Ashoka's Dhamma was to teach his subjects just as a father tries to teach his children.

The countries are India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. The states outside the empire were Kerala, Jammu, and Kashmir, North-East states, Sikkim.

The lions present on our currency notes and coins have been adopted from Ashokan Sarnath Pillar as these were a symbol of power, authority, and compassion along with being a reflection of our rich heritage.

Somewhat before the time of the Mauryan empire, about 2400 years ago, emperors in China began building the Great Wall to protect the northern frontier of the empire from pastoral people. Additions to the wall were made over a period of 2000 years because the frontiers of the empire kept shifting. The wall is about 6400 km long, and is made of stone and brick, with a road along the top. Several thousand people worked to build the wall. There are watch towers all along, at distances of about 100-200 m.

Ashoka wanted to spread dhamma because'
• Ashoka felt that he had a duty to instruct his subjects and he was also inspired by the teachings of the Buddha.
• A number of problems such as the people in the empire followed different religions, and this sometimes led to conflict that troubled him a lot.
• Slaves and servants were ill-treated besides; there were quarrels in families and amongst neighbours
• Ashoka felt it was his duty to solve these problems. So, he appointed officials, known as the dhamma mahamatta who went from place to place teaching people about dhamma.

Megasthenes described the emperor's appearance in public as:
• The occasions on which the emperor appeared in public were celebrated with grand royal processions.
• He was carried in a golden palanquin. His guards rode elephants decorated with gold and silver.
• Some of the guards carried trees on which live birds, including a flock of trained parrots, circle about the head of the emperor. The king was normally surrounded by armed women.
• He was afraid that someone might try to kill him.

The emperors run the empire as:
• The ruling pattern was varying in empires due to the largeness of the empire.
• The area around Pataliputra was under the direct control of the emperor meant that officials were appointed to collect taxes from farmers, herders, craftspersons and traders, who lived in villages and towns in the area.
• Many of these officials were given salaries and these officials punished those who disobeyed the ruler's orders.
• Messengers went to and fro, and spies kept a watch on the officials and of course the emperor supervised them all, with the help of members of the royal family, and senior ministers.
• The other areas or provinces were ruled from a provincial capital such as Taxila or Ujjain although there was some amount of control from Pataliputra.
• The royal princes were often sent as governors, local customs and rules were probably followed.