NCERT Book Class 6 Social Science (History) Chapter 7 From Kingdom to an Empire

CHAPTER 7
FROM A KINGDOM TO AN EMPIRE

Roshan’s rupees
Roshan clutched the crisp notes that her grandfather
had given her on her birthday. While she badly wanted
to buy a new CD, she also wanted to just see and feel
the brand new notes. It was then that she noticed that
all of them had a smiling face of Gandhiji printed on the
right, and a tiny set of lions on the left. What were the
lions there for, she wondered.

The lion capital
The lions that we see on our notes and coins
have a long history. They were carved in stone,
and placed on top of a massive stone pillar at
Sarnath (about which you read in Chapter 6).
Ashoka was one of the greatest rulers known
to history and on his instructions inscriptions
were inscribed on pillars, as well as on rock
surfaces. Before we find out what was written in
these inscriptions, let us see why his kingdom
was called an empire.
The empire that Ashoka ruled was founded
by his grandfather, Chandragupta Maurya,
more than 2300 years ago. Chandragupta was
supported by a wise man named Chanakya
or Kautilya. Many of Chanakya’s ideas were
written down in a book called the Arthashastra.

Dynasty
When members of the same family become rulers one after another, the
family is often called a dynasty. The Mauryas were a dynasty with three
important rulers — Chandragupta, his son Bindusara, and Bindusara’s
son, Ashoka.

Chapter 7-8.indd 62 22 April 2022 02:36:26