Civil Services Prepby Garima Malik & Nitin Sangwan Account

UPSC Prelims · General Studies

Ancient, medieval & culture

Change subject
← All Ancient, medieval & culture topics

History of India: ancient and medieval / Mahajanapadas, Magadha and the Mauryas

Ashoka: dhamma, edicts and their sites

Practise 4 PYQs

Concepts to cover

  1. Kalinga war, the turn to dhamma, Rock Edict XII on respect for all sects, tolerance as policy
  2. Major and minor rock edicts, pillar edicts, separate Kalinga edicts; Brahmi, Kharosthi, Greek and Aramaic versions
  3. Sites and states: Dhauli, Jaugada (Odisha), Erragudi (Andhra), Kalsi (Uttarakhand), Shahbazgarhi and Mansehra (Pakistan), Girnar, Sopara, Sannati
  4. James Prinsep deciphers Brahmi and Kharosthi (1837); Devanampiya Piyadasi identified as Ashoka
  5. Dhamma mahamatras, welfare measures, missions to Sri Lanka and Hellenistic kings
  6. Kanganahalli relief labelled 'Ranyo Ashoka' as the only inscribed portrait of Ashoka
Where to study

Themes in Indian History Part I, Class XII, Theme 2 Kings, Farmers and Towns: Early States and Economies

  • Theme 2 Kings, Farmers and Towns, pp. 1-25 (printed 28-52)
  • Theme 2 Kings, Farmers and Towns, 3. An Early Empire (dhamma), pp. 5-7 (printed 32-34)
  • Theme 2 Kings, Farmers and Towns, 3. An Early Empire (Languages and scripts), pp. 5-6 (printed 32-33)
  • Theme 2 Kings, Farmers and Towns, 3. An Early Empire (Map 2, Ashokan inscriptions), pp. 5-6 (printed 32-33)
  • Theme 2 Kings, Farmers and Towns, 1. Prinsep and Piyadassi; 7. Back to Basics: How Are Inscriptions Deciphered?, p. 1 (printed 28)
  • Theme 2 Kings, Farmers and Towns, 7. Back to Basics: How Are Inscriptions Deciphered?, pp. 19-20 (printed 46-47)
  • Theme 2 Kings, Farmers and Towns, 3. An Early Empire (What the king's officials did; dhamma mahamatta), p. 7 (printed 34)

Our Pasts I, Class VI, ch. 7 Ashoka, the Emperor Who Gave Up War

  • ch. 7 Ashoka, the Emperor Who Gave Up War, pp. 1-9 (printed 67-75)
  • ch. 7 Ashoka, the Emperor Who Gave Up War, Ashoka, a unique ruler; What was Ashoka's dhamma?; Ashoka's messages to his subjects, pp. 5-7 (printed 71-73)
  • ch. 7 Ashoka, the Emperor Who Gave Up War, What was Ashoka's dhamma?, p. 6 (printed 72)

India’s Ancient Past · R. S. Sharma

  • ch. 18

Indian Art and Culture · Nitin Singhania

  • ch. 4

Tamil Nadu State Board Class XI History, Volume I

  • Lesson 4 Emergence of State and Empire, Ashoka; Ashoka's Dharmic State, pp. 68-72 (printed 64-68)
  • Lesson 4 Emergence of State and Empire, Edicts of Ashoka, p. 69 (printed 65)
  • Lesson 4 Emergence of State and Empire, Edicts of Ashoka (distribution of edicts), p. 69 (printed 65)
  • Lesson 4 Emergence of State and Empire, Sources (Prinsep and Brahmi), p. 63 (printed 59)
  • Lesson 4 Emergence of State and Empire, Ashoka's Dharmic State, p. 72 (printed 68)
  • Lesson 4 Emergence of State and Empire, Provincial Administration (Kanganahalli and Sannati), p. 71 (printed 67)
Related past questions