Kings, Farmers and Town Test - 1

The first volume of  Epigraphia Indica  was edited by Burgess and brought out in the year 1888. This was a critically edited periodical, containing important inscriptions in different languages and scripts.

A goldsmith is a metalworker, who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals.

Prashastis - It is a  Sanskrit  word meaning “in praise of ”Prashasti is a special kind of inscription which was made on stones and pillars in praise of different kings and gives information about the king and his reign. Eg- Allahabad Pillar Inscription.

Of the six subcommittees in the committee for coordinating the Mauryan military, the first one looked after the navy, the second managed transport and provisions, the third was responsible for foot-soldiers, the fourth for horses and the sixth for elephants.

Kautilya or Chanakya was the prime minister of Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Mauryan dynasty. The text  Arthashastra   deals with the monetary and fiscal policies, public welfare, international relations and war strategies in great detail.

Rudradaman I (r. 130 –150) was a Shaka ruler from the Western Kshatrapas dynasty. Rudradaman I was instrumental in the decline of the Satavahana Empire. The Sanskrit Junagadh inscription of 150 CE credits him with supporting the cultural arts and Sanskrit literature and repairing the dam built by Mauryas. He repaired embankments of lake Sudarshana, which was earlier constructed by the Mauryas for checking floods.

Rajagaha was the capital of Magadha. Interestingly, the old name means “house of the king ”. It was a fortified settlement located amongst hills.

The Dhamma, as explained in Asokan edicts, is not a religion or religious system, but a moral law, which is a common meeting ground for all religions. After the Kalinga war, the greatest ideal and objective before Ashoka was the propagation of Dhamma.

He published ‘Bhilsa Topes ’, one of the earliest works on Buddhism, in 1854. He was the first Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and is often called the 'father of Indian archaeology '.

Even today, the word 'adimai 'means slave and 'adimaigal 'is plural for slaves.