The best known Mauryan monuments are the Ashokan pillars, erected by King Ashoka. Shown below, only a dozen or so of these magnificent monuments remain intact today.
The previous situation involving hundreds of kingdoms, many small armies, powerful regional chieftains, and internecine warfare, gave way to a disciplined central authority. Farmers were freed of tax and crop collection burdens from regional kings, paying instead to a nationally-administered and strict-but-fair system of taxation as advised by the principles in the Arthashastra.