Who was sent by Seleucus Nicator as his ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya?
- A.Deimachus
- B.Megasthenes
- C.Dionysius
- D.Ptolemy
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Megasthenes. After the treaty of about 305 BCE between Chandragupta Maurya and Seleucus Nicator, the Greek ruler sent Megasthenes to Pataliputra as his ambassador. Megasthenes wrote an account of India called the Indica, which is lost and survives only in quotations by later Greek writers such as Arrian, Strabo and Diodorus; it describes the wooden walls of Pataliputra, the municipal boards that ran the city and a society said to be divided into seven classes.
Option A, Deimachus, was an ambassador too, but he was sent by the Seleucid king Antiochus I to the court of Chandragupta's son Bindusara, which is the usual trap in this question. Option C, Dionysius, was sent by Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt and belongs to a later reign. Option D, Ptolemy, was the ruler who sent Dionysius, not an ambassador himself.
Read the full article: Mauryan Empire: Ashoka, Edicts and Administration
Practice Questions
View allThe Kalinga war and its aftermath are described in which of Ashoka's inscriptions?
- A.Major Rock Edict XII
- B.Major Rock Edict XIII
- C.Pillar Edict VII
- D.Minor Rock Edict I
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It is the longest of the fourteen major rock edicts and the only source in Ashoka's own words for the war on Kalinga, the number of people killed, deported and dead of other causes, and the remorse that turned him from conquest by arms to conquest by Dhamma.
Read the full explanation →The Brahmi script of the Ashokan inscriptions was deciphered in 1837 by
- A.Alexander Cunningham
- B.James Prinsep
- C.John Marshall
- D.William Jones
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Prinsep, an official of the mint at Calcutta and secretary of the Asiatic Society, worked out the values of the Brahmi letters in 1837 and so made Ashoka's edicts readable.
Read the full explanation →The Lion Capital adopted as the State Emblem of India was originally erected by Ashoka at
- A.Sanchi
- B.Sarnath
- C.Vaishali
- D.Lauriya Nandangarh
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The Sarnath capital has four lions standing back to back on an abacus that carries an elephant, a bull, a horse and a lion separated by wheels, the whole resting on an inverted lotus.
Read the full explanation →In Mauryan administration, the officer described as the chief collector of revenue was the
- A.Sannidhata
- B.Samaharta
- C.Rajuka
- D.Pradeshika
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In the Arthashastra the Samaharta is the officer in charge of assessing and collecting the revenue of the realm from land, mines, forests, trade routes and city dues, and of keeping the accounts of income and expenditure on which the state ran.
Read the full explanation →Ashoka's personal name is found in which of the following inscriptions?
- A.The minor rock edict at Maski
- B.The major rock edict at Girnar
- C.The pillar edict at Sarnath
- D.The Barabar cave inscription
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Almost all of Ashoka's inscriptions call him only Devanampiya Piyadasi, the beloved of the gods, of amiable appearance.
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