UPSC Prelims 2022 Q91: Ashoka's Major Rock Edict Sites — Explained
Consider the following pairs:
Site of Ashoka's major rock edicts : Location in the State of
1. Dhauli : Odisha
2. Erragudi : Andhra Pradesh
3. Jaugada : Madhya Pradesh
4. Kalsi : Karnataka
How many pairs given above are correctly matched?
- Only one pair
- Only two pairs
- Only three pairs
- All four pairs
Answer: (b) Only two pairs
Statement-wise explanation
- 1: correct — Dhauli is on a hill near Bhubaneswar in Khordha district, Odisha. This is the core of ancient Kalinga, the region Ashoka conquered. Dhauli has Major Rock Edicts I–X and XIV. In place of XI–XIII it carries two Separate (Kalinga) Edicts, which are addressed to his officers in Kalinga.
- 2: correct — Erragudi, also spelt Yerragudi, is near Gooty on the Gooty–Pathikonda road in Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh. Its inscriptions are carved on several boulders. It is one of the few sites with both the Major Rock Edicts and Minor Rock Edicts.
- 3: incorrect — Jaugada is in Ganjam district, Odisha, on the Rishikulya river near Berhampur. It is not in Madhya Pradesh. Like Dhauli, it lies in old Kalinga and replaces Major Rock Edicts XI–XIII with the Separate (Kalinga) Edicts.
- 4: incorrect — Kalsi is in Dehradun district, Uttarakhand, near where the Tons meets the Yamuna. It is not in Karnataka. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) describes it as the only site in north India where the full set of fourteen Major Rock Edicts is inscribed, in Brahmi script.
How to eliminate
You have to know where these sites are. No wording trick gives the answer away, but a little geography gets you there. Kalsi is the best-known north Indian edict site. It sits in the Doon valley, in the Himalayan foothills, so 'Karnataka' is plainly wrong. Ashoka's edict sites in Karnataka (Maski, Brahmagiri, Siddapura and others) are mostly Minor Rock Edict sites. Dhauli is widely known as the Kalinga war site near Bhubaneswar, so pair 1 is safe. Next, remember that the two Kalinga edict sites come as a pair: Dhauli and Jaugada are both in Odisha. That rules out 'Madhya Pradesh' for Jaugada. Two pairs are now settled as correct and two as wrong, so the Erragudi pair alone decides between 'two' and 'three'. Fact to remember: Erragudi is in Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh.
Know more
Ashoka's Major Rock Edicts are a set of fourteen proclamations carved on large rock surfaces, mostly near the edges of the Mauryan empire. They lay out his dhamma: tolerance, non-violence towards animals, respect for elders and ascetics, and the welfare of subjects. Rock Edict XIII records the Kalinga war and his turn to 'conquest by dhamma'.
| Site | Present location | Point to remember |
|---|---|---|
| Kalsi | Dehradun, Uttarakhand | Full set of 14; Brahmi script |
| Shahbazgarhi, Mansehra | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan | Kharoshthi script |
| Girnar | Junagadh, Gujarat | Same rock later carries Rudradaman's inscription (150 CE) |
| Sopara | Palghar, Maharashtra | Fragment only |
| Dhauli | Khordha, Odisha | Separate Kalinga Edicts replace XI–XIII |
| Jaugada | Ganjam, Odisha | Separate Kalinga Edicts replace XI–XIII |
| Erragudi | Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh | Major and Minor Rock Edicts at one site |
| Kandahar | Afghanistan | Greek and Aramaic versions |
Why Kalinga is different: At Dhauli and Jaugada, Edict XIII, which describes the slaughter of the Kalinga war, is left out. Two Separate Edicts appear instead. They tell local officials to treat the people as Ashoka's own children and to give fair, prompt justice.
Do not confuse with Minor Rock Edicts. These are shorter, more personal messages. Most of them are found in Karnataka (Maski, Brahmagiri, Siddapura, Jatinga-Rameshwara), with others at Bairat/Bhabru (Rajasthan), Rupnath (Madhya Pradesh) and Sasaram (Bihar). At Maski, Ashoka is named directly ('Devanampiya Asoka'), which helped scholars identify him as 'Piyadasi'.
Pillar Edicts are a third group. They are carved on polished stone pillars at places such as Delhi–Topra, Lauriya-Nandangarh, Rampurva and Sarnath.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Major Rock Edicts: Every site in this question is a Major Rock Edict site, so know what this set of fourteen is and where it appears.
- Kalinga edicts: Two of the listed sites carry these special edicts, a strong clue to which region they belong to.
- Kalinga war: Knowing where Kalinga lay today places the Kalinga edict sites on the map.
- Rock Edict XIII: This edict is missing at the Kalinga sites, a detail often tested alongside site locations.
- Maski edict: Maski shows the kind of Ashokan inscription found in Karnataka, which helps you judge the Kalsi pair.