{"id":2881,"date":"2026-04-23T07:47:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T02:17:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/?p=2881"},"modified":"2026-04-23T07:47:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T02:17:59","slug":"ashokan-inscriptions-suggest-that-the-pradeshika-rajuka-and-yukta-were-important-officers-at-the","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/upsc\/prelims\/ashokan-inscriptions-suggest-that-the-pradeshika-rajuka-and-yukta-were-important-officers-at-the","title":{"rendered":"Ashokan inscriptions suggest that the Pradeshika\u2019, Rajuka\u2019 and Yukta\u2019 were important officers at the\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list mcq\">\n<li>village-level administration\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>district-level administration\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>provincial administration\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>level of the central administration\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Answer: (b) district-level administration&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"mauryan-empire-administration\"><strong>Mauryan Empire<\/strong>: Administration<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The administrative system during the&nbsp;<strong>Mauryan Empire (4th\u20133rd century BCE)<\/strong>&nbsp;was highly organised and hierarchical.&nbsp;<strong>Ashokan inscriptions<\/strong>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<strong>Arthashastra of Kautilya<\/strong>&nbsp;provide important information about the structure of administration and the officials responsible at different levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the&nbsp;<strong>Arthashastra<\/strong>, the&nbsp;<strong>village was the smallest administrative unit<\/strong>. Several villages together formed a&nbsp;<strong>district<\/strong>, and multiple districts constituted a&nbsp;<strong>province<\/strong>. Administration at each level was carried out by designated officials responsible for governance, revenue collection and maintenance of law and order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"districtlevel-administration\">District-Level Administration<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ashokan inscriptions mention three key officials functioning at the&nbsp;<strong>district level<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>1. Pradesika<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>Pradesika<\/strong>\u00a0was the\u00a0<strong>chief officer in charge of the district<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He supervised administration, conducted inspections and ensured the implementation of royal orders.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>2. Rajuka<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>Rajuka<\/strong>\u00a0functioned as an important administrative and judicial officer.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He was responsible for\u00a0<strong>land measurement, revenue assessment and administration of justice<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ashoka\u2019s edicts also indicate that Rajukas had\u00a0<strong>considerable authority in local governance<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>3. Yukta<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>Yukta<\/strong>\u00a0was generally a\u00a0<strong>junior administrative officer<\/strong>\u00a0who assisted the higher officials.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He performed\u00a0<strong>secretarial and record-keeping duties<\/strong>\u00a0and helped implement administrative orders.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"functions-of-district-officials\">Functions of District Officials<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These officials collectively carried out several administrative responsibilities, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Survey and assessment of land<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Collection of revenue and taxes<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tours and inspections of local areas<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Maintenance of law and order<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Record keeping related to land, population and livestock<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Each district also had an&nbsp;<strong>accountant<\/strong>&nbsp;responsible for maintaining records of&nbsp;<strong>boundaries, registered land, and property deeds<\/strong>, along with maintaining a&nbsp;<strong>census of population and livestock<\/strong>. Additionally, there was a&nbsp;<strong>tax collector<\/strong>&nbsp;responsible for collecting various forms of revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since the officials&nbsp;<strong>Pradesika, Rajuka and Yukta<\/strong>&nbsp;were responsible for administrative functions at the&nbsp;<strong>district level<\/strong>, the inscriptions indicate that they were important officers in&nbsp;<strong>district administration<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Administrative Level<\/th><th>Administration<\/th><th>Key Officials<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>(a) Village level<\/td><td>Local administration<\/td><td><strong>Gramika (village headman)<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>(b) District level<\/td><td>Intermediate administration<\/td><td><strong>Pradeshika, Rajuka, Yukta<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>(c) Provincial level<\/td><td>Regional administration<\/td><td><strong>Kumara\/Aryaputra, Mahamatras<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>(d) Central administration<\/td><td>Imperial administration<\/td><td><strong>Emperor, Mantriparishad, Samaharta, Sannidhata<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Answer: (b) district-level administration&nbsp;&nbsp; Mauryan Empire: Administration The administrative system during the&nbsp;Mauryan Empire (4th\u20133rd century BCE)&nbsp;was highly organised and hierarchical.&nbsp;Ashokan inscriptions&nbsp;and the&nbsp;Arthashastra of Kautilya&nbsp;provide important information about the structure of administration and the officials responsible at different levels. According to the&nbsp;Arthashastra, the&nbsp;village was the smallest administrative unit. Several villages together formed a&nbsp;district, and multiple districts&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[40,43],"years":[63],"class_list":["post-2881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prelims","category-upsc","tag-ancient-history","tag-art-and-culture","years-63"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":3,"label":"Prelims"},{"value":1,"label":"UPSC"}],"post_tag":[{"value":40,"label":"Ancient History"},{"value":43,"label":"Art and Culture"}],"years":[{"value":63,"label":"2025"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"LotusArise","author_link":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/author\/team-lotusarise"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":3,"name":"Prelims","slug":"prelims","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":3,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":1,"count":1251,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":3,"category_count":1251,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Prelims","category_nicename":"prelims","category_parent":1},{"term_id":1,"name":"UPSC","slug":"upsc","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":1269,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":1,"category_count":1269,"category_description":"","cat_name":"UPSC","category_nicename":"upsc","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":40,"name":"Ancient History","slug":"ancient-history","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":40,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":108,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":43,"name":"Art and Culture","slug":"art-and-culture","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":43,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":80,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2881\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2881"},{"taxonomy":"years","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/years?post=2881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}