Question

Which of the following is not the statement of Megasthenes?
A.Division of Indian Social into seven castes
B.Absence of slavery in India
C.Three different phases of life of Ashok was kamasoka, chandashoka and Dhamasoka
D.The city of pataliputra was surrounded by a wooden palisade

Answer 1

Hint: Megasthenes was one of ancient Greek historians who had a huge fascination about India and its culture. He was a representative from the great empire of King Seleucus in order to inform specific aspects to the Mauryan emperor Chandragupta. His observations in India became the foundation for the works by the later historians Diodorus, Strabo, Pliny, and Arrian. Even though he was able to produce a notable number of observations on India, there were faults in the writings that included the details about Indian folklore, and a rather weird idealization of Indian culture compared to the standards of Greek philosophy.

Complete answer:
 Megasthenes came to India between 302 and 288 BCE, into the kingdom of Chandragupta Maurya. According to historians’ Seleucus sent him to India soon after he signed a treaty with Chandragupta. Others believe that Megasthenes accompanied Alexander the Great during the Greek invasion of India.
By collecting a pile of information, Megasthenes decided to write a book regarding the factors he found, the book named ‘Indika’ was written. In this book, he described the geography and the cultures in India as well as the social scenario which he witnessed. According to him, India is bounded by the ocean on the southern and the eastern side and has a quadrilateral shape. India's northern border is the mount of Tauros [ Himalayas]. On his visit he was able to see pataliputra, the capital of the Mauryan empire and was fascinated by the structural beauty. He continued to study the life of people and the social pyramid on the basis of caste system. The absence of slavery in the kingdom also astonished him. When he wrote the book, King Ashoka was not a ruler and it is impossible to have any information on him in this book.

Hence, the correct answer is option (C).

Note:The historical accuracy of these findings is questioned by many other philosophers later. In the book, Megasthenes states that there are no slaves in India, but clearly the lowest cast of people were treated similarly as slaves. There are many other mistakes as well due to the fact that he was only subjected to a small portion of land during his visit. The Greek writer Strabo claimed that both Megasthenes and Demarches are liars, and stated that "no faith whatever" could be placed in their writings.