You live in Kalinga, and your parents have suffered in
the war. Messengers from Ashoka have just arrived with
the new ideas about dhamma. Describe the dialogue
between them and your parents.
Answers
Answer
A very big kingdom = an empire
The lions that we see on our notes and coins
have a long history. They were carved in stone,
and placed on top of a massive stone pillar at
Sarnath (about which you read in Chapter 7).
Ashoka was one of the greatest rulers known
to history and on his instructions inscriptions
were carved on pillars, as well as on rock
surfaces. Before we find out what was written
in these inscriptions, let us see why his
kingdom was called an empire.
The empire that Ashoka ruled was founded
by his grandfather, Chandragupta Maurya,
more than 2300 years ago. Chandragupta was
supported by a wise man named Chanakya or
Kautilya. Many of Chanakya’s ideas were
written down in a book called the Arthashastra
When members of the same family become rulers one after another,
the family is often called a dynasty. The Mauryas were a dynasty with
three important rulers — Chandragupta, his son Bindusara, and
Bindusara’s son