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NCERT Solutions Exploring Society: India and Beyond Chapter 6 Chapter opening — The Big Questions

Book page 117 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.
Why is the period that followed the Maurya empire sometimes called the ‘Age of Reorganisation’?
Answer

Because in those centuries the political map of India was taken apart and put together again. The chapter puts it exactly: “the existing regions were being reorganised into new kingdoms that were constantly competing to become powerful.”

Follow the chain of events:

Around 185 BCE — the last Maurya emperor is assassinated by his commander-in-chief Puṣhyamitra Śhunga
→ the empire breaks up, hardly half a century after Aśhoka
→ many kingdoms that had been tributary to the Mauryas become independent
→ the northwest becomes weak and is exposed to invasions from outside
→ new kingdoms compete for territory by matrimonial alliances and by warfare
→ the map of India changes significantly — and so do people's lives

Two things are being reorganised at the same time:

  • Political power — one large empire is replaced by many big and small kingdoms: Śhungas, Chedis, Sātavāhanas in the north and the Deccan; Cholas, Cheras and Pānḍyas in the south; Indo-Greeks, Śhakas and Kuṣhāṇas entering from the northwest.
  • Culture — with the political churn came “a burst in the development of art, architecture and literature, and enriching cultural exchanges”. New styles of art, new coinage and a flowering of Sanskrit literature belong to this same age.
Why it happens: a large empire holds together only as long as its centre is strong. Once the Maurya centre collapsed, the regions did not disappear — they simply became the building blocks of new states. That is why historians say the age was one of reorganisation and not of destruction.
Q2.
What were the values or principles that guided emperors of that period?
Answer

Read the chapter's evidence, ruler by ruler, and the same few values keep returning.

Value or principleThe evidence in this chapter
Respect for all schools of thoughtKhāravela, a follower of Jain teachings, “respected all schools of thoughts” and calls himself “respector of every sect and repairer of every temple”. The Sātavāhanas worshipped Vāsudeva but granted tax-free land to Vedic scholars, Jaina and Buddhist monks alike. Kaṇiṣhka put Buddha on one coin and Śhiva with Nandi on another. The Pānḍyas' inscriptions record “encouragements to all schools of thought and belief”. The chapter calls this a fundamental part of the ‘Indian ethos'.
The welfare of the peopleThe Hāthīgumphā inscription records Khāravela's “benevolent works for the welfare of his people”. Karikāla built the Kallaṇai so that more land could be irrigated. Pānḍya inscriptions assert “great concern for their subjects' welfare”.
Dharma and justiceSilappadikāram “centres on the principles of justice and the ruler's dharma to protect it” — the Pānḍya king who condemned Kovalan wrongly dies of shock when he learns the truth.
Legitimate, visible authorityPuṣhyamitra performed the aśhvamedha yajña to establish himself as the most powerful ruler; Kaṇiṣhka's statue is inscribed mahārāja rājadhirāja devaputra — ‘the great king, king of kings, son of God'.
Patronage of learning and artŚhungas patronised literature, art and architecture (Bharhut); Cheras patronised Sangam poets; Kaṇiṣhka “encouraged art and culture, leading to the development of new artistic styles”.
Generosity (dāna)The Naneghat inscriptions list a queen's gifts — land, cows, horses, elephants, silver coins — to priests, guests, workers, scholars and monks.
Tip: if an exam asks for “values of the age” in one line, say — tolerance of every school of thought, concern for public welfare, justice as the king's dharma, and generous patronage of learning and art.
Q3.
How did foreign invaders assimilate into Indian society and contribute to cultural confluence?
Answer

They came as conquerors and stayed as Indians. The chapter says it plainly of the Indo-Greeks: “while they arrived as conquerors, they were much influenced by the rich local culture.”

InvaderHow they assimilatedWhat they added to the confluence
Indo-Greeks
(Alexander's satraps, who became independent rulers)		Adopted Indian deities and ideas. The ambassador Heliodorus set up a pillar near Vidisha praising Vāsudeva as the ‘god of gods'. Some of their coins carry Vāsudeva-Kṛiṣhṇa and Lakṣhmī.A blend of Greek and Indian elements in governance, art, language and daily life; the pillar's three precepts — self-restraint, charity, consciousness.
Śhakas
(Indo-Scythians)		Settled and ruled from the late 2nd century BCE to the 5th century CE, becoming a regular Indian power.The Śhaka Samvat calendar — still with us as the Indian National Calendar (adopted 1957).
Kuṣhāṇas
(from central Asia)		Kaṇiṣhka took Indian titles, patronised Buddhism and honoured Śhiva; the empire's rule “marked a period of extensive cultural intermixing”.Control of the Silk Route and a boom in trade; the Gāndhāra and Mathurā schools of art; images of deities in human form, which prepared the ground for later temple architecture.

Three things made assimilation possible:

  1. Trade — the newcomers sat astride the routes and had every reason to work with local merchants rather than against them.
  2. Coins — a ruler who wants his money accepted puts on it gods his subjects revere. That is why Buddha, Śhiva, Vāsudeva-Kṛiṣhṇa and Lakṣhmī appear on ‘foreign' coins.
  3. Art — Greek modelling met Indian subjects. The result is a Buddha with realistic anatomy and flowing robes in Gāndhāra, and fuller, smoother Indian figures in Mathurā.
Why it matters: the chapter notes that in this exchange the styles influenced each other “but with a dominance of Indian themes”. Assimilation was not India being changed by outsiders — it was outsiders being absorbed, and India gaining new techniques and ideas in the process.
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