Read the following passage and answer the questions related to it:
The Arthashastra lays down minute details of administrative and military organisation. This
is what it says about how to capture elephants: “Guards of elephant forests, assisted by
those who rear elephants, those who enchain the legs of elephants, those who guard the
boundaries, those who live in forests, as well as by those who nurse elephants, shall, with
the help of five or seven female elephants to help in tethering wild ones, trace the
whereabouts of herds of elephants by following the course of urine and dung left by
elephants. According to Greek sources, the Mauryan ruler had a standing army of 600,000
foot-soldiers, 30,000 cavalry and 9,000 elephants. Some historians consider these accounts
to be exaggerated.” [2+3+1=6)
A) Do you agree with the exaggerated account of the Mauryan army given by the Greek
sources? b) Guards of elephant forests were assisted by whom in the process of capturing
of elephants? c) How were the whereabouts of herds of elephants traced?
(a) According to the Greek sources, the Mauryan army consisted of 9,000 elephants,
30,000 cavalry and 600,000 infantry. These accounts may be exaggerated but the
descriptive account of army administration in Arthashastra and the violent Kalinga
War in Ashoka's time point towards a large and well-organised military set up
under the Mauryas.
(b) According to the Arthashastra, guards of forests were assisted by the following
people in capturing elephants:
Those who reared elephants
Those who enchained the legs of elephants
Those who guarded the boundaries
Those who lived in the forests
Those who nursed the elephants
Five and seven female elephants to help in tethering wild elephants.
(c) According to the Arthashastra, the whereabouts of herds of elephants were
traced by the following course of urine and dung left by the elephants.
In praise of Samudragupta
[This is an excerpt from the Prayaga Prashasti)
He was without an antagonist on earth; he, by the
overflowing of the multitude of (his) many good qualities
adorned by hundreds of good actions, has wiped off the
fame of other kings with the soles of (his) feet; (he is)
Purusha (the Supreme Being), being the cause of the
prosperity of the good and the destruction of the bad (he
is) incomprehensible; (he is) one whose tender heart can
be captured only by devotion and humility; (he is)
possessed of compassion; (he is) the giver of many
hundred thousands of cows; (his) mind has received
ceremonial initiation for the uplift of the miserable, the
, poor, the forlorn and the suffering; (he is) resplendent and
embodied kindness to mankind; (he is) equal to (the gods)
Kubera (the god of wealth), Varuna (the god of the ocean),
Indra (the god of rains) and Yama (the god of death).
A. What is a Prashasti? Who wrote the above Prashasti?
B. Give any four qualities of the rulers as mentioned in this
Prashasti.
C. Why did rulers identify themselves with a variety of
deities?
D. Name two other sources for studying about the Guptas.
(a) Prashasti is a composition in the praise of kings in
particular and patrons in general by poets.
(b) The above Prashasti is composed by Harishena, a court
poet of Samudragupta.
B. 1. incomprehensible 2. compassion 3. Purusha, the
supreme being, 4. kindness to mankind
C. The rulers identified themselves with a variety of deities
because they considered themselves god-like and adopted
the title of devaputra or "son of god", and was also means
of claiming high status by identifying with a variety of
deities.
D. Literature, coins and inscriptions.
Life in a small village
The Harshacharita is a biography of Harshavardhana, the
ruler of Kannauj, composed in Sanskrit by his court poet,
Banabhatta (c. seventh century CE). This is an excerpt from
the text, an extremely rare representation of life in a
settlement on the outskirts of a forest in the Vindhyas:
The outskirts being for the most part forest, many parcels
of rice-land, threshing ground and arable land were being
apportioned by small farmers.
. it was mainly spade
culture. owing to the difficulty of ploughing the sparsely
scattered fields covered with grass, with their few clear
spaces, their black soil stiff as black iron.
There were people moving along with bundles of bark
countless sacks of plucked flowers, …. loads of flax and
hemp bundles, quantities of honey, peacocks' tail feathers,
wreaths of wax, logs, and grass. Village wives hastened en
route for neighbouring villages, all intent on thoughts of
sale and bearing on their heads baskets filled with various
gathered forest fruits.
A. Who was the author of 'Harshacharita'?
B. Describe the outskirts of a forest in the Vindhyas.
C. Describe the activities of the people of that area.
The Arthashastra lays down minute details of administrative and military organisation. This
is what it says about how to capture elephants: “Guards of elephant forests, assisted by
those who rear elephants, those who enchain the legs of elephants, those who guard the
boundaries, those who live in forests, as well as by those who nurse elephants, shall, with
the help of five or seven female elephants to help in tethering wild ones, trace the
whereabouts of herds of elephants by following the course of urine and dung left by
elephants. According to Greek sources, the Mauryan ruler had a standing army of 600,000
foot-soldiers, 30,000 cavalry and 9,000 elephants. Some historians consider these accounts
to be exaggerated.” [2+3+1=6)
A) Do you agree with the exaggerated account of the Mauryan army given by the Greek
sources? b) Guards of elephant forests were assisted by whom in the process of capturing
of elephants? c) How were the whereabouts of herds of elephants traced?
(a) According to the Greek sources, the Mauryan army consisted of 9,000 elephants,
30,000 cavalry and 600,000 infantry. These accounts may be exaggerated but the
descriptive account of army administration in Arthashastra and the violent Kalinga
War in Ashoka's time point towards a large and well-organised military set up
under the Mauryas.
(b) According to the Arthashastra, guards of forests were assisted by the following
people in capturing elephants:
Those who reared elephants
Those who enchained the legs of elephants
Those who guarded the boundaries
Those who lived in the forests
Those who nursed the elephants
Five and seven female elephants to help in tethering wild elephants.
(c) According to the Arthashastra, the whereabouts of herds of elephants were
traced by the following course of urine and dung left by the elephants.
In praise of Samudragupta
[This is an excerpt from the Prayaga Prashasti)
He was without an antagonist on earth; he, by the
overflowing of the multitude of (his) many good qualities
adorned by hundreds of good actions, has wiped off the
fame of other kings with the soles of (his) feet; (he is)
Purusha (the Supreme Being), being the cause of the
prosperity of the good and the destruction of the bad (he
is) incomprehensible; (he is) one whose tender heart can
be captured only by devotion and humility; (he is)
possessed of compassion; (he is) the giver of many
hundred thousands of cows; (his) mind has received
ceremonial initiation for the uplift of the miserable, the
, poor, the forlorn and the suffering; (he is) resplendent and
embodied kindness to mankind; (he is) equal to (the gods)
Kubera (the god of wealth), Varuna (the god of the ocean),
Indra (the god of rains) and Yama (the god of death).
A. What is a Prashasti? Who wrote the above Prashasti?
B. Give any four qualities of the rulers as mentioned in this
Prashasti.
C. Why did rulers identify themselves with a variety of
deities?
D. Name two other sources for studying about the Guptas.
(a) Prashasti is a composition in the praise of kings in
particular and patrons in general by poets.
(b) The above Prashasti is composed by Harishena, a court
poet of Samudragupta.
B. 1. incomprehensible 2. compassion 3. Purusha, the
supreme being, 4. kindness to mankind
C. The rulers identified themselves with a variety of deities
because they considered themselves god-like and adopted
the title of devaputra or "son of god", and was also means
of claiming high status by identifying with a variety of
deities.
D. Literature, coins and inscriptions.
Life in a small village
The Harshacharita is a biography of Harshavardhana, the
ruler of Kannauj, composed in Sanskrit by his court poet,
Banabhatta (c. seventh century CE). This is an excerpt from
the text, an extremely rare representation of life in a
settlement on the outskirts of a forest in the Vindhyas:
The outskirts being for the most part forest, many parcels
of rice-land, threshing ground and arable land were being
apportioned by small farmers.
. it was mainly spade
culture. owing to the difficulty of ploughing the sparsely
scattered fields covered with grass, with their few clear
spaces, their black soil stiff as black iron.
There were people moving along with bundles of bark
countless sacks of plucked flowers, …. loads of flax and
hemp bundles, quantities of honey, peacocks' tail feathers,
wreaths of wax, logs, and grass. Village wives hastened en
route for neighbouring villages, all intent on thoughts of
sale and bearing on their heads baskets filled with various
gathered forest fruits.
A. Who was the author of 'Harshacharita'?
B. Describe the outskirts of a forest in the Vindhyas.
C. Describe the activities of the people of that area.
