Mauryan empire and Ashoka — UPSC Prelims PYQs
6 questions in this bank come from Mauryan empire and Ashoka, spanning UPSC Prelims papers from 2011 to 2022. Every question here carries all four options, the correct answer and a full explanation.
It has appeared in 4 of the last 16 papers, most heavily in 2022 with 2 questions. That makes it an occasional area rather than a fixture.
The themes examined most often within it are Ashoka's inscriptions and edicts (3), Advancements in ancient ship-building technology (1), Establishment of Chola power by Purantaka (1), Establishment of Pallava power under Mahendravarman-I (1) and Influence of southern Indian rulers on trade (1). Those counts are of questions in which the theme is examined, not merely mentioned.
Between them they draw on 12 distinct themes, so this is a broader area than a single revision note can cover. That is 0.4% of the 1433 questions in the bank — useful for deciding how much revision time it deserves.
It has come up more often lately — roughly 1.0 questions a year across the last five papers, against 0.1 before that.
It was not examined in 12 of those papers. Each question below links to its full explanation and to related questions on the same theme from other years, so a weak area can be worked through in one pass rather than hunted for paper by paper.
UPSC Prelims 20222 questions
- History
According to Kautilya’s Arthashastra, which of the following are correct? 1. A person could be a slave as a result of a judicial punishment. 2. If a female slave bore her master a son, she was legally free. 3. If a son born to a female slave was fathered by her master the son was entitled to the legal status of the master’s son. Which of the statements given above are correct?
- History
Consider the following pairs: Site of Ashoka’s major rock edicts Location in the State of Dhauli Odisha Erragudi Andhra Pradesh Jaugada Madhya Pradesh Kalsi Arnataka How many pairs given above are correctly matched?
UPSC Prelims 20202 questions
- History
Consider the following events in the history of India: 1. Rise of Pratiharas under King Bhoja 2. Establishment of Pallava power under Mahendravarman-I 3. Establishment of Chola power by Purantaka 4. Pala dynasty founded by Gopala What is the correct chronological order of the above events, starting from the earliest time?
- History
Who among the following rulers advised his subjects through this inscription? “Whosoever praises his religious sect or blames other sects out of excessive devotion to his own sect, with the view of glorifying his own sect, he rather injures his own sect very severely.”