amenities and sanitation. Excavations from the Mauryan period show that the standard of living had improved as compared to the earlier period. The houses were built of brick, and the cities had ring wells and soak pits. There was a quantitative increase in the use of iron and the variety of iron artefacts.
City of Pataliputra Pataliputra was the great capital city in the Mauryan Empire. It was described as a large and wealthy city, situated at the confluence of the Ganga and Son rivers, stretching in the form of a parallelogram. It was more than kilometres in length and about kilometres wide. It was protected by an outer wall made of wood, with loopholes for shooting arrows at enemies.
There were gates to the city and watch towers. There was a wide and deep moat outside the wall, which was fed by water from the river, which served both as a defence and an outlet for sewage. There were many grand palaces in the city, which had a large population. The city was administered by a corporation of members.
Ashoka added to the magnificence of the city with the monumental architecture that he added to the capital, like the many-pillared hall. Art and Culture Most of the literature and art of the period have not survived. Sanskrit language and literature were enriched by the work of the grammarian Panini (c. BCE), and Katyayana, who was a contemporary of the Nandas and had written a commentary on Panini’s work.
Buddhist and Jain texts were primarily written in Pali. Evidently many literary works in Sanskrit were produced during this period and find mention in later works, but they are not available to us. The Arthasastra notes the performing arts of the period, including music, instrumental music, bards, dance and theatre. The extensive produc- tion of crafted luxury products like jewellery, ivo- ry carving and wood work, and especially stone carving should all be included as products of Mauryan art.
Many religions, castes and communities lived together in harmony in the Mauryan society. There is little