CDS 2025 · PYQ · Ancient India / Mauryan Empire · medium
Which one of the following present day territories was outside the limits of Ashoka's empire?
A.Brahmaputra valley, Assam✓ Correct
B.Baluchistan
C.North Bengal
D.Kashmir valley
Explanation
The Brahmaputra valley in Assam lay outside the Mauryan empire of Ashoka. Ashoka's empire extended from Afghanistan (including parts of Baluchistan, as evidenced by the Kandahar bilingual rock edict) in the west to Bengal in the east, and from Kashmir (Mansehra and Shahbazgarhi edicts in northwest, and tradition of Srinagar being founded by Ashoka) in the north to Karnataka in the south. However, the kingdoms of Kamarupa (Assam) in the northeast remained outside Mauryan control. The Ashokan inscriptions and edicts have been found across most of the subcontinent except in the Brahmaputra valley, confirming this territorial limit. The eastern frontier of the empire roughly extended up to the Bengal region but did not cross into Assam.
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