Emergence of State and Empire Online Test 11th History Questions in English

Explanation 

Referred to as sramanic religions (from the word sramana in Sanskrit, meaning a teacher), these two religious systems were antithetical to the mainstream Vedic religion. As a consequence of new beliefs and ideas propounded by Jainism and Buddhism, the social order largely centred on Vedic rituals underwent a significant change, as people of many religious faiths were part of the emerging society.

Explanation 

From the sixth century to the third century BCE, North India passed through major political and social changes. Buddhism and Jainism emerged as prominent religions having a large number of followers.

Explanation 

As a consequence of new beliefs and ideas propounded by Jainism and Buddhism, the social order largely centred on Vedic rituals underwent a significant change, as people of many religious faiths were part of the emerging society. On the political front, minor states and federations of clans were merged through conquests to create an empire during this period, resulting in a large state, ruled by a chakravartin or ekarat (emperor or one supreme king). The rise of a centralised empire in the Gangetic plains of present-day Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh changed the social, economic and administrative fabric of the region.

Explanation 

Bimbisara, who was a contemporary of Buddha, started the process of empire building. It was strengthened by his son Ajatashatru and then by the Nandas. 

Explanation 

The empire reached its glory and peaked with the advent of the Mauryan Empire founded by Chandragupta Maurya. The first three Mauryan emperors, Chandragupta, Bindusara and Ashoka, were the best known. After Ashoka, the Mauryan Empire went into decline

Explanation 

The flat plains and the availability of plentiful water from the perennial rivers, such as the Ganga and its many tributaries, were among the favourable ecological conditions which promoted the rise of a large state in this particular region. Rivers also acted as major waterways for trade and travel.

Explanation 

There are hardly any comprehensive contemporary accounts or literary works which refer to the Mauryan emperors though they are mentioned in various Buddhist and Jain texts as well as in some Hindu works like the brahmanas.

Explanation 

The Mahavamsa, the comprehensive historical chronicle in Pali from Sri Lanka, is an important additional source. The scattered information from these sources has been corroborated by accounts of Greek historians who left their accounts about India following Alexander’s campaign in north-western part of the country.

Explanation 

Archaeology and epigraphy are the tools that provide rich information for the historian to understand earlier periods of history.

Explanation 

Archaeology is particularly important because excavations reveal the nature of urban morphology, that is, layout of the city and construction of buildings. They also provide concrete information about the material culture of people in the past, such as the metals that were known, materials and tools they used, and the technology they employed.

Explanation 

In fact, the reconstruction of the Mauryan period to a great extent became possible only after the Brahmi script of the inscriptions at Sanchi was deciphered by James Prinsep in 1837. Information about other edicts in other parts of the country also became available at that time.

Explanation 

It must be remembered that these were the oldest historical artefacts found in India in the nineteenth century, until archaeological excavations unearthed the Indus valley towns of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro in the twentieth century

Explanation 

All the edicts began with a reference to a great king, “Thus spoke devanampiya (beloved of the gods) piyadassi (of pleasing looks)”, and the geographical spread of the edicts make it clear that this was a king who had ruled over a vast empire.

Explanation
Puranic and Buddhist texts referred to a chakravartin named Ashoka. As more edicts were deciphered, the decisive identification that devananampiya piyadassi was Ashoka was made in 1915. One more edict when deciphered, which referred to him as devanampiya Ashoka, made reconstruction of Mauryan history possible.

Explanation 

The first is the rock inscription of Junagadh, near Girnar in Gujarat. This was carved during the reign of Rudradaman, the local ruler and dates back to 130–150 CE. It refers to Pushyagupta, the provincial governor (rashtriya) of Emperor Chandragupta.

Explanation 

The play Mudrarakshasa by Visakhadatta was written during the Gupta period, sometime after the 4th century CE.

Explanation 

Mudrarakshasa narrates Chandragupta’s accession to the throne of the Magadha Empire and the exploits of his chief advisor Chanakya or Kautilya by listing the strategies he used to counter an invasion against Chandragupta. 

Explanation 

Among the 16 mahajanapadas, Kasi was initially powerful. However, Kosala became dominant later. A power struggle broke out between Magadha, Kosala, Vrijji and Avanti.

Explanation 

The first known ruler of Magadha was Bimbisara of the Haryanka dynasty. He extended the territory of Magadhan Empire by matrimonial alliances and conquests. By marrying off his sister to Prasenajit, ruler of Kosala, he received Kasi as dowry.

Explanation 

By marrying off his sister to Prasenajit, ruler of Kosala, Bimbisara received Kasi as dowry. He also married the princesses of Lichchhavis and Madra. He maintained friendly relations with Avanti but annexed Anga by military might. Thus, Magadha became a powerful and prominent power. During his reign, Bimbisara patronised various religious sects and their leaders. He had an encounter with Buddha as well.

Explanation 

Bimbisara son Ajatashatru ascended the throne by killing his father. King Prasenajit immediately took back Kasi, which he had handed out as dowry to Bimbisara.

Explanation 

Ajatashatru fought and won the battle against the Lichchhavis. He defeated the Lichchhavis and the Mallas. Ajatashatru is also believed to have met Buddha in his lifetime. By the time Ajatashatru died in 461 BCE Magadha had become undisputedly the strongest power.

Explanation 

The Haryanka dynasty was succeeded by the Shishunaga dynasty. Shishunaga, a viceroy of Benaras, deposed the last Haryanka king and ascended the throne. The Shishunagas ruled for fifty years before the throne was usurped by Mahapadma Nanda.

Explanation 

About a hundred years after Ajatashatru’s demise, the Nandas became the emperors of Magadha in 362 BCE.

Explanation 

The first Nanda ruler was Mahapadma. It is believed that he usurped the throne by murdering the last of the Shishunaga kings.

Explanation 

Under the Nandas, the empire expanded considerably, and the wealth and power of the Nandas became widely known and feared. Mahapadma Nanda was succeeded by his eight sons, and they were together known as the navanandas or the nine Nanda

Explanation 

During the process of empire building, Nandas exterminated many kshatriya clans and subjugated kshatriya-ruled kingdoms, which had still retained a degree of autonomous authority, thus creating a centralised state

Explanation 

An inscription known as the Hathigumpha (elephant cave) from Udayagiri near Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, records the aqueduct built by King Nanda three hundred years earlier. This is also indicative of the geographical extent of the Nanda Empire.

Explanation 

A centralised state required a new administrative framework to govern an extensive territory, the creation of a bureaucracy, resources of money and men for managing the administration and the army. A system of revenue administration had to be developed to raise the funds needed for the state through taxation. Such a political formation led to the development of cities as administrative centres, distinct from villages and rural areas. A large standing army was required for expanding and retaining the empire.

Explanation 

The period from the sixth century witnessed close cultural contact of the north-west of India with Persia and Greece. It might be surprising to know that Gandhara and its adjoining regions on the Indus were part of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia.

Explanation 

Cyrus, the emperor of Persia, invaded India around 530 BCE and destroyed the city of Kapisha. As the north-western part of India came under the control of the Persian Empire from about middle of the sixth century.

Explanation 

According to Greek historian Herodotus, Gandhara constituted the twentieth and the richest satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire. The region continued to be part of the Persian Empire till the invasion of Alexander the Great.

Explanation

The inscriptions of Darius I mention the presence of the Persians in the Indus region and include “the people of Gadara, Haravati and Maka” as subjects of the Achaemenid Empire.

Explanation 

The word “Hindu” appears for the first time in an inscription of Darius I at Persepolis, Iran. Darius lists “Hindu” as part of his empire. The word “Sindhu”, denoting a river in general and Indus in particular, became “Hindu” in Persian. The Greeks dropped the S and called it Indu, which eventually came to be called Hindu and later India.

Explanation 

Takshashila or Taxila is situated in presentday Pakistan. Between the fifth century and fourth century BCE, it was part of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia. Because of its strategic location on the trade route between the East and the West, it emerged as an important centre of learning and culture. Students came from far and wide to Taxila in search of knowledge.

Explanation 

The city of Taxila or Takshashila was brought to light by the excavation carried out in the 1940s by Sir John Marshall.

Explanation 

Taxila is considered “one of the greatest intellectual achievements of any ancient civilization”. Panini seems to have compiled his well-known work, Ashtadhyayi, here.

Explanation 

As the north-western part of India came under the control of the Persian Empire from about middle of the sixth century, the region became a centre of confluence of Persian and Indian culture.

Explanation 

The Persian contact left its impact on art, architecture, economy and administration of ancient India. The cultural impact was felt most in the Gandhara region.

Explanation 

The most significant impact was the development of the Kharosthi script, used in the north-western part of India. It was used by Ashoka in his inscriptions in the Gandhara region. The Kharosthi script was derived from Aramaic used widely in the Achaemenid Empire of Persia.

Explanation 

Like Aramaic, Kharosthi was written from right to left. Persian sigloi (silver coin) is an imitation from the region. The earliest coins in India are traced to the period of the mahajanapadas.

Explanation 

The Indian word for coin karsa is of Persian origin. The coins might have been inspired by the Persian coins. The existence of coins in that period suggests trade links between India and Persia.

Explanation 

The Ashokan edicts might have been inspired by the edicts of the Achaemenid king Darius. The Ashokan edicts use the term lipi instead of the Iranian term dipi.

Explanation 

The Mauryan art and architecture show traces of Persian influence. Mauryan columns of the Ashokan Pillar are similar to the columns found in the Achaemenid Empire.

Explanation 

The bell-shaped capital of the columns, especially the lion capital of Sarnath pillar and the bell capital of Rampurval pillar, show resemblance to designs found in the Achaemenid columns. Similarly, the pillared remains of the Palace in Pataliputra display a remarkable similarity to the pillared hall in the Achaemenid capital.

Explanation 

There are linguistic similarities between Rig Veda and Avesta. The term Aryas was also used by the ancient Persians. According to Indologist Thomas Burrow, only phonetic change had occurred overtime.

Explanation 

The Bogaz Koi (in North-East Syria) Inscription dating back to 1380 BCE records a treaty between a Hittite and a Mitanni King. It mentions the names of a few Rig Vedic gods such as Indara, Uruvna (Varuna), Mitira and Nasatiya (Ashvins).

Explanation 

During Dana Nanda’s reign, Alexander invaded north-west India (327–325 BCE). In many ways, the invasion by Alexander is a watershed in Indian history.

Explanation 

Invasion by Alexander marked the beginning of the interaction between India and the West, which spanned many centuries to follow. Greek historians began to write about India, and Greek governors and kings ruled in the north-western region of India, which introduced new styles of art and governance.

Explanation 

After his conquests in the Punjab region, Alexander expressed his desire to march further east to attack the Magadha Empire. However, his already tired troops had heard about the great emperor in the east (Nanda) and his formidable army and refused to be engaged in a war against such a powerful adversary.

Explanation 

In 326 BCE when Alexander entered the Indian subcontinent after defeating the Persians, Ambhi, the ruler of Taxila, surrendered and accepted the suzerainty of Alexander.

Explanation 

The most famous of Alexander’s encounters was with Porus, ruler of the region between Jhelum and Beas. The two armies met in the battle of Hydaspes in which Porus was imprisoned.

Explanation 

Alexander restored his throne on the condition of accepting his suzerainty. His battle-weary soldiers refused to march further. Alexander did not want to proceed against the reluctance of his army. During his return, Alexander died of typhoid in Babylon

Explanation

Alexander’s invasion led to the establishment of Greek satrapies in the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent. Trade routes opened up with the West. There were four different trade routes in use, which facilitated the movement of Greek merchants and craftsmen to India, establishing direct contact between India and Greece.

Explanation 

As trade contact increased, many Greek settlements were established in the northwest of India. Alexandria near Kabul, Boukephala near Peshawar in Pakistan and Alexandria in Sindh were some of the prominent Greek settlements.

Explanation 

The Greek accounts of India provide valuable information but with a bit of exaggeration. Alexander’s death created a void in the north-west, facilitating the accession of Chandragupta Maurya to the throne of Magadha. It also helped him to conquer the numerous small chiefdoms in the north-west and bring the region under his empire.

Explanation 

Contemporary accounts by Greek historians show that Chandragupta was a youth living in Taxila when Alexander invaded India. Greek historians have recorded his name as “Sandrakottus” or “Sandrakoptus”, which are evidently modified forms of Chandragupta.

Explanation 

Inspired by Alexander, Chandragupta led a revolt against the Nandas years later and overthrew them. Chandragupta achieved it either by inciting the people to rise against an unpopular monarch, or by soliciting their support in overthrowing an unpopular king.

Explanation 

Chandragupta established the Mauryan Empire and became its first emperor in 321 BCE. Inspired by Alexander, Chandragupta led a revolt against the Nandas.

Explanation 

We know from the Junagadh rock inscription (referred to earlier) that Chandragupta had expanded his empire westward as far as Gujarat.

Explanation 

Another major event of his reign was the war against Seleucus, who was one of Alexander’s generals. After the death of Alexander, Seleucus had established his kingdom extending up to Punjab. Chandragupta defeated him in a battle some time before 301 BCE and drove him out of the Punjab region.

Explanation 

The final agreement between the two was probably not too acrimonious, since Chandragupta gave Seleucus 500 war elephants, and Seleucus sent an ambassador (Megasthenes) to Chandragupta’s court.

Explanation

Explanation 

Chandragupta gave Seleucus 500 war elephants, and Seleucus sent an ambassador to Chandragupta’s court. This ambassador was Megasthenes, and we owe much of the information that we have about Chandragupta to Indica, the account written by Megasthenes. The original of this work is lost, but many Greek historians had reproduced parts of his account describing the court of Chandragupta and his administration.

Explanation 

Chandragupta was ably advised and aided by Chanakya, known for political manoeuvring, in governing his empire. Contemporary Jain and Buddhist texts hardly have any mention of Chanakya.

Explanation 

Chanakya, also known as Kautilya and Vishnugupta, was a Brahmin and a sworn adversary of the Nandas. He is credited with having devised the strategy for overthrowing the Nandas and helping Chandragupta to become the emperor of Magadha.

Explanation 

Chanakya is celebrated as the author of the Arthasastra, a treatise on political strategy and governance. His intrigues and brilliant strategy to subvert the intended invasion of Magadha is the theme of the play, Mudrarakshasa.(Vishakhadatta is the author of Mudrarakshas).

Explanation 

Chandragupta’s son Bindusara succeeded him as emperor in 297 BCE in a peaceful and natural transition. We do not know what happened to Chandragupta.

Explanation 

According to the Jain tradition, Chandragupta spent his last years as an ascetic in Chandragiri, near Sravanabelagola, in Karnataka.

Explanation 

Bindusara was clearly a capable ruler and continued his father’s tradition of close interaction with the Greek states of West Asia. He continued to be advised by Chanakya and other capable ministers.

Explanation 

Bindusara ruled for 25 years, and he must have died in 272 BCE. His sons were appointed as viceroys of the different provinces of the empire. We do not know much about his military exploits, but the empire passed intact to his son, Ashoka.

Explanation 

Ashoka was not his chosen successor, and the fact that he came to the throne only four years later in 268 BCE would indicate that there was a struggle between the sons of Bindusara for the succession.

Explanation 

Ashoka had been the viceroy of Taxila when he put down a revolt against the local officials by the people of Taxila, and was later the viceroy of Ujjain, the capital of Avanti and a major city and commercial centre.

Explanation 

As emperor, Ashoka is credited with building the monumental structures that have been excavated in the site of Pataliputra. He continued the tradition of close interaction with the Greek states in West Asia, and there was mutual exchange of emissaries from both sides.

Explanation 

The defining event of Ashoka’s rule was his campaign against Kalinga (present-day Odisha) in the eighth year of his reign. This is the only recorded military expedition of the Mauryas.

Explanation 

The campaign of Kalinga had probably been more ferocious and brutal than usual because this was a punitive war against Kalinga, which had broken away from the Magadha Empire (the Hathigumpha inscription speaks of Kalinga as a part of the Nanda Empire)

Explanation 

Ashoka was devastated by the carnage of Kalinga war and moved by the suffering that he converted to humanistic values. He became a Buddhist and his new-found values and beliefs were recorded in a series of edicts, which confirm his passion for peace and moral righteousness or dhamma (dharma in Sanskrit).

Explanation 

The edicts of Ashoka thus constitute the most concrete source of information about the Mauryan Empire. There are 33 edicts.

Explanation 

There are 33 edicts comprising 14 Major Rock Edicts, 2 known as Kalinga edicts, 7 Pillar Edicts, some Minor Rock Edicts and a few Minor Pillar Inscriptions.

Explanation 

The Major Rock Edicts extend from Kandahar in Afghanistan, Shahbazgarhi and Mansehra in northwest Pakistan to Uttarakhand district in the north, Gujarat and Maharashtra in the west, Odisha in the east and as far south as Karnataka and Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh.

Explanation 

Minor Pillar Inscriptions have been found as far north as Nepal (near Lumbini). The edicts were written mostly in the Brahmi script and in Magadhi and Prakrit.

Explanation 

The edicts were written mostly in the Brahmi script and in Magadhi and Prakrit. The Kandahar inscriptions are in Greek and Aramaic, while the two inscriptions in north-west Pakistan are in Kharosthi script.

Explanation 

One of the major events of Ashoka’s reign was the convening of the Third Buddhist sangha (council) in 250 BCE in the capital Pataliputra.

Explanation 

Ashoka’s deepening commitment to Buddhism meant that royal patronage was extended to the Buddhist establishment. An important outcome of this sangha was the decision to expand the reach of Buddhism to other parts of the region and to send missions to convert people to the religion. Buddhism thus became a proselytizing religion and missionaries were sent to regions outlying the empire such as Kashmir and South India.

Explanation 

According to popular belief, Ashoka sent his two children, Mahinda and Sanghamitta, to Sri Lanka to propagate Buddhism. It is believed that they took a branch of the original bodhi tree to Sri Lanka.

Explanation 

Ashoka died in 231 BCE. Sadly, though his revolutionary view of governance and non-violence find a resonance in our contemporary sensibilities, they were not in consonance with the realities of the times.

Explanation 

After his death, the Mauryan Empire slowly disintegrated and died out within fifty years. But the two centuries prior to Ashoka’s death and the disintegration of the Mauryan Empire were truly momentous in Indian history. This was a period of great change.

Explanation 

According to the Arthasastra, the salary of chief minister, the purohita and the army commander was 48,000 panas, and the soldiers received 500 panas. If we multiply this by the number of infantry and cavalry, we get an idea of the enormous resources needed to maintain the army and the administrative staff.

Explanation 

Perhaps the most detailed account of the Mauryan administration is to be found in the Arthasastra (though the work itself is now dated to a few centuries later). However, it must be remembered that the Arthasastra was a prescriptive text, which laid down the guidelines for good administration. If we add to this the information from Ashoka’s edicts and the work of Megasthenes, we get a more comprehensive picture of the Mauryan state as it was.

Explanation 

At the head of the administration was the king. He was assisted by a council of ministers and a purohita or priest, who was a person of great importance, and secretaries known as mahamatriyas

Explanation 

The capital region of Mauryan administration was Pataliputra, which was directly administered by the centralised administration.

Explanation 

The rest of the Mauryan empire was divided into four provinces based at Suvarnagiri (near Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh), Ujjain (Avanti, Malwa), Taxila in the northwest, and Tosali in Odisha in the southeast.

Explanation 

Revenue collection was the responsibility of a collector-general (samaharta) who was also in charge of exchequer that he was, in effect, like a minister of finance. He had to supervise all the provinces, fortified towns, mines, forests, trade routes and others, which were the sources of revenue.

Explanation
At the next level of administration came the districts, villages and towns. The district was under the command of a sthanika, while officials known as gopas were in charge of five to ten villages. Urban administration was handled by a nagarika.

Explanation 

Villages were semi-autonomous and were under the authority of a gramani, appointed by the central government, and a council of village elders. Agriculture was then, as it remained down the centuries, the most important contributor to the economy, and the tax on agricultural produce constituted the most important source of revenue.

Explanation 

Usually, the king was entitled to one-sixth of the produce. In reality, it was often much higher, usually about one-fourth of the produce.

Explanation 

The Arthasastra, recommended comprehensive state control over agricultural production and marketing, with warehouses to store agricultural products and regulated markets, in order to maximise the revenues from this most important sector of the economy. Lands owned by the king, forests, mines and manufacture and salt, on which the state held a monopoly, were also important sources of revenue.

Explanation

Justice was administered through courts, which were established in all the major towns. Two types of courts are mentioned. The dharmasthiya courts mostly dealt with civil law relating to marriage, inheritance and other aspects of civil life. The courts were presided over by three judges wellversed in sacred laws and three amatyas (secretaries).

Explanation 

Another type of court was called kantakasodhana (removal of thorns), also presided over by three judges and three amatyas. The main purpose of these courts was to clear the society of anti-social elements and various types of crimes, and it functioned more like the modern police, and relied on a network of spies for information about such antisocial activities.

Explanation 

Ashoka’s rule gives us an alternative model of a righteous king and a just state. He instructed his officials, the yuktas (subordinate officials), rajjukas (rural administrators) and pradesikas (heads of the districts) to go on tours every five years to instruct people in dhamma (Major Rock Edict 3).

Explanation 

Ashoka’s injunctions to the officers and city magistrates stressed that all the people were his children and he wished for his people what he wished for his own children, that they should obtain welfare and happiness in this world and the next. He added that he would send an officer every five years to verify if his instructions were carried out (Kalinga Rock Edict 1).

Explanation 

Ashoka realised that an effective ruler needed to be fully informed about what was happening in his kingdom and insisted that he should be advised and informed promptly wherever he might be (Major Rock Edict 6). He insisted that all religions should co-exist and the ascetics of all religions were honoured (Major Rock Edicts 7 and 12)

Explanation 

Providing medical care should be one of the functions of the state, the emperor ordered hospitals to be set up to treat human beings and animals (Major Rock Edict 2)

Explanation 

Agriculture formed the backbone of the economy. It was the largest sector in terms of its share in total revenue to the state and employment. The Greeks noted with wonder that two crops could be raised annually in India because of the fertility of the soil. Besides food grains, India also grew commercial crops such as sugarcane and cotton, described by Megasthenes as a reed that produced honey and trees on which wool grew. These were important commercial crops.

Explanation 

The Arthasastra refers to the regions producing specialised textiles – Kasi (Benares), Vanga (Bengal), Kamarupa (Assam), Madurai and many others. Each region produced many distinctive and specialised varieties of fabrics.

Explanation 

Each region produced many distinctive and specialised varieties of fabrics. Cloth embroidered with gold and silver was worn by the King and members of the royal court. Silk was known and was generally referred to as Chinese silk, which also indicates that extensive trade was carried on in the Mauryan Empire.

Explanation 

Metal and metal works were of great importance, and the local metal workers worked with iron, copper and other metals to produce tools, implements, vessels and other utility items. Iron smelting had been known for many centuries, but there was a great improvement in technology after about 500 BCE, which made it possible to smelt iron in furnaces at very high temperatures

Explanation 

Woodwork was another important craft for ship-building, making carts and chariots, house construction and so on. Stone work–stone carving and polishing– had evolved as a highly skilled craft. This expertise is seen in the stone sculptures in the stupa at Sanchi and the highly polished Chunar stone used for Ashoka’s pillars.h

Explanation 

Crafts were predominantly urbanbased hereditary occupations and sons usually followed their fathers in the practice of various crafts. Craftsmen worked primarily as individuals, though royal workshops for producing cloth and other products also existed. Each craft had a head called pamukha (pramukha or leader) and a jettha (jyeshtha or elder) and was organised in a seni (srenior a guild), so that the institutional identity superseded the individual in craft production.

Explanation 

Overseas trade by ships was also known, and Buddhist Jataka tales refer to the long voyages undertaken by merchants. Sea-borne trade was carried on with Burma and the Malay Archipelago, and with Sri Lanka. The ships, however, were probably quite small and might have hugged the coastline

Explanation 

Though coinage was known, barter was the medium of exchange in pre-modern economies. In the Mauryan Empire, the silver coin known as pana and its sub-divisions were the most commonly used currency.

Explanation 

By about sixth century BCE, urbanization had spread to the doab and many new city centres like Kaushambi, Bhita, Vaishali and Rajagriha, among others, are mentioned in the region. Buddhist texts about Buddha’s preaching were always located in urban centres. Cities developed primarily because of the spread of agriculture and wet rice cultivation, in particular in the doab region, after the marshy land was drained and reclaimed for cultivation.

Explanation 

Pataliputra was the great capital city in the Mauryan Empire. It was described as a large and wealthy city, situated at the confluence of the Ganga and Son rivers, stretching in the form of a parallelogram. It was more than 14 kilometres in length and about 2 kilometres wide.

Explanation 

Pataliputra was protected by an outer wall made of wood, with loopholes for shooting arrows at enemies. There were 64 gates to the city and 570 watch towers. There was a wide and deep moat outside the wall, which was fed by water from the river, which served both as a defence and an outlet for sewage.

Explanation 

Most of the literature and art of the period have not survived. Sanskrit language and literature were enriched by the work of the grammarian Panini (c. 500 BCE), and Katyayana, who was a contemporary of the Nandas and had written a commentary on Panini’s work. 

Explanation 

Buddhist and Jain texts were primarily written in Pali. Evidently many literary works in Sanskrit were produced during this period and find mention in later works, but they are not available to us.