UPSC Prelims 2025 Q19: Ashokan Officials Pradeshika, Rajuka, Yukta
Ashokan inscriptions suggest that the 'Pradeshika', 'Rajuka' and 'Yukta' were important officers at the
- village-level administration
- district-level administration
- provincial administration
- level of the central administration
Answer: (b) district-level administration
Statement-wise explanation
- a: incorrect — The village was the smallest unit of Mauryan administration. It was run by a headman, usually called the gramika, together with village elders. Pillar Edict IV says that each rajuka worked 'among many hundreds of thousands of people'. An officer with that reach sat well above a single village.
- b: correct — Major Rock Edict III, issued twelve years after Ashoka's coronation, orders the yuktas, rajukas and pradeshikas to go on inspection tours every five years. The tours were for Dhamma instruction and other business. Historians place all three in the district (janapada) tier: the pradeshika as district head, the rajuka as the rural officer for land and justice, and the yukta as the subordinate officer who kept revenue accounts.
- c: incorrect — Ashoka's inscriptions name a different set of people for the provinces. Kumaras or aryaputras (royal princes) governed from centres such as Taxila, Ujjain, Tosali and Suvarnagiri, helped by mahamatras. The Kalinga edicts, for example, address the mahamatras of Tosali, not pradeshikas or rajukas.
- d: incorrect — The central administration at Pataliputra was run by the king, the mantriparishad (council of ministers) and senior mahamatras. Rock Edict III itself shows this split: the 'Council' (parishad) at the centre is told to instruct the yuktas. That means the yuktas were outside the central body and received its orders.
How to eliminate
You need one fact to solve this: Major Rock Edict III names the yukta, rajuka and pradeshika together and sends them on tours 'everywhere in my domain' every five years. Remember these three as Ashoka's district team. Some reasoning still narrows the options. Ashokan provinces were run by princes (kumara or aryaputra), so 'provincial' does not fit three ordinary official titles. The central level was the king, the council (parishad) and the mahamatras, and the edict has the council instructing the yuktas, so they were not central officers. Pillar Edict IV puts each rajuka over hundreds of thousands of people, which rules out village level. That leaves district. One caution: a few scholars read pradeshika as a provincial or divisional head. UPSC followed the standard textbook view that all three were district officers.
Know more
Mauryan administration in tiers
Ashoka's edicts are first-hand evidence of how the Mauryan state was run. They complement Kautilya's Arthashastra and Megasthenes' Indika.
| Tier | Head / key officers | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Centre (Pataliputra) | King, mantriparishad, mahamatras | Rock Edicts III, VI |
| Province | Kumara / aryaputra (prince), assisted by mahamatras | Kalinga edicts; Minor Rock Edict at Brahmagiri (Suvarnagiri) |
| District (janapada) | Pradeshika, rajuka, yukta | Rock Edict III; Pillar Edict IV |
| Village | Gramika (headman), elders | Later texts, Arthashastra |
The three district officers
- Pradeshika: head of the district. Responsible for revenue collection, law and order, and touring.
- Rajuka: originally a land-measuring and rural officer (rajju means rope). Pillar Edict IV says Ashoka gave rajukas independent power to hear petitions and administer justice. Prisoners sentenced to death got a three-day stay so relatives could appeal.
- Yukta: subordinate officer who kept accounts of royal revenue and did secretarial work.
Other Ashokan officials to remember
- Dhamma-mahamatras: created in Ashoka's 13th regnal year (Rock Edict V) to spread Dhamma and look after all sects.
- Stri-adhyaksha-mahamatras: officers who looked after women's welfare.
- Anta-mahamatras: frontier officers.
Provincial capitals named in the edicts: Taxila (north-west), Ujjain (west), Tosali (east, Kalinga) and Suvarnagiri (south). The imperial capital was Pataliputra.
The five-year tour (anusamyana) in Rock Edict III shows that Ashoka used his regular district officers to spread Dhamma as well as to govern.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Yuktas and pradeshikas: Two of the three officers in the question. Their exact place in the Mauryan hierarchy is what the question tests.
- Rajukas: The rajuka's reach and powers, as described in Pillar Edict IV, help you place this officer at the right administrative level.
- Ashokan edicts: The question rests on what Ashoka's edicts, especially Major Rock Edict III, say about officials and their inspection tours.
- Mauryan political centres: The seats of power named in the inscriptions help you tell the provincial tier apart from the levels below it.