1. The play Mudrarakshasa by Visakhadatta.
2. Arthasastra was a prescriptive text, which laid down the guidelines for good administration.

1. 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 administrationand the army.
2. A system of revenue administration had to be developed to raise the funds needed for the state through taxation.
3. A political formation led to the development of cities as administrative centres, distinct from villages and rural areas.
4. A large standing army was required for expanding and retaining the empire.

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. Later, impressed by the Porus's dignity, Alexander restored his throne on the condition of accepting his suzerainty.

1. The first Nanda ruler was Mahapadma.
2. It is believed that he usurped the throne by murdering the last of the Shishunaga kings.
3. Nandas exterminated many kshatriya clans and subjugated kshatriya-ruled kingdoms.
4. Nanda was succeeded by his eight sons, and they were together known as the navanandas or the nine Nandas.

Bimbisara extended the territory of Magadhan Empire by matrimonial alliances and conquests.

Trade routes opened up with the West.
1. 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.
2. As trade contact increased, many Greek settlements were established in the northwest of India.
3. Alexandria near Kabul, Boukephala near Peshawar in Pakistan and Alexandria in Sindh were some of the prominent Greek settlements.

1. Spinning and weaving, especially of cotton fabrics, relying on the universal availability of cotton throughout India.
2. A great variety of cloth was produced in the country, ranging from the coarse fabrics used by the ordinary people for everyday use, to the very fine textures worn by the upper classes and the royalty.
3. The Arthasastra refers to the regions producing specialised textiles - Kasi (Benares), Vanga (Bengal), Kamarupa (Assam), Madurai and many others.
4. Each region produced many distinctive and specialised varieties of fabrics.
5. Cloth embroidered with gold and silver was worn by the King and members of the royal court.
6. Silk was known and was generally referred to as Chinese silk, which also indicates that extensive trade was carried on in the Mauryan Empire.

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. The number of those killed in battle, those who died subsequently, and those deported ran into tens of thousands. The campaign 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). Ashoka was devastated by the carnage advised and aided by Chanakya, known for political manoeuvring, in governing his empire.

Alexander's invasion led to the establishment of Greek satrapies in the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent.
1. Trade routes opened up with the West.
2. The Greek accounts of India provide valuable information but with a bit of exaggeration.
3. There were four different trade routes in use, which facilitated the movement of Greek merchants and craftsmen to India.

1. The mahajanapadas on the Gangetic plains were all monarchies.
2. The king was also the sovereign ruler.
3. The king levied taxes out of agricultural surplus and redistributed it and ensured maintenance of law and order in a hierarchical society by force and coercion.
4. These features marked the formation of state in the Gangetic plains.

1. Archaeology and epigraphy are the tools that provide rich information periods of history.
2. The Brahmi script of the inscriptions at Sanchi was deciphered by James Prinsep in 1837.
3. Excavations reveal the nature of urban morphology, that is, layout of the city and construction of buildings.
4. Epigraphical evidence is scanty for the period.
5. The most widely known are the edicts of Ashoka.

1. 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.
2. The Persian contact left its impact on art, architecture, economy and administration of ancient India.
3. The cultural impact was felt most in the Gandhara region.
4. Most significant impact was the development of the Kharosthi script, used in the north-western part of India.
5. It was used by Ashoka in his inscriptions in the Gandhara region.
6. The Kharosthi script was derived from Aramaic used widely in the Achaemenid Empire of Persia.

1. The major areas of concern for the Mauryan state were the collection of taxes as revenue to the state and the administration of justice.
2. In addition to the maintenance of internal security and defence against external aggression.
3. This required a large and complex administrative machinery and institutions.
4. This bureaucratic set-up covered a hierarchy of settlements from the village, to the towns, provincial capitals and major cities.
5. The bureaucracy enabled and required an efficient system of revenue collection, since it needed to be paid out of taxes collected.
6. Equally, the very large army of the Mauryan Empire could be maintained only with the revenue raised through taxation.
7. The large bureaucracy also commanded huge salaries.
8. 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
9. The enormous resources needed to maintain the army and the administrative staff.

1. The edicts of Ashoka thus constitute the most concrete source of information about the Mauryan Empire.
2. There are 33 edict comprising 14 Major Rock Edicts, 2 known as Kalinga edicts, 7 Pillar. Edicts, some Minor Rock Edicts and a few Minor Pillar Inscriptions.
3. 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.
4. Minor Pillar Inscriptions have been found as far north as Nepal (near Lumbini).
5. The edicts were written mostly in the Brahmi script and in Magadhi and Prakrit.
6. The Kandahar inscriptions are in Greek and Aramaic, while the two iriscriptions in north-west Pakistan are in Kharosthi script.