Edits of Ashoka
Those were the days when Gold Smith’s job was to fashion brilliant crystal boxes.
On the upper box of casket no 3, members of the guild are inscribed. These are Vatsa, change, jayanta, tishya, raivata, Achima, Sabhika, Akshgbna, kela, kesa, magha, Sreshta, Chhardikoga, Khabula, Suvarnottara, Sremana, Sramandasa, Syamka, Kamuka and Chitraka.This brahmi inscription was found from salihundam, srikakulam district of AP. It’s language is prakrit. The cave is the excellant gift of the assemblage of woman from Nandpura, and is also used for the treatment in sick disciples of Sramanas of Suvarnamagha.
This is brahmi Inscription from Salihundam province, Srikakulam district, Andhra Pradesh. Its language was Prakrit. Sálihundem on the bank of the Vamsadhará is ‘a famous. Buddhist site, which has yielded many Buddhist structures and antiquities. The slab bearing the inscription formed part of the top frieze of stones on the exterior surface of the Mahachaitya.
He told him that the inscription was assigned to the period between the 2nd and thé lst centuries B.C & is related to the religious edicts (dharma) of the illustrious Chakervarti king ashoka.
The Edicts of Ashoka are a collection of more than thirty inscriptions on the pillars as well as boulders and cave walls, attributed to Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan empire, who reigned from 268 BCE to 232 BCE. These inscriptions were dispersed throughout the areas of modern-day Bangladesh, Nepal, Afganistan & Pakistan.
The edicts describe in details Ashokas view on religion, which was an earnest attempt to solve some of the problems of complex society. According to the edicts, the extent of Buddhist proselytism during this period had reached as far as the Mediterranean.
The Maurya Empire, ruled by the Mauryan Dynasty from 322-185 BCE was a geographically extensive and mighty political and military empire in ancient India, established in the subcontinent by Chandragupta Maurya in Magadha (present day Bihar) and was it further thrived under Ashoka the Great.
The Maurya Empire was founded by Chandragupta Maurya, with help from Chanakya Brahmin teacher at Takshila. The Empire was divided into four provinces, which one of the four, look like a giant crescents. with the imperial capital at patliputra. From Ashokan edicts, the names of the four provincial capitals are Tosali (in the east), Ujjain in the west, Suvarna nagri (in the south), and Taxila (in the north). The head of the provincial administration was the Kumara (royal prince), who governed the provinces as king’s representative. The kumarawas assisted by Mahamatyas and council of ministers. This organizational structure was reflected at the imperial level with the Emperor and his Council of Ministers.
Chanakya encouraged Chandragupta Maurya and his army to take over the throne of Magadha. Using his intelligence network, Chandragupta gathered many young men from across Magadha and other provinces, men upset over the corrupt and oppressive rule of king Dhana, plus resources necessary for his army to fight a long series of battles. These men included the former general of Taxila, other accomplished students of Chanakya, the representative of King Porus of Kakayee, his son Malayketu, and the rulers of small states.
Preparing to invade Pataliputra, Maurya hatched a plan. A battle was announced and the Magadhan army was drawn from the city to a distant battlefield to engage Maurya’s forces. Maurya’s general and spies meanwhile bribed the corrupt general of Nanda. He also managed to create an atmosphere of civil war in the kingdom, which culminated in the death of the heir to the throne. Chanakya managed to win over popular sentiment. Ultimately Nanda resigned, handing power to Chandragupta, and went into exile and was never heard of again. Chanakya contacted the prime minister, Rakshasas, and made him understand that his loyalty was to Magadha, not to the Magadha dynasty, insisting that he continue in office. Chanakya also reiterated that choosing to resist would start a war that would severely affect Magadha and destroy the city. Rakshasa accepted Chanakya’s reasoning, and Chandragupta Maurya was legitimately installed as the new King of Magadha. Rakshasa became Chandragupta’s chief advisor, and Chanakya assumed the position of an elder statesman.
The fall of the Mauryas left the Khyber pass unguarded, and a wave of foreign invasion followed. The Greco Bactrian king, Demetrius, capitalized on the break-up, and he conquered southern Afghanistan and Pakistan around 180 BC, forming the Indo Greek Kingdom. The Indo-Greeks would maintain holdings on the trans-Indus region, and make forays into central India, for about a century. Under them, Buddhism flourished, and one of their kings Menander became a famous figure of Buddhism, he was to establish a new capital of Sagala, the modern city of Sialkot. However, the extent of their domains and the lengths of their rule are subject to much debate. Numismatic evidence indicates that they retained holdings in the subcontinent right up to the birth of Christ. Although the extent of their successes against indigenous powers such as the Sungas Satavahanas & kalingas. are unclear, what is clear is that Scythian tribes, renamed Indo Scythians, brought about the demise of the Indo-Greeks from around 70 BCE and retained lands in the trans-Indus, the region of Mathura, and Gujarat