Which one of the following political centers finds a mention in Ashokan inscriptions?

Correct — C, Suvarnagiri. The Mauryan empire is described in the inscriptions themselves as having five major political centres — the capital Pataliputra, and the provincial centres of Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali and Suvarnagiri. Suvarnagiri, literally 'the golden mountain', is the southern seat, named in the minor rock edicts of the Brahmagiri, Siddapura and Jatinga-Rameshwara group in northern Karnataka, where the order is issued from Suvarnagiri at the word of the prince and the mahamatras. Its position near the gold-bearing country of the Raichur region is generally taken to be why it was chosen. Of the four options, it is the only one that appears in that list of political centres.

• (a)Indraprastha — A name from the Mahabharata, associated with the Pandavas and later with Delhi. It does not appear in Asokan inscriptions at all, and no Mauryan provincial administration is attested there.
• (b)Kaushambi — An important city — the capital of the Vatsa mahajanapada — and the Asokan pillar found at Kosam does carry a Schism Edict addressed to officers of that place. But Kaushambi is not one of the political centres of the empire that the inscriptions set out, and the question asks specifically about political centres, where the list runs Pataliputra, Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali and Suvarnagiri.
• (d)Kandahar — The sharpest distractor, because Asokan inscriptions genuinely were found at Kandahar in Afghanistan — the bilingual Greek and Aramaic edicts. But the city's name does not occur in the text of those inscriptions. Being a find-spot is not the same as being mentioned, and that distinction is what the option is testing.

Asoka's edicts are the earliest deciphered royal inscriptions in the subcontinent and the principal source for how the Mauryan empire was run. They survive as major and minor rock edicts, pillar edicts and separate Kalinga edicts, spread from Afghanistan and the north-west to Karnataka and Odisha, and they name the places from which orders were issued as well as the officials who carried them out.

Administrative control was strongest around the capital and the four provincial centres, and each was chosen for a reason. Taxila and Ujjayini sat on major long-distance trade routes; Tosali served the newly conquered Kalinga on the eastern coast; and Suvarnagiri gave access to the gold of the Karnataka region. The mahamatras were the officers through whom the centre reached these provinces, and several edicts are addressed to them directly. Two further points make this item easier to hold. The scripts vary with the region — Brahmi across most of the subcontinent, Kharoshthi in the north-west, and Greek and Aramaic in Afghanistan — which is itself a recurring exam point. And Asoka is named in the inscriptions almost always by his titles Devanampiya Piyadasi rather than by his personal name, which appears at Maski and a handful of other sites. Those three habits — where a name occurs, in which script, and under which title — cover most of what is asked about the edicts.

• The five political centres named in Asokan inscriptions are Pataliputra (the capital) and the provincial centres Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali and Suvarnagiri.
• Suvarnagiri means 'golden mountain' and is linked to access to the gold-bearing country of the Karnataka region.
• It is named in the minor rock edicts of the Brahmagiri, Siddapura and Jatinga-Rameshwara group in northern Karnataka.
• Mahamatras were the officials through whom the provinces were administered, and several edicts are addressed to them.
• Asokan inscriptions use Brahmi over most of the subcontinent, Kharoshthi in the north-west, and Greek and Aramaic in Afghanistan.

• Treating a find-spot as a place named in the inscription.
• Assuming that any famous ancient city must appear in the edicts.
• Mixing up Tosali (Kalinga) with Taxila (north-west) because the names look alike.

Asked as a single-answer recall item on the list of Mauryan political centres, with three distractors drawn from adjacent but different categories.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following was the provincial centre of the Mauryan empire in Kalinga?

  • (a)Taxila
  • (b)Ujjayini
  • (c)Tosali
  • (d)Suvarnagiri

  Answer(c) Tosali — the eastern provincial centre, where the separate Kalinga edicts were addressed.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The personal name of Asoka, as against his titles, occurs in which one of the following inscriptions?

  • (a)Rummindei pillar inscription
  • (b)Maski minor rock edict
  • (c)Kalsi major rock edict
  • (d)Dhauli separate edict

  Answer(b) Maski minor rock edict — it reads 'Devanampiya Asoka', while most edicts use only the titles Devanampiya Piyadasi.