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.

The area around Pataliputra was under the direct control of the emperor. This meant that officials were appointed to collect taxes from farmers, herders, craftspersons and traders, who lived in villages and towns in the area.

If I had the power to inscribe my order, the following four commands, I would like to issue:
• Respect your teachers, parents and elders.
• Obey the orders of your elders and love all your young ones.
• All children, whether boys or girls, should be sent to school.
• There should be no difference on the basis of caste and creed.

There were a number of problems that troubled Ashoka. He wanted that the slaves should be treated like all other human beings and there should be no religious conflicts. There were quarrels in the family and among the neighbours. Slaves and servants were ill-treated. He decided to overcome this problem and try to solve such other problems with the introduction of his dhamma.

When Ashoka became the king, Kalinga was not the part of Maury an empire. He decided to conquer Kalinga. He invaded Kalinga and conquered it. But both the armies suffered heavy losses. According to Ashoka, 1,00,000 people were killed in this war, and 1,50,000 were taken prisoners. Ashoka saw the wounded and dying soldiers, and the widows, orphans and the misery and sufferings that war had brought to the people. This caused Ashoka much grief and remorse. So, he decided that he would not fight any more wars in future.

(i)Rampurwa bull is shown in the picture.
(ii)The picture belongs to the Mauryan dynasty.
(iii) Mauryan Pillar has been found in Rampurwa, Bihar

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.