Question

Which of the following was not the actual cause for the decline of the Mauryan Empire?
A) Ashoka’s pacifist policies
B) Division of the empire after Ashoka
C) Foreign aggressions particularly Greek
D) Economic and financial crisis

Answer 1

Hint: The snow line is a sporadic line situated along the ground surface where the collection of snowfall approaches removal. This line changes significantly in height and relies upon a few impacts. On windward slants and those confronting the evening sun, the snow line might be just about as much as a kilometre higher than on inverse inclines.

Complete answer:
A pacifist person is said to be that person who doesn’t believe in violence and war. Ashoka changed completely after the Kalinga war in 260 BCE and moved towards the Buddhist religion. He gained the support of many kings and expanded his empire even to the Hindu Kush mountains which are modern-day Afghanistan.

Ashoka is said to have abandoned the royal tradition of warfare after his Kalinga War. He wanted all states to live in peace instead of waging war. But that did not mean that no state would perish in internal conflict due to its policy of peace.

Unlike Ashoka, His grandson Dasharatha was unable to keep his empire united which later resulted in the separation of various regions and which later reduced to small regions. The successors of Ashoka were not that capable and after his death, the Mauryan empire showed a decline which reduced it to Ganges valley alone.

This empire was later bifurcated. After the death of the Ashoka his successors were unable to hold their empire as a whole and revenues from their land also got reduced which later resulted in a decrease in the national treasure which surely became a burden for the Mauryan empire and thus Mauryan empire started to decline.

Thus, the correct answer is option ‘A’.

Note: Edicts were issued by Ashoka which carried the message concerning Dharma which resulted in the expansion of his empire as many kings followed what he said. Until Ashoka’s inscriptions came out in 1837, he was practically unknown except in the Buddhist chronicles of Sri Lanka.