Ashoka appointed religious officials, known as:

Question

Question

This question was previously asked in

SSC GD Previous Paper 9 (Held On: 14 Feb 2019 Shift 1)

Answer 1

The correct answer is Dhamma-mahamatta.

Dhamma-mahamatta was a group of officers instituted to implement and publicize the various aspects of Dhamma.
- Ashoka made them responsible for carrying his message to various sections of society.
- Later they became very powerful and started interfering with state politics.

Additional Information

Ashoka also is known as "Devanampiya".
Piyadasi was the son of Mauryan Emperor Bindusara and was born in 304 BC.
- His reign lasted from 268 BC to 232 BC.
- Once he became King, he started expanding his empires by conquest, in the 8th year of his reign he waged a war with Kalinga (present-day Odisha).
Ashoka's 13th Rock edicts describe the Kalinga war.
Source of Information about Ashoka:
- There are two main source -
  - Buddhist sources
  - Ashoka's edicts
Ashoka's inscription can be classified into three -
- Pillar edicts
- Major rock edicts
- Minor rock edicts
Ashoka uses his name only in four of these places namely
- Maski
- Brahma Giri (Karnataka)
- Gujjara (MP)
- Nettur (AP)