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Encyclopédie des historiographies : Afriques, Amériques, Asies

 | 
Nathalie Kouamé
, 
Éric P. Meyer
, 
Anne Viguier

I

Inscriptions of Ashoka

Les inscriptions d’Ashoka

Upinder Singh

Résumé

Les inscriptions de l’empereur Ashoka (r. env. 268‑232 av. J.‑C.) sont une source importante pour l’histoire de son règne et celle de l’empire Maurya (324‑287 av. J.‑C.). Elles forment le plus vaste corpus d’inscriptions royales du sous‑continent indien, unique par son style et son contenu, et fournissent une riche source d’information sur les idées et la pratique politique d’Ashoka. Elles éclairent certains aspects de son administration et de ses relations avec le bouddhisme, et permettent d’analyser la notion de dhamma, qu’on peut interpréter par moralité, vertu ou bonté. Ce dhamma prenait sa source dans la foi bouddhique d’Ashoka, mais ne se confondait pas avec elle. Les tentatives pour lier la politique à l’éthique ne sont pas rares dans l’ancien monde, mais ce qui est unique est la priorité donnée par Ashoka à la propagation de la moralité dans son Empire et au‑delà, et l’importance de la non‑violence dans sa pensée et sa pratique, particulièrement ses mesures pour la protection des animaux et la renonciation à la guerre.

Texte intégral

1The inscriptions of Ashoka (reigned c. 268‑232 BCE), the third king of the Maurya dynasty (c. 324‑187 BCE), form the earliest large corpus of royal inscriptions in the Indian subcontinent. Ashoka inherited a large empire from his predecessors, Chandragupta and Bindusara, with its political centre located at Pataliputra (modern Patna) in eastern India. Writing was probably known in the subcontinent from about the sixth or fifth century BCE. However, Ashoka’s inscriptions mark an important innovation in political practice. They are an important and unique contemporary source of information on Ashoka and the Maurya empire.

  • 1 Brahmi and Kharoshthi are the names given to these scripts by scholars on the basis of lists of sc (...)

2The inscriptions of Ashoka were noticed during the early 1830s, but their scripts – early Brahmi and Kharoshthi - could not be read.1 While several scholars contributed to the decipherment of Ashokan Brahmi, the crucial breakthrough was made by James Prinsep in 1837. Prinsep, along with others such as Christian Lassen, played an important role in the decipherment of Kharoshthi as well, but the first reliable reading of a Kharoshthi inscription was published by Edwin Norris in 1846. The decipherment of Ashokan Brahmi did not immediately lead to an understanding of the historical significance of the inscriptions. The king is usually referred to in his inscriptions by two epithets - devananpiya, which means “dear to the gods” and piyadasi, which can be translated as “he who looks upon at that which is beloved/dear/auspicious”, “he who looks affectionately or amiably”, or “one who is dear or auspicious to look at.” On the basis of references in the Sri Lankan chronicle, the Dipavamsa, George Turnour connected the epithet piyadasi with the Maurya emperor Ashoka. This correlation opened an invaluable source of information on what is considered ancient India’s first virtually subcontinental empire. Subsequently, the king’s name “Asoka” (of which “Ashoka” is the better-known Sanskritized form) was found in Minor Rock Edict 1 at Maski, Udegolam, Nittur and Gujjara. Over the years, several readings and translations of the inscriptions have been published.

Description and Classification of the Inscriptions

3The inscriptions of Ashoka were inscribed on natural rock faces and pillars, and in caves. It is possible that some of inscriptions were inscribed on pre‑existing pillars. The conventional scholarly classification of the inscriptions, which has been critiqued but is still followed, divides the inscriptions into Minor Rock Edicts, Major Rock Edicts (also known as Rock Edicts), Separate Rock Edicts, Major Pillar Edicts (also known as Pillar Edicts), Minor Pillar Edicts, and cave inscriptions. One of the unusual aspects of Ashoka’s inscriptions is that certain individual inscriptions and sets of inscriptions were inscribed, with some variations, in several places. The Major Rock Edicts usually occur in broadly similar sets of fourteen, except at Dhauli and Jaugada, where Rock Edicts 11, 12 and 13 are replaced by Separate Rock Edicts 1 and 2. The Separate Rock Edicts are also found at Sannati, where they replace Rock Edict 13. The Major Pillar Edicts usually occur in sets of six, except for the Delhi‑Topra pillar, which has seven edicts.

4Most of Ashoka’s inscriptions are in dialects of Prakrit (the various local languages spoken in North India, distinct from, but related to literary Sanskrit), which was the language of political power in the subcontinent for several centuries, and are written in an early form of the Brahmi script. Mansehra and Shahbazgarhi in Pakistan have sets of Major Rock Edicts in the Prakrit language and Kharoshthi script. The northwestern part of the Empire (which included areas of modern‑day Pakistan and Afghanistan) yielded one Greek, four Aramaic, one Greek‑Aramaic, and one Aramaic‑Prakrit inscription. The Prakrit of the Ashokan inscriptions can be divided into the eastern (this is the most predominant), western and northwestern dialects. There are some variations in the form of Ashokan Brahmi characters, but these variations are not regional in nature. The orthography of the characters too displays some variations.

5Although the script, language and content generally enable identification, questions have been raised about whether the Aramaic inscriptions at Taxila and Laghman were issued by Ashoka and whether or not a fragmentary inscription found at Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh should be considered Ashokan.

6The inscriptions of Ashoka do not contain any genealogical information. The chronological markers mentioned in some of the inscriptions refer to the number of years that since his formal consecration (abhisheka) (this seems to have taken place four years after he assumed power), and range from the eighth to the twenty‑seventh year. All the references are to be understood as expired years. References to certain Greek kings (see below) provide useful chronological correlates. Internal chronological references indicate that the Minor Rock Edicts were the earliest, followed by the Major Rock Edicts, and then the Major Pillar Edicts. The Minor Pillar Edicts and cave inscriptions were inscribed at various points in time.

  • 2 For a catalogue of the Ashokan inscriptions and their location, see Falk, 2006. Also see Salomon, (...)

7Ashoka’s inscriptions have a very wide distribution, stretching from Afghanistan in the north to the Indian states of Andhra and Karnataka in the south, Orissa in the east, and Gujarat in the west.2 The Major Rock Edicts are mostly distributed near the margins of the empire. The Major Pillar Edicts are concentrated in north India. They were often located near urban centers and along trade routes, and some of them seem to have been close to Buddhist monasteries. The Minor Rock Edicts have the widest distribution. They are generally found in more remote hilly areas, with a notable clustering in the Andhra‑Karnataka area in South India, at sites that seem to have had an older cultic significance. The three cave inscriptions are found in the Barabar hills in eastern India. The location of the inscriptions is often considered to mark Ashoka’s empire. However, while the places where the inscriptions have been found definitely indicate Maurya contact, intervention and influence, this does not necessarily indicate direct political control.

8The pillar inscriptions are inscribed on imposing monolithic sandstone pillars with a highly polished surface. The stone seems to have been quarried at Chunar (Mirzapur district, Uttar Pradesh). It has been suggested that the pillars may have symbolized the centre of the universe. The text of the inscriptions needs to be considered along with the symbolism of the artistic motifs, especially the animals represented on certain pillar capitals - the lion (single or four seated back to back), bull and elephant (also carved and/or mentioned on the Kalsi and Girnar rocks), which were chosen to proclaim the king’s power and his dhamma. Other motifs associated with the Ashokan pillars are the lotus, wheel, horse and geese. All these symbols had a deep resonance in Indian religious and cultural traditions over the centuries.

9References in the accounts of the Chinese monks Faxian and Xuanzang to Ashokan pillars and stupas where none exist today suggest that the Ashokan inscriptions known to us are a fraction of their original number. New inscriptions continue to be discovered. For instance, a version of Minor Rock Edict 1 was recently found at Ratanpurwa in Bihar in eastern India.

10Understanding the inscriptions of Ashoka requires interpreting their words and associated artisitic motifs, as well as situating them within their larger archaeological and historical contexts. Scholars have made inferences about the epigraphic process, the audience, reception and transmission of Ashoka’s ideas. They have discussed the impact of Ashokan policies on the history of the Maurya empire and the impact of Ashokan ideas and symbols across time.

Contents of the Inscriptions

11The frequent use of the first person and the strong personal tone in Ashoka’s Prakrit inscriptions indicate that they represent the emperor’s ideas and commands. The inscriptions give us a unique insight into the emperor’s mind, especially his thoughts on issues related to kingship and morality over his long, 36 years reign. The audience of the inscriptions consisted of the direct audience (high‑ranking administrative officials); the indirect audience (the emperor’s subjects), who were expected to receive their king’s message through various intermediaries, largely in oral form; and posterity. The reception of the message, which would have varied according to the location of the inscriptions, the mode and agents of transmission, and the recipients, can only be speculated on.

12Apart from the recurring epithets devanampiya and piyadasi, Ashoka describes himself as laja‑magadhe (king of Magadha) (in the Calcutta‑Bairat Minor Rock Edict 3, also known as the Bhabru edict), and mentions his capital city, Pataliputra (Rock Edict 5). The inscriptions reflect certain practical aspects of governing a vast and variegated empire. They occasionally touch on issues related to administration and taxation. They suggest the existence of provincial administrations, name certain cadres of officials, and express Ashoka’s desire for administrative efficiency. They contain exhortations to officials to perform their job conscientiously and efficiently, and announce the backing of the exhortations by surveillance measures. They also allude to the problem of incomplete political consolidation and the problems posed to the empire by forest tribes.

13Certain inscriptions refer to the king’s concern for justice. For instance, Separate Rock Edict 1, addressed to officers known as the nagalaviyohalakas, raises the problem of people suffering as a result of unfair imprisonment and harsh treatment, and exhorts officials to deal with all such cases with fairness and impartiality. Justice is discussed in greater detail in Pillar Edict 4, which instructs officers known as the rajukas to mete rewards and punishment fairly and fearlessly, and asserts that there should be impartiality (samata) in judicial proceedings and punishment. Pillar Edict 4 also announces a three‑day respite to prisoners condemned to death, in order to give their relatives time to appeal the sentence; and, if this failed, to give the prisoners time to distribute gifts or undertake fasts to attain happiness in the next world. This indicates that although Ashoka sought to temper the violence inherent in capital punishment, he did not abolish the death penalty, in spite of his strong commitment to nonviolence (discussed below).

14Some of Ashoka’s inscriptions reflect his deep faith in Buddhism and his close relationship with the Buddhist monastic Order, known as the sangha. In Minor Rock Edict 1, the king states that he had been a lay follower of the Buddha’s teaching for over two and a half years, but confesses that he had initially not made much progress. He goes on to state that since a little over the past year, he had drawn closer to the Order and that gods and men had come to mingle due to his zealous efforts. In the Calcutta‑Bairat Minor Rock Edict 3 (Bhabru edict), Ashoka addresses the Buddhist Order and announces his deep faith in the Buddha, the dhamma and the sangha. This edict goes on to state that what was said by the Buddha was well-said, and describes the Buddha's teachings as the true dhamma. It lists six Buddhist sermons on dhamma that Ashoka recommends that the laity and monks and nuns should listen to and reflect on. The king announces in Rock Edict 8 that his dhamma tours began after his pilgrimage to Bodh Gaya, the place of the Buddha’s enlightenment. Ashoka's allegiance to Buddhism is also displayed by a pillar inscription at Lumbini, where he records his visit to this place 20 years after his consecration; he announces the erection of a pillar and a wall, and certain tax concessions to the village, as the Buddha was born here. His Buddhist faith is also evident from the Nigali Sagar pillar inscription, which announces his enlargement of a stupa dedicated to Buddha Kanakamuni 14 years after his consecration; it also states that this stone pillar was erected after he visited and worshipped at this place, 20 years after his consecration. The imperious tone of the Minor Pillar Edict 1 (also known as the “Schism edict”), warns monks and nuns against creating dissension in the sangha, and suggests that Ashoka exercized considerable authority over the Buddhist monastic Order.

15However, the single most important theme in the inscriptions of Ashoka is dhamma (the Prakrit form of the Sanskrit dharma), which can be understood as morality, virtue or goodness. The Aramaic inscriptions use the words dāta and qšṭ in place of dhamma; the Greek inscriptions use eusebeia.

The Propagation of Dhamma

16Inscriptions were an important part of Ashoka’s agenda for the propagation of dhamma. But literacy levels must have been low at the time, and the fact that the inscriptions were often inscribed high up on rocks and pillars, far beyond eye level, meant that they would often have been difficult to read, even for a literate person. The references in the inscriptions to speaking and hearing the dhamma message indicate oral dissemination. Officials were instructed to spread the king’s dhamma among the people and a special cadre of officers known as the dhamma‑mahamatas was established thirteen years after Ashoka’s consecration, for this precise purpose. The king himself moved around the countryside, instructing his subjects in dhamma. Minor Rock Edict 1 tells us that he had spent 256 nights (and days) on tour, no doubt busy spreading dhamma. This indicates Ashoka’s obsessive engagement with the propagation of dhamma, an obsession that seems to have continued throughout his long reign.

17Ashoka had the idea of a political empire and moral empire, the latter encompassing the former. His understanding of his constituency extended beyond his political subjects to include all living beings, humans and animals, living within and beyond his political domain. His inscriptions express his paternalistic idea of kingship and describe his welfare measures, which included the provision of medical treatment, the planting of herbs, trees and roots for men and animals, and the digging of wells along roads (Major Rock Edict 2). The king’s dhamma propagation activities were not restricted to his own political domain, but extended into the kingdoms of other rulers.

18Ashoka recognized the close connections between the individual, society, king and state. His dhamma can be understood as morality, goodness or virtue, and the imperative to pursue it gave it the sense of duty. The inscriptions explain that dhamma included self‑control, purity of thought, liberality, gratitude, firm devotion, truthfulness, guarding one’s speech, and moderation in expenditure and possessions. Dhamma also had a social aspect - it included obedience to parents; respect for elders; courtesy and liberality toward Brahmanas and renunciants; courtesy to slaves and servants; and liberality toward friends, acquaintances and relatives.

19Nonviolence, involving an abstention from injuring or killing any living being, was an important aspect of Ashoka’s dhamma. The non‑killing of living beings is described as part of the good (Rock Edict 11), along with gentleness towards them (Rock Edict 9). Rock Edict 4 refers to the increase in various vices in the past, including in the injury and killing of living beings; it asserts that the promotion of dhamma by the king had led to an unprecedented promotion of the non‑injury and non‑killing of living beings and other virtues. The emphasis on nonviolence was accompanied by the advocacy of a positive attitude of caring, gentleness and compassion.

20According to the concept of karma, all actions have consequences across several lives. This concept is not mentioned explicitly in Ashoka’s inscriptions, but it is implied. The ideas of merit and demerit are mentioned frequently. It is presumed that all individuals desire to achieve happiness in this life and the next. Ashoka’s argument is that following dhamma leads to the accumulation of merit, and this yields beneficial results in this life and the next, as well as the attainment of heaven. Not following dhamma leads to grave danger, sin, and demerit. In Ashoka’s view, he as king had an obligation to ensure the happiness and welfare of all beings, in this life and the next. This is why making people good was central to his political agenda.

Ashoka’s Attitude Towards Animals

21As mentioned above, Ashoka included all living beings in his moral constituency and, therefore, when he talks of nonviolence, he means nonviolence towards all living beings, including humans as well as wild and domesticated animals. His inscriptions mention a series of prohibitions against injuring or killing animals.

22Rock Edict 1 refers to the king’s attempts to curb the killing of animals in sacrifices; in certain popular festive gatherings known as samajas; and in the royal kitchen. It reveals that although the consumption of meat in the palace was reduced, it was not completely eliminated. In Rock Edict 8, Ashoka announces that he had replaced the royal pleasure tours, which must have involved hunting, by dhamma tours. Ashoka was opposed not only to the royal hunt, but also to hunting as a subsistence activity. This is implied in his general exhortations not to kill any living beings, and in the claims made in one of the Laghman Aramaic inscriptions and the Shar‑i‑Kuna Greek‑Aramaic edict, that due to the king's propagation of dhamma, hunters had stopped hunting and fishermen had stopped fishing.

23Ashoka’s exhortations against injuring animals and humans are accompanied by announcements of positive welfare measures undertaken for both. As mentioned above, Rock Edict 2 announces that the king had provided medical treatment for men and for animals; the planting of medicinal herbs, roots and fruits; the digging of wells on roads; and the planting of trees. He states that he had done all this for the benefit of humans and animals, and not only in his own kingdom, but also in bordering principalities, such as those of the Cholas, Pandyas, Satiyaputras, Keralaputras, Tamraparni, the Yavana king Antiochus, and the latter’s neighbours.

24The most detailed statement about animal protection occurs in Pillar Edict 5, which lists a series of prohibitions that were issued 26 years after the king’s consecration, in the later part of his reign. This includes a list of various types of birds, fish, insects and mammals (the identification of some of the terms is problematic) that were not to be killed. These were all wild, and Ashoka states that the ban on killing also applied to all four-footed animals that were useless from the point of view of human use and were not eaten. Pregnant or lactating she‑goats, ewes and sows were not to be killed, nor were their young ones younger than six months. The killing of animals hunted in the elephant-forests (naga-vanas) was banned, and so was the killing and selling of fish in the fishermen’s preserves. Husk containing living animals was not be burnt. Forests were not to be burnt needlessly or in order to kill living beings. Living beings were not be fed with other living beings. Cocks were not to be castrated. Bulls, goats, rams and boar were not to be castrated on certain specific days. Horses and bulls were not to be branded on certain days. The inscription suggests the regulation, mitigation and ritualization of nonviolence towards animals to coincide with certain auspicious days in the lunar calendar. It has been suggested that these injunctions aimed at preventing excessive forest clearance and curbing shifting cultivation; or that they were a reaction against forest people who were impeding the state’s appropriation of forest wealth. Whatever the practical motives may have been, these injunctions were rooted in Ashoka’s strong moral commitment to nonviolence towards all forms of life. They would, no doubt, have been extremely difficult to effectively implement.

The Arguments Against War

25The politically most significant aspect of Ashoka’s commitment to nonviolence was his renunciation of war. In the ancient world, a king’s martial achievements were considered extremely important. But in Rock Edict 4, Ashoka states that due to his practice of dhamma, the call of dhamma had replaced the sound of the war drum. In Rock Edict 10, he states that he only valued fame that arose from his success in inducing people to follow dhamma.

26The most detailed critique of war is found in Rock Edict 13. This mentions a war fought by Ashoka against the kingdom of Kalinga in eastern India, after eight years had elapsed since the king’s consecration. The war was won by the Maurya army, but the event apparently led the emperor to reflect on the terrible and widespread consequence of warfare. The inscription describes the massiveness of the death, capture and deportation that were part of the Kalinga war, giving rhetorical figures; it also talks of the king’s remorse in the aftermath of the victory. This is followed by certain general reflections on war. Ashoka observes that in war, people experience injury, capture and death. What he considered even more painful is the fact that Brahmanas and renunciants, members of various sects, and householders, who practice obedience to superiors, obedience to mother and father, obedience to elders, proper courtesy and firm devotion to friends, acquaintances, companion and kin, as also to slaves and servants, suffered indirectly through the injury, killing or deportation of their loved ones. The suffering caused by war extended far beyond those who suffered directly and included the emotional pain suffered by those who held them dear. In Ashoka’s opinion, it was especially regrettable when such suffering was experienced by good people.

27Rock Edict 13 also announces the replacement of military victory by a new kind of victory called dhamma‑vijaya (“victory through dhamma”), which consisted of propagating dhamma. Ashoka asserts that he had won this victory in his own domain, among the Yavanas, Kambojas, Nabhakas, Nabhapanktis, Bhojas, Pitinikas, Andhras and Pulindas. He also claims to have won this victory in the dominion of the Yavana (Greek) king Antiyoka; beyond that, in the kingdoms of Turamaya, Antikini, Maka and Alikasudara; and towards the south, in the domain of the Cholas and Pandyas, stretching as far south as Tamraparni. The identification of some of these terms is problematic. However, the Yavanas, Kambojas and Gandharas can be placed in the northwest; the Bhojas, Rishtikas, Andhras and Pulindas can be located in trans‑Vindhyan India; Tamaraparni is Sri Lanka. Antiyoka can be identified with Antiochus ii Theos of Syria; Turamaya with Ptolemy ii Philadelphus of Egypt; Antikini with Antigonus Gonatas of Macedonia; Maka with Magas of Cyrene in north Africa; and Alikasudara with Alexander of Epirus or Alexander of Corinth.

28Although Rock Edict 13 announces the abjuring of fresh military campaigns, it does not abjure the use of force to suppress recalcitrant forest people and forest chieftains (aṭavi). The inscription closes with a statement that this inscription on dhamma had been inscribed so that the king’s sons and grandsons should not think of a fresh military campaign; but that if they did, they should be merciful and inflict little force or punishment. They should consider victory through dhamma as the only victory, because this was of value in this world and the next.

The Nature of Ashoka’s Dhamma

29While the specific elements of the dhamma of Ashoka's inscriptions are clear enough, its general nature is the subject of scholarly debate. It has been variously understood as a Buddhist lay ethic, a set of politico‑moral ideas that are found in various Brahmanical and Buddhist texts, a sort of universal religion, or an Ashokan innovation. The dhamma policy has also been seen as an ideology that sought to legitimize Ashoka’s rule and consolidate the empire.

30As mentioned above, Ashoka’s faith in the Buddha’s teaching and his position of authority vis‑à‑vis the Buddhist Order are clear from certain inscriptions. There is also a close resemblance between the code of conduct prescribed in Ashoka’s inscriptions and that prescribed for the laity in Buddhist texts such as the Sigalovada Sutta. But although the dhamma Ashoka talks incessantly about in his inscriptions was no doubt rooted in his personal religious beliefs, it was not identical to Buddhism. The doctrinal vocabulary of Buddhism, including the supreme goal of nibbana (deliverance from the cycle of birth and death), is absent. In fact, the key metaphysical ideas underlying Ashoka’s politico‑moral discourse (rebirth, karma, merit, heaven) cut across and went beyond religious and sectarian divisions. The idea of nonviolence was an important part of the ethics of Buddhism, Jainism and the Ajivikas. The fact that the dhamma of the inscriptions was not exclusively connected with a particular sect is clear from the statement in Rock Edict 7 that all sects have in common an emphasis on self‑control and purity of mind. At the same time, there is a recognition of the existence of sectarian conflict. In Rock Edict 12, Ashoka expresses his desire for a growth of the essentials of all sects and for courteous, open-minded dialogue and concord (samavaya) among them.

31While Buddhist legends across Asia herald Ashoka as a paradigmatic Buddhist king, his inscriptions tell a more complex story. They indicate that he did not seek to create a Buddhist state, but a moral one. The dhamma of Ashoka’s inscriptions was a new idiosyncratic synthesis, rooted in his deep personal faith in Buddhism, but broadened to include his own reflections on individual, social and political ideals and goals. Metaphysics, ethics and politics were combined in a unique way, and the king propagated this synthesis‑ which he called dhamma ‑ through an elaborately organized propaganda campaign.

32Although virtues such as self‑control and nonviolence are emphasized in several early Indian traditions, what is unique is that Ashoka made morality the cornerstone of his political philosophy and policy. The inscriptions suggest that his ambitious aim was the moral transformation of all humankind. At the same time, he recognized that ethical principles could not be implemented in an absolute form and had to be tempered by pragmatism. In spite of his commitment to nonviolence, he did not abolish the death penalty; and although he renounced war, he warned the forest people and those living on his borders that if required, he would not hesitate to use force against them.

Ashoka’s Legacy

33Ashoka’s inscriptions are a valuable contemporary source of information on the political ideas and practice of this king, as well as for the history of the Maurya dynasty and empire. The contents of these inscriptions have formed the basis of several historical debates. For instance, Ashoka’s emphasis on nonviolence, especially his pacifistic anti‑war stance, has been cited by some scholars as a reason for the weakening of the military backbone of the Maurya empire. Ashoka’s dhamma has been seen as an ideology that sought to weld together the vast and variegated Maurya empire, and which ultimately failed in doing so.

34Ashoka seems to have considered his dhamma policy a great success. In Pillar Edicts 1 and 7, he announces that due to his exertions, adherence to the tenets of dhamma had increased dramatically. Although this suggests his own exaggerated assessment of his impact, Ashoka does seem to have had another sort of important impact. He may have played an important role in plucking the concept of dhamma/dharma out of religious discourse, redefining it by inserting social and ethical content, thereby making morality a central political, social and cultural issue in Indian thought.

35The rocks and pillars on which Ashoka had his inscriptions inscribed had an interesting after‑life. For instance, the Girnar rock, which bears the king’s set of 14 Rock Edicts, also has a 2nd century inscription of the Shaka Kshatrapa king Rudradaman and a 5th century inscription of the Gupta king Skandagupta. The Delhi‑Topra and Delhi‑Meerut pillars (which also bear medieval inscriptions) were relocated from Topra and Meerut to Delhi by the Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq in the 14th century. The new locations they were assigned in Delhi ‑ in the royal citadel, opposite the congregational mosque, and near the royal hunting lodge respectively ‑ indicate that the pillars had special symbolic significance for the medieval Sultan, even though the writing of the old inscriptions could no longer be read. There are reports of Ashoka’s pillars being associated in local traditions with the heroes of the Mahabharata epic, as well as of fragments of Ashokan pillars being worshipped as emblems of the god Shiva known as lingas.

36The ideas and emblems associated with Ashoka have had, and continue to have, a great importance in independent India. This is most evident in the fact that the capital of Ashoka’s Sarnath pillar, crowned by four lions sitting back‑to‑back, is the national emblem of India. Ashoka’s ideas, expressed in his inscriptions, especially those related to morality, nonviolence and pacifism, continue to have relevance in the modern world.

Bibliographie

Books

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Lahiri Nayanjot, 2015, Ashoka in Ancient India. Permanent Black and Ashoka University, Ranikhet, 408 p. [9780674057777]

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Olivelle Patrick, Leoshk  Janice & Ray Himanshu Prabha, eds., 2012, Reimagining Aśoka: Memory and History. Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 468 p. [9780198078005]

Salomon Richard, 1998, Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo‑Aryan Languages. Oxford University Press New York, 400 p. [9780195099843]

Singh Upinder, 2017, Political Violence in Ancient India. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 616 p. [9780674975 279]

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Sircar D. C., [1979] 2000, Aśokan Studies. Indian Museum, Calcutta.

Thapar Romila, [1961] 2012, Aśoka and the Decline of the Mauryas. Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

Thapar Romila, 1984, The Mauryas Revisited. K. P. Bagchi, Calcutta.

Papers and contributions to books

Allchin F. R. & Norman K  R., 1985, “Guide to the Aśokan Inscriptions”, South Asian Studies, 1, p. 43‑50.

Ramesh K. V. & Ravishankar T. S., 2011‑12, “Basaha (Bihar State) Minor Rock Inscription of Aśoka”, Epigraphia Indica 43, Pt. 1: p. 1‑4.

Singh Upinder, 2012, “Governing the State and the Self: Political Philosophy and Practice in the Edicts of Aśoka”, South Asian Studies 29, no 2 p. 131‑146. Reprinted in The Idea of Ancient India: Essays on Religion, Politics and Archaeology, by Upinder Singh, SAGE, New Delhi, 2016, p. 273‑303.

Notes

1 Brahmi and Kharoshthi are the names given to these scripts by scholars on the basis of lists of scripts in certain texts, the earliest of which is the Buddhist text, Lalitavistara. We do not know if these scripts were known under these names in Ashoka’s time.

2 For a catalogue of the Ashokan inscriptions and their location, see Falk, 2006. Also see Salomon, 1998, p. 136‑140.

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