dhamma mahamattas were appointed as officials.Their mission was to travel

from place to place and teach the people about the Dhamma.
b) For the people to learn, Ashoka wrote his messages on pillars and rocks. He
instructed the officials to assist those who could not read by reading the
messages for them.
c) He communicated in Prakrit, a local language, so that ordinary people could
comprehend what he was saying.
d) Ashoka sent people or messengers to Egypt, Greece, Sri Lanka, and Syria to
disseminate the concept of dhamma.

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19. Highlight the life of Chandragupta Maurya.
Ans: Chandragupta The Mauryan Empire was founded by Maurya. Dhananda, the
final ruler of the Nanda Dynasty, was defeated by him. Wise men like Kautilya and
diplomats like Megasthenes adorned his court. The Artha Shastra is a book that
contains many of Chanakya's concepts. Megasthenes was dispatched to
Chandragupta's court by Seleucus Nicator, the Greek monarch of West Asia. He
jotted down a lot of information on the King and Pataliputra's capital city.

20. How were Muryans emperor administrating?

Ans: The Mauryan Empire was huge, and different areas of it were governed over.
The empire was divided into provinces, with Pataliputra as the sovereign capital.
The emperor had direct influence over the land around Pataliputra. Other territories
or provinces, such as Taxila and Ujjain, were ruled from the provincial capitals.

1The following procedures were implemented to provide effective administrative

control over provinces:
a) The royal princes administered the provinces as the king's delegates.
b) Officials were selected to increase the people's tax burden.
c) The Mauryan Empire had a strong army and a vast spy network.
With the support of members of the royal family and key ministers, the Emperor
was able to maintain control over the whole administration.

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