Q. Which of the following is/are the achievements of king Ashoka?
1.He unified the country on political lines.
2.He adopted and preached tolerance & respect.
3.He promoted cultural contacts among different regions.
Choose the correct answer from below given codes:
Answer: D
Notes:
Explanation: Ashoka was not only a great missionary ruler in the history of ancient India, but of the world too. He has great and path-breaking innovative achievements to his credit, such as:
- Political unification of the country: He not only added Kalinga to Mauryan dynasty but also bound the whole country together by one dhamma, one language, and practically one script of Brahmi (which is used in most of his inscriptions).
- Spread of tolerance and respect: He adopted and preached tolerance in not only the religious sphere (did not try to force his Buddhist faith on his subjects and made gifts to non-Buddhist sects as well, such as, donating Barbara caves to Ajivika ascetics), but in the case of scripts (other than Brahmi, he respected other scripts like Kharosthi, Aramaic, and Greek), and languages (Greek, Prakrit, and Sanskrit) too.
- Promotion of cultural contacts: He not only brought innovative administrative changes, but also promoted cultural contacts between Indian states and between India and the outer world too. It would not be an exaggeration if Ashoka is considered the first global cultural ambassador of India.
Source: Tamil Nadu NCERT
