Explanation: Sources of Information about Mauryas:

• The first is the rock inscription of Junagadh, near Girnar in Gujarat.
• This was carved during the reign of Rudradaman, the local ruler and dates back to 130–150 CE. It refers to Pushyagupta, the provincial governor (rashtriya) of Emperor Chandragupta.
• A second source is a literary work. The play Mudrarakshasa by Visakhadatta was written during the Gupta period, sometime after the 4^th century CE.
• It narrates Chandragupta’s accession to the throne of the Magadha Empire and the exploits of his chief advisor Chanakya or Kautilya by listing the strategies he used to counter an invasion against Chandragupta. This play is often cited as a corroborative source since it supports the information gathered from other contemporary sources about Chandragupta.
• The most widely known are the edicts of Ashoka, which have been discovered in many parts of the country.
• In fact, the reconstruction of the Mauryan period to a great extent became possible only after the Brahmi script of the inscriptions at Sanchi was deciphered by James Prinsep in 1837.
• Information about other edicts in other parts of the country also became available at that time.
• All the edicts began with a reference to a great king, “Thus spoke devanampiya (beloved of the gods) piyadassi (of pleasing looks)”, and the geographical spread of the edicts make it clear that this was a king who had ruled over a vast empire.
• Puranic and Buddhist texts referred to a chakravartin named Ashoka. As more edicts were deciphered, the decisive identification that devananampiya piyadassi was Ashoka was made in 1915.
• One more edict when deciphered, which referred to him as devanampiya Ashoka, made reconstruction of Mauryan history possible.

Source: Tamil Nadu Board Class 11