NCERT Solutions for Exploring Society: India and Beyond Chapter 6 The Age of Reorganisation
Updated on 2026-09-05
About this chapter
The Maurya empire broke up, and the map of India was redrawn. The last Maurya emperor was assassinated around 185 BCE by his commander-in-chief Puṣhyamitra Śhunga — hardly half a century after Aśhoka. Many new kingdoms emerged, most of them earlier tributary kingdoms under Maurya overlordship. Because the existing regions were being reorganised into new competing kingdoms, some scholars call the period the ‘age of reorganisation’ . Nine dynasties fill the map (Fig. 6.2) — six from within, three from outside. From within the Subcontinent: Śhungas, Chedis, Sātavāhanas, Cholas, Cheras, Pānḍyas . From outside: Indo-Greeks, Śhakas (Indo-Scythians) and Kuṣhāṇas . They competed for territory by two means — matrimonial alliances and warfare — especially along the borders. In the Deccan the Sātavāh
- Chapter opening
- The break-up of the Maurya empire
- Surge of the Śhungas
- Fig. 6.7, a panel from the Bharhut Stūpa
- Fig. 6.6 (page 123), Some Śhunga Contribution to Art
- Life under the Sātavāhanas
- Fig. 6.12, a yakṣha from the Pitalkhora caves
- Coming of the Chedis
- The Udayagiri–Khandagiri caves and rock-cut architecture
- Fig. 6.14, Kingdoms in the South
Exercises
- Chapter opening — The Big Questions Page 117
- The break-up of the Maurya empire — LET'S EXPLORE Page 118
- Fig. 6.2, Prominent dynasties of India during the age of reorganisation — LET'S REMEMBER Page 119
- Fig. 6.2 compared with the map of the Maurya empire (Fig. 5.13, page 100) — LET'S EXPLORE Page 120
- Surge of the Śhungas — In-text Questions Page 122
- Fig. 6.7, a panel from the Bharhut Stūpa — LET'S EXPLORE Page 124
- Fig. 6.6 (page 123), Some Śhunga Contribution to Art — LET'S EXPLORE Page 124
- Life under the Sātavāhanas — THINK ABOUT IT Page 126
- Life under the Sātavāhanas — THINK ABOUT IT Page 126
- Fig. 6.12, a yakṣha from the Pitalkhora caves — THINK ABOUT IT Page 127
- Coming of the Chedis — In-text Questions Page 128
- The Udayagiri–Khandagiri caves and rock-cut architecture — THINK ABOUT IT Page 129
- Fig. 6.14, Kingdoms in the South — THINK ABOUT IT Page 129
- Fig. 6.16, statue of King Karikāla at the Grand Anicut Memorial Park — THINK ABOUT IT Page 132
- The Cheras — THINK ABOUT IT Page 133
- Fig. 6.18, coins under Chera kings — In-text Questions Page 133
- The Pānḍyas — THINK ABOUT IT Page 134
- Invasions of the Indo-Greeks — LET'S EXPLORE Page 135
- The Emergence of the Kuṣhāṇas — LET'S EXPLORE Page 136
- Fig. 6.23, the coins of Kaṇiṣhka — LET'S EXPLORE Page 136
- ‘Let's reflect on the following' — In-text Questions Page 137
- The Gāndhāra school of art — THINK ABOUT IT Page 137
- Fig. 6.27 (page 141) — LET'S EXPLORE Page 140
- –143The chapter in four points, with the timeline of Fig. 6.28 — Before we move on … Page 142
- End-of-chapter exercise — Questions and activities Page 143