The Mauryan Empire

Statement 1 is incorrect: The Kalinga war took place in 261 BC.
Statement 2 is correct: Kalinga lies in the modern state of Orissa.

The king during the Maurya period was assisted by a council of advisors styled the Parishad or the Mantri Parishad. There were also bodies of trained officials (nikaya) who looked after the ordinary affairs of the realm.

Bindusara was the second Mauryan emperor. The Greeks called him Amitrochates - the Greek transliteration for the Sanskrit word 'Amitraghata' (Slayer of enemies). He was also called 'Ajatshatru' (Man with no enemies) in Sanskrit.

Statement 1 is incorrect: In the year 185 BC, about fifty years after Ashoka's death, the last Maurya ruler, Brihadrata, was assassinated by the commander-in-chief of the Mauryan armed forces, Pusyamitra Sunga, while he was taking the Guard of Honor of his forces.
Statement 2 is also incorrect: Ashoka was succeeded by weak rulers, which encouraged the provinces to proclaim their independence. The arduous task of administering such a vast empire could not be executed by the weak rulers. The mutual quarrel among the successors also contributed to the decline of the Mauryan Empire.

In 326 BC, Alexander (a Greek) invaded India. The Greek conquest unveiled India for the first time to the Western world and established contact between the people of both regions. The introduction of new scripts — Aramaic, Kharoshti and the alphabet style Yavanani by Panini— can be traced to Greek source.

The Mauryas divided their dominions into provinces subdivided into districts called ahara, vishya and pardesh. The secret emissaries who enquired into and superintended all that went in the empire were called pativedakas.

Bindusara was the second Mauryan emperor (Born 320 BC, ruled: 298 - 272 BC) after Chandragupta Maurya the Great. During his reign, the empire expanded southwards. The Greeks called him Amitrochates - the Greek transliteration for the Sanskrit word 'Amitraghata'. Bindusara conquered the Highland of Deccan during his reign of 28 years and was succeeded his son Ashoka in 273 BC.

Statement 1 is correct: The Maurya period was the first time in Indian history that an empire extended from the Hindukush to the valleys of Godavari and Krishna.
Statement 2 is incorrect: The early Maurya rulers had no contact with China. In fact, China was unknown to Indian epigraphy before the Nagarjunikonda inscriptions.

The chief sources of revenue were the bhaga and the bali. The bhaga was the king's share of the produce of the soil, which was normally fixed at one-sixth, though in special cases it was raised to one-fourth or reduced to one-eighth. Bali was an extra impost levied on special tracts for the subsistence of certain officials.