L9 - Mauryan Empire | Complete course on Ancient History | UPSC Prelims 2024 | Arti Chhawari

Hello everyone, welcome to UPSC Unstoppable. In this series of Ancient History, today we are going to discuss about the Mauryan Empire. But before studying this series, let's understand the timeline and see where the story begins. In the last episodes, we saw the rise of Magadh, the Haranyak dynasty, Shishunags and Nandas. But along with this, we also saw the invasions from the North-West, in which the Persians are coming, the Macedonian king Alexander is also coming. Now, at the time when Alexander is coming, at the same time, in a way, the Mauryans are developing. We will connect this story with our last episode. So, let's go to the flashback and let's try to understand what was happening in the North-West, because of which the Mauryan Empire was established and the Nand dynasty was destroyed. So, let's go to the flashback. So, what story do we see here? If you remember, we read that the capital of Gandhar, Takshila, as soon as Alexander comes there, the king of Takshila still submits himself to you without your permission. And on this, one of the Acharya of Vishwa Vidyalaya in Takshila suddenly feels very sad. He believed that in this way, any big rulers will come from there and the kings of the North-West will submit themselves and leave. So, gradually, the invaders will take over. That's why he wanted a big king, a big kingdom, a dynasty, which can resist such attacks. And because of this, if you remember, in our last episode, we talked about how Alexander started moving from Takshila towards Pataliputra. Because Pataliputra is the place where we are going to meet a great king. Actually, Pataliputra was the capital of Magadh. And the time we are talking about, the king of Magadh was the king of the Nand dynasty. The king of the Nand dynasty was Dhananand. So, basically, Chanakya is going to meet Dhananand. And he wants Dhananand to resist such attacks and save India from it. As soon as Chanakya starts his journey, and he is passing through the kingdom of Magadh, he sees how harshly people are collecting taxes. Chanakya is very sad to see this. Finally, he reaches the court of the Nand dynasty, the court of Dhananand. That day, Dhananand was giving donations. It was Chanakya's turn. Chanakya also wanted to give donations to Dhananand, but he refused. He said, I don't want donations, but I want to say something to you. If you follow these words, it will be very good for Magadh. Chanakya said, The interest of a king is in the interest of his subjects. A king is like a father to his subjects. Just like a father protects his children, similarly, a king also has a duty. So, I want that the way people are collecting taxes in Magadh, it should stop. And you should serve your subjects. You should do welfare activities. Dhananand got angry. Dhananand felt that this Acharya is coming to explain to me. So, Dhananand got angry. I said, How can you explain to me here? Who are you to give me knowledge? I have established such a big Magadh kingdom. I will get knowledge from you. Chanakya got angry on this too. He said, When anger and ego increases in this intellect, many times this intellect takes us in a direction where there is destruction. So, Dhananand, I open my hair right now and take this promise that until I finish the Nand dynasty, until I finish the Nand dynasty, until I turn it upside down, I will not tie my hair. This story will take us towards the creation of Maurya dynasty. Because Chanakya has now decided that he will finish the Nand dynasty. But Chanakya is looking for a person who will help him to finish the Nand dynasty. And that person is Chandragupta Maurya. Chanakya and Chandragupta Maurya together will finish the Nand dynasty. And from here, the rise of Maurya dynasty will begin. So, this was the story. Now we have to move ahead and see who is Chandragupta Maurya? Where is he coming from? Why did Chanakya feel that only Chandragupta Maurya will be helpful in establishing Maurya dynasty and turning it upside down? He will help him. So, let's try to understand this. Who is Chandragupta Maurya? I told you, who is he? Where did he come from? So, when we start reading about Chandragupta Maurya, we have many sources which can help us understand the Mauryan period. And in those sources, Chandragupta Maurya has also been mentioned. But different texts, different stories are narrated. Because of this reason, the origin of Chandragupta Maurya is not clear. For example, if I say here, Greek sources, because in the North-West region, after Alexander's invasion, a lot of Greek population came and settled there. And Chandragupta Maurya was in contact with them. So, in many Greek sources, we get the mention of Chandragupta Maurya. So, in Greek sources, it is said that Chandragupta Maurya did not come from any warrior class. On the other hand, when we talk about Hindu scriptures, it is said that Chandragupta Maurya was actually the son of a pure woman named Moora, whom Kautilya chose as her student. Similarly, when we talk about Buddhist sources, it is written that Chandragupta Maurya was a Kshatriya. He came from the Kshatriya class. Similarly, when we talk about Jain texts, it is said that Chandragupta Maurya came from a clan That is why, Maurya is mentioned in front of his name. So, you can understand that different texts are narrating different stories about Jain texts and Buddhist texts are narrating different stories. So, the conclusion of this discussion is that Chandragupta Maurya we do not have the origin or the background of where he came from. We do not have the proper information about it. Many sources also state that Chandragupta Maurya was an orphan. That is, his parents were not alive. And Kautilya accepted him as a student to train him here. So, there are multiple stories. We get many stories. So, we do not know the origin. We do not know who he is and where he came from. But we do know one thing which is absolutely clear and sure that if someone helped Chanakya to destroy Nand clan, it was Chandragupta Maurya. And he will destroy Nand clan and establish Maurya clan. Chandragupta Maurya is the founder of Maurya clan. Chandragupta Maurya will put a seal on this. So finally, Chandragupta Maurya along with Chanakya destroys the entire Nand clan. Let us see a little story about how it happened. Stories help us to understand things easily. We can see dots getting connected. So, now I am going to tell you a story. What is the source of that story? In Chanakya's Arthashastra, this story is not mentioned. Because the Arthashastra which Chanakya has written, that Arthashastra is a guide book. It tells us how an ideal king should be. What kind of ministers should he have? How should he run his empire? So, the story that we are going to discuss is actually from a play. And the name of that play is Mudrarakshak. Mudrarakshak is a Sanskrit play. And it is written by a play writer named Vishakhadat. He is a Brahmatist. He is a play writer. Now, the story that we are going to read and how much truth is there in that story will depend on how reliable Mudrarakshak play is. So, if we see the reality, the writer Vishakhadat does not belong to Mauryan period. He came very late. 4th, 5th century common era. That means, Vishakhadat died during the time of Guptas. So, the play that he has written is after a long gap. You can see there is a gap of 600-800 years. After that, this play is being written. On top of that, this is a play. So, every play writer, Brahmatist, Dramatist takes artistic liberty while writing a play. And that is why Vishakhadat must have done the same to make this play more entertaining. So, now the story that we are going to discuss is based on Mudrarakshak. But Mudrarakshak is not completely reliable. Yes, it is used Mauryan period. But it does not belong to that period. It was created after many years. So, what is told in Mudrarakshak? It is told in Mudrarakshak that before attacking Dhananand, Chandragupta Maurya gathered his army. So, how did Chandragupta Maurya gather his army with Chanakya? Suppose, this is Magadh. On which, obviously, Dhananand is ruling in Pataliputra. Now, there are many small kingdoms Chanakya was very good in diplomacy. So, he goes to these small kingdoms and talks to these kings. He makes diplomatic alliance with them. He promises them that if they give their army to Chandragupta Maurya, then with the help of that army, Chandragupta Maurya will attack Pataliputra and finish Dhananand. After that, whatever Magadh territory will be in his hands, all the kings of these small kingdoms who helped Chandragupta Maurya will join together and attack Chandragupta Maurya. This was a promise. So, here, the nearby kingdoms, what did those kingdoms do? Those kingdoms gave their army to Chandragupta Maurya. First of all, with the help of this army, Chandragupta Maurya, in this region, this region you are seeing, which was captured by Alexander and went back after victory, which we also call as Bactria or Alexandria, which he left under his minister Seleucus Nicator. First of all, Chandragupta Maurya, with the help of his army, attacks this region and defeats Seleucus Nicator. But he does not capture the entire territory from Seleucus Nicator. Instead, he joins an alliance under which Chandragupta Maurya gives almost 500 elephants to Seleucus Nicator. And Seleucus Nicator, in return, gives the western portion of Alexandria to Chandragupta Maurya. That means, now Chandragupta Maurya has his own territory and also an army to help him. So, he has his own territory and also an army. With the help of that army, he attacks Dhananand and kills Dhananand Mansoor. It is said that, according to Mudrarakshas, the kings who helped him, were also killed later. Because in Chanakya Arthashastra, it is written that the more centralized the power is, the longer it will be able to rule a dynasty. Sharing of power is what the central authority is trying to do. So, according to Mudrarakshas, the kings who helped him, were also killed later. In this way, there was only one sole king The sole king who came was Chandragupta Maurya. Right? So, in this way, we are able to understand the story of how Chandragupta Maurya finally killed the Nand dynasty and established the Maurya dynasty. Now, you can see that Chandragupta Maurya had a good relationship with In fact, Seleucus Nicator got his daughter Helena married to Chandragupta Maurya. He took 500 elephants and gave the eastern portion to Chandragupta Maurya. Not only this, Seleucus Nicator also sent a Greek ambassador whom we know as Megasthenes. So, because of this, we get the mention of Chandragupta Maurya in the Greek accounts. In those Greek accounts, Chandragupta Maurya is known as Centrocortus. Even in the books of Megasthenes, you can see the name of Centrocortus. Megasthenes stayed in Pataliputra for a long time in the court of Chandragupta Maurya as an ambassador. Whatever he saw around him in Pataliputra city, he also noted all those things. There is a book of Megasthenes called Indica, which is a very good source to understand the Mauryan empire. But the biggest problem is that this book of Indica is not present now. The content in this book was referenced as a reference in all the sources. What does it mean? For example, when you write a research paper, you refer a lot of books before writing a research paper. And whatever books you have referred, you add them in your research paper in the bibliography at the end. Even in the research paper, if you have taken a line from a book, you also give a reference to it. Similarly, the book of Indica is mentioned in the secondary Greek sources as a reference or in the bibliography. And from there, we get the content of Indica in a little fragmented form. So here you can see that there are Buddhist texts, Jain texts, Mudra Rakshas, Arthashastra of Chanakya, Indica of Megasthenes. These are some sources which help us to understand the Mauryan period. Right? So we were talking about Chandragupta Maurya. The map that you are seeing on the screen is the same map where Chandragupta Maurya spread himself. But in his last years, became a Jain monk and after that, he went to the south, to Shravanvel Gola. So there is a story behind this. It is said that during the time of Chandragupta Maurya, there was a famine. A famine was developed. In fact, there is a copper plate inscription related to Chandragupta Maurya which can be found in the place of Soha Gowra. You have to tell me in the comment section that where is Soha Gowra in today's time? In which state is it present in today's time? So in Soha Gowra, there is a copper plate inscription and in this inscription, there is a mention of a famine. Meaning, in this Soha Gowra inscription, it was written that all the ministers are given this power that at the time of famine, the grain stores should not be closed but the grains which are stored in the grain stores should be distributed among the people. So, this is the Soha Gowra inscription. It is a general information. We cannot say that Chandragupta Maurya's famine is related to this. But in general, what should the ministers do We get this information from the Soha Gowra inscription. The situation of famine was common and food security was given importance in the Mauryan Empire. So, here there is one interesting story that in the time of Chandragupta Maurya, there was a famine. At that time, many Jains, Monks and Nuns Jains, Dikshus and Dikshunis you will get to see in Patihutra. Now, Jains, Monks and Nuns are those who follow Mahabharata. We call them Panch Mahabharata. When a Jain, Dikshu or Dikshuni follows Mahabharata, we call them Panch Mahabharata. Panch Mahabharata means five. Mahabharata. Five wars. What are these five wars? Non-violence. That you will not do violence. You will always speak the truth. You will not steal. Along with this, you will not acquire any property. You will not acquire possession. You will not hold possession. And in the end, Brahmacharya comes. What Brahmacharya will you be? You will live a life full of Non-violence. No stealing. No property or possession. And observe continence. Brahmacharya Jeevan Jeevan. These are the five Mahabharata. Whenever a Jain, Monk or Jain Nun or Dikshu or Dikshuni follows Mahabharata, Mahabharata should be followed at extreme level. Non-violence does not mean killing humans. It should not be violence against animals. Even if you step on an ant, it is considered violence. These are the five Mahabharata. Here, in this region, we see how Akal's ant came and some monks and nuns or Dikshu or Dikshunis felt that if we stay in Pataliputra, then the conditions here will force us to break Mahabharata. When we will not be able to eat grains, when we will be hungry, then what if by mistake we kill an animal and eat it. Akal's ant can be very severe. That is why some monks and nuns went to South. They went to Karnataka. There is a site in Karnataka called Shravan Vel Gola. They went there under the leadership of Bhadrabahu. Under the leadership of Bhadrabahu. Bhadrabahu is the name of a Dikshu. But some monks and nuns were also like this. They said that this Akal's ant is our real test. If we run away from it, then how will we break Mahabharata? Will we really be the real Dikshu? We will not run away from this situation. We will stay in Pataliputra and face this situation. Many monks and nuns stayed in Pataliputra under the leadership of Bhadrabahu. Later on, you will see Akal's condition for 12 years. After 12 years, when Bhadrabahu came back, you will see a fight and you will see who broke Mahabharata. That is why Jain Council was called. Under the leadership of Bhadrabahu, Jainism's Digambar sect came. Under the leadership of Fulbhadra, Jainism's Spetambar sect came. This was the story. But it is said that even Chandragupta Maurya later became a Jain monk. He also went to Shravanvel Gola along with Bhadrabahu. After going to Shravanvel Gola, Chandragupta Maurya wrote Salekhna Vidhi. Salekhna Vidhi Vidhi is a procedure of death. What happens in Salekhna Vidhi? A person stays hungry until he dies. It is said about Chandragupta Maurya that he went to Shravanvel Gola and in Salekhna Vidhi he died. He died. So this was the story of Chandragupta Maurya's Sandrocottus. We have sources related to this. But sources narrate different stories. After Chandragupta Maurya, here, the power of Mauryan Empire, the commander is Bindu Sir. He is the son of Chandragupta Maurya. Even he is mentioned in many Greek sources. His name is Emetrocatus. It means the player of foes. Even in his court, there was a Greek ambassador. Like you read in the magazine, in his court, there was a Greek ambassador Right? Bindu Sir is the king of Chandragupta Maurya who supported Mauryan Empire. But in the time of Bindu Sir, Chanakya left Maurya and went to the jungles. Now, there is no guidance of Chanakya on Maurya. Chanakya did help to establish Maurya. Chandragupta Maurya considered him as a student of Chanakya. As you can see, there is no guidance of Chanakya on Mauryan Empire. But in the time of Bindu Sir, Chanakya finally left Mauryan Empire and went to the jungles. Now, Mauryan Empire will follow its own path. Now, we can see some kind of guidance from Chanakya. Bindu Sir. Bindu Sir was called Bindu Sir because there was a dot on his head. Bindu Sir used to patronize Buddhism and Jainism. you have seen Buddhism and Jain philosophy. Similarly, there was another heterodox philosophy. This heterodox philosophy was of Ajivika. Buddhism is a heterodox philosophy. Similarly, Jainism is a heterodox philosophy because it is rejecting the Vedic authority and opposing the existing ideas. Ajivika sect was introduced by its founder Makkali Gaushala. It is said that Makkali Gaushala was a good friend of Mahavir who is considered the 24th Kshatriya of Jainism. He was the one who started Ajivika sect. Now, what does Ajivika sect say? In order to understand what Ajivika sect says, we have to understand what other philosophies say. Other philosophies say that whatever is going to happen it depends on your karma. If something bad is going to happen in your life and your karma is good, then those good karma will change the present and future. Whether it is Buddhism, Jainism or Hinduism, all these philosophies say that karma can change the present and future. Your righteous actions can change your present and future. But Ajivika sect does not believe this. Ajivika sect says that karma cannot bring any kind of change in our life. Ajivika sect believes that everything in our life is already defined. Everything in our life is already defined and predetermined. Our actions cannot change the present and future. Whatever is written in our destiny is already written No matter how much we try, nothing can change it. This is what Ajivika sect says. They believe in destiny. Whatever is written in our destiny is already written Everything in our destiny is already written in our destiny. Everything in our destiny But other philosophies do not say this. Other philosophies believe that our actions can change our present and future. Bindu sir was inclined towards Ajivika sect. He used to donate to the Bhikshu-Bhikshuni associated with Ajivika sect. You can see that any religion or any philosophy does not have a bi-birth connection with anyone. This is not the case in the ancient period. In the same family, Chandragupta Maurya was patronized by Jainism and Bindu sir was patronized by Ajivika. King Ashoka was inclined towards Buddhism. Right? There is a big difference between the two. In today's episode, we will focus on rulers. All the important rulers. Rest of the story related to administration will be discussed in the next episode. Now, let us try to understand the story ahead. Who is King Ashoka? The story goes like this. Suppose, Bindu sir's health deteriorated Bindu sir is in Pataliputra. Bindu sir's son is Sushima and Bindu sir's son is Ashoka. Ashoka was made the governor of Ujjain. That means, in the Mauryan empire, the son of the king used to govern the provinces. The son of the king, the prince used to be the head of the provinces. Ashoka was the governor of Ujjain. But, there were some rebellions and revolts in Takshila. So, Ashoka was sent to Takshila to suppress the revolts. So, Ashoka is in Takshila. Bindu sir is in Pataliputra. Bindu sir is very sick. Bindu sir feels that he is going to die. So, Bindu sir nominates his elder son Sushima to be the next ruler. Many other ministers like Vikram Bhatt also support Sushima to be the next ruler. But, there was a minister named Radha Gupta who secretly sent a letter to Ashoka and said that your father is going to die and if you don't come on time, your brother Sushima will get the throne. Ashoka always wanted to be the king. So, as soon as Ashoka got this letter, he left for Pataliputra and Bindu sir died. Before Sushima got the throne, Ashoka attacked his own brother Sushima and killed him. Many Buddhist sources say that King Ashoka killed almost 99 of his brothers. He killed all his competitors for the throne. Among these 99 brothers, his own brothers also came and his cousins also came. He killed all of them so that no competitor could get the throne and Ashoka got the throne. This is what Buddhist sources say. We don't know whether Ashoka really killed 99 of his brothers or not. But, this is what Buddhist sources say. Many times, we hear that Buddhist sources were exaggerating the beginning of Ashoka's life so that in Ashoka's life, the changes that came under the influence of Buddhism could be signified and given more importance. It is possible, but we don't know. Buddhist sources say that there was a civil war for 4 years and in these 4 years, after killing all his competitors, Ashoka finally became the king of Mauryan Empire. Ashoka. Let's talk about Ashoka. Ashoka. We have understood that he is the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya. He is the son of Bindu Sir and his wife Subhadrangi. Here, his birth date and his rule was almost 268 B.C. to 232 B.C. During Ashoka's time, Mauryan Empire spread to Afghanistan to the west and to the east, till present day Bangladesh region. Similarly, when we go to the south, till present day Kerala-Tamil Nadu region, you can see Ashoka's biggest empire. Ashoka even captured the present day Nepal-Pakistan region and kept his capital Pataliputra. Ashoka. King Ashoka. Now, you must have seen in many books that before Ashoka, the title of The Great was given. Ashoka is considered the first king of ancient India who was educated. About whom he was educated. How did this happen? Let's move forward in the story. It is about 1837. There is a person whose name is James Princep. This James Princep in front of him there are some big stones. Some big pillars. And on those stones, there are some messages which are written. Even on those pillars, those messages are present. James Princep wants to read those messages. In those messages, the script used is Brahmi and Kharoshti. James Princep here sorry Brahmi and Kharoshti decipher both the scripts and these inscriptions read the messages on the pillars. In those messages, a king is mentioned. But the king's name is not present. If something is written, then it is Deva Naam Peeya Peeya Dasen Rajena Deva Naam Peeya Devataon Ka Preeya whom the Gods love. Peeya Dasen means beautiful in appearance. Rajena King Deva Naam Peeya Peeya Dasen Rajena Devataon Ka Preeya King who is beautiful in appearance. King like this. Then he read some more. He read the messages on the pillars. Then he came to know that these messages are written by a king named Ashok. Because in some pillars, the messages were similar but the name Ashok is written below. So James Princep understood that he is not a king who tells himself to be King Ashok. So why is King Ashok inscribing so many messages on so many pillars? And why is he calling himself Deva Naam Peeya Peeya Dasen Rajena? After all, why is the title of The Great given before Ashok? There is definitely a story behind this. And we are going to understand this now. But I have a request to you. Whatever you are watching UPSC Unstoppables, in the value addition series, all the inscriptions of Ashok and the messages I have made a value addition series in one episode. So I will request you to watch it. I will not cover that part in this particular episode because it is already there on UPSC Unstoppables. So what I will do here is in the comment section below this video, I will provide you the link of that video. You can go to that link and see the inscriptions of Ashok and the detailed content of the messages that Ashok is giving in that video. And watch that video very carefully because the inscriptions of Ashok are very important. You will definitely get questions from there every year. In the last 2-3 years, you will always get questions from the inscriptions of Ashok. So do watch that video. But yes, in this episode, I will provide you a disc of those inscriptions or a truck of those inscriptions so that you can understand the purpose of those inscriptions. We will try to understand the purpose of those inscriptions. So there is a story, a very interesting story. It is said that when King Ashok was ruling over Pataliputra, it is said that during the time of Chandragupta Maurya, this Kaling region was a part of Mauryan Empire. But for some reason, this Kaling region was cut off from Mauryan Empire. Now Ashok knows that Kaling is a very resourceful area. Resourceful area as in it is a coastal area. It is very easy to do business from here. What can be done while being in Kaling? You can do movement or expansion in the southward direction. So it is important to conquer Kaling. Finally, what does Ashok do? Ashok fights the battle of Kaling. And the battle of Kaling that he fought, he fought that battle after 9 years of ruling over Pataliputra. Kaling is the present time region of Odisha. South part of Odisha is Kaling. So he fights the battle of Kaling. In the inscriptions of Ashok, Ashok says that a lot of people were killed in the battle of Kaling. A lot of blood was shed. And Ashok's heart was shaken. And finally Ashok decided that this will be his last battle. And he will not fight any battle from now on. Ashok was such a king who gave up war. He stopped fighting the battle of Kaling. He gave up all the plans of Kaling. And these are the things that he had inscribed on his disciples. So when King Ashok fights a lot of people are killed. They understand that this is the territory. But what is the use of the resources of this territory? What is the use of the resources if there is not a single living being on this territory? How important is life? Ashok understood this. And finally he decided that he will not fight any battle from now on. And he will request his future generation also not to fight any battle. Ashok gave a lot of stone inscriptions. He gave inscriptions on big pillars. And he inscribed them all over the empire. So that the people of Ashok's people can read those messages and understand what their king wants to tell them. So this journey of Ashok is from Chanda Ashok to Dharma Ashok. Chanda Ashok means Harav Ashok. Cruel Ashok. But now we will see Dharma Ashok. Ashok who promotes the people to do the righteous duties and actions. The people will propagate such ideas among them. That we should do good deeds. We should do right things. And through the messages on the pillars and rocks they will spread these ideas. So mostly on their pillars and inscriptions there are such messages. That I, King Ashok fought the battle of Kalinga. There was a lot of blood shed in that battle. I want to leave the battle. And I leave the battle. I want to tell my future generation also that don't live on the strength of battle. Live on your good deeds, ideas and actions. I will be like my father for my people. Whenever my people need me, I will be there for them. I request my people to do good deeds. To follow the duties of our ancestors. To respect our elders. To love our children. To not let any saint go hungry. There should be a good treatment for animals also. Festivals like this which support animal sacrifice or in which a lot of money is spent such festivals should be discontinued. Ashok also says in his messages that a person who considers his religion to be superior and to make his religion superior he calls other's religion inferior. So he is doing wrong for his own religion. Ashok's ideas were universal. They were based on moral values. They were secular. Yes, Ashok was influenced but Buddhism's teachings and the duties which Ashok talked about had a lot of difference. Ashok had an inclination towards Buddhism which we know. Because Ashok patronized Third Buddhist Council in which Abhidhamma Pitaka was compiled. But the messages in Ashok's inscriptions do not promote any particular religion. They were for everyone. Be it a Hindu, a Buddhist or a Jain. They were based on moral ideas and values. Ashok had such messages inscribed in his inscriptions. So I request you to watch the episode of my series of UPSC Unstoppable where I have covered the inscriptions in detail. Right? So in this way, Ashok the Great will be seen as a king because he was someone who gave up war. By giving up war, it does not mean that King Ashok is disbanding his army. No. He will maintain his army. But he will never attack the neighboring kingdoms. He is not going to be an initial aggressor. If someone attacks from outside, he will use that army to protect his people. Ashok says that he is giving up But he has not forgotten to wield the sword. So he will not wield the sword. But it does not mean that he has forgotten to wield the sword. If there is an external attack on the people, he will protect his people with the help of the sword. So he maintains the army. But along with that, he is very involved He makes donations to the people and conveys his message to the people. Ashok does such things. Even Ashok appointed some ministers here like Dhamma Mahatma. Dhamma Mahatma's job was to check in the entire empire whether everyone is following the ideals of Ashok. Similarly, the district head was also told that every 5 years, he will conduct an inspection tour in his district. With the help of that tour, he will check whether people are reading my messages or not and whether they are following Dhamma Mahatma. You can see such things being done by Ashok. I am telling you again, please, please, please watch the detailed video I have made on Ashok's rock edict. You will get a lot of information and you can also ask questions in the film. That part is very important for us. I will provide the link in the comment section. You can check it there. Today, our discussion will end here. In the coming sessions, we will learn how was the administration of Mauryan Empire and how Mauryan Empire declined. A very important information for all of you is The Great Learning Festival. Unacademy from 4th September. If you visit Unacademy and make your account on Unacademy or make your account on 5th September. The day you make your account that means you are a new learner. You have never used the platform. You are a new learner. You can access from 4th or 5th September for the next 7 days. This is a very good opportunity through which you will get to know what kind of studies are being done on Unacademy+. You can say that by watching the class sessions you will get a demo of how good Unacademy is and how good the subjects are being covered comprehensively. So, do not miss this opportunity. Subscription is free for 7 days. 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