Hindu India
from the beginning of the Maurya dynasty in 322 B.C.
to the seventh century A.C.

 p93  Chapter 2

Asoka Maurya and his institutions; diffusion of Buddhism; end of the Maurya dynasty; the successors of the Mauryas

Accession of Asoka. When the reign of Bindusāra terminated in 273 B.C. he was succeeded by one of his sons named Asoka-vardhana, commonly called Asoka, who seems to have been selected by his father as heir apparent, and possibly may have enjoyed for some time the rank of sub‑king or uparājā. According to tradition he had served as Viceroy, first at Taxila in the north-west, and subsequently at Ujjain in Mālwā. The fact that his formal consecration or coronation (abhisheka) was delayed for some four years until 269 B.C. confirms the tradition that his succession was contested, and it may be true that his rival was an elder brother named Susīma, as affirmed by one of the many wild legends which have gathered round Asoka's name. The story told by the monks of Ceylon that he slaughtered 98 or 99 brothers in order to clear his way to the throne is absurd and false; the fact being, as the inscriptions prove, that Asoka took good care of his brothers and sisters long after his succession. The grotesque tales about Asoka's alleged abnormal wickedness prior to his conversion to Buddhism, which were current in the north as well as the south, are equally baseless and obviously concocted for purposes of edification.

 p94  Authorities. The monkish legends, whether of Ceylon or other countries, do not afford a safe basis for a matter-of‑fact history of the great Buddhist emperor, although some of the Ceylon dates seem to be correct, while others are erroneous. The only sound foundation for his history is to be found in his numerous and wonderful inscriptions, which may be fairly considered the most remarkable set of inscriptions in the world. Their testimony is supplemented by that of a few other epigraphs, by literary tradition in many forms and languages, and by inferences deduced from study of the extant monuments and their distribution. The coins of Asoka's age, which do not bear his name or titles, are of little use to the historian. The Arthasāstra and certain other books in various languages provide materials for illustrative comment on the narrative.

Little political activity. Asoka having been a man of peace for the greater part of his long reign, the recorded political events during it are few, and nothing is known about his military force. The interest of the story is centred on the zzzzzzzzz initiated by him which transformed Buddhism from a local sect into one of the world-religions and on the gradual development of the emperor's personal character and policy. His imperishable records constitute in large measure his autobiography written in terms manifestly dictated by himself.

Asoka waged only war of aggression, that directed to the acquisition of Kalinga on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. His gigantic empire, which extended from the Hindu Kush to the northern districts of Mysore, consequently must have been inherited, with the exception of Kalinga, from his father, and must have been acquired either by Bindusāra or by Chandragupta, or by both.

Chronology. His inscriptions date the events of the reign by regnal years reckoned from the time of his consecration or coronation in 269 B.C. The month in which that ceremony took place not being known, it is impossible to equate accurately the regnal with the calendar years. Nor is it practicable to define the dates B.C. with absolute precision for various reasons. Two of the chief of those reasons are that the exact year of Chandragupta's accession is not ascertainable, and that the length of Bindusāra's Roman is variously dated as either twenty-five or twenty-eight years. For convenience dates will be given in this chapter as if they were precise, but the reader is invited to bear in mind that they are subject to slight correction for possible error, probably not exceeding two years. Asoka's reign, as counted from his father's death, extended to forty or forty‑one years; or, as counted from his consecration, to thirty‑six or thirty-seven years. The dated inscriptions begin in the ninth and come down to the twenty-eighth regnal year, equivalent approximately to the period including 261 and 242 B.C. The reign is taken as extending from 273 to 232 B.C.

Asoka's early years. No definite political event can be assigned to the early years of Asoka's government. His personal  p95 reminiscences prove that he then lived the life of his predecessors, consuming flesh food freely, enjoying the pleasures of the chase, and encouraging festive assemblies accompanied by dancing and drinking. No sound reason exists for believing that his conduct was particularly sinful or vicious. The nature of his diet and amusements in those days affords conclusive evidence that he cannot have been a follower of the Jain religion. It may be presumed that he was a Brahmanical Hindu, and most likely a worshipper of Siva. His religious cult or ceremonial possibly may have been affected by Magian practices of Iranian origin, but it is not probable that he was a professed Zoroastrian. The sudden change in his beliefs and habits was produced by the remorse which he felt for the unmerited sorrows inflicted upon the people of the kingdom of Kalinga in the east by his attack on and annexation of that country in 261 B.C.

The Kalinga war. The Kalinga war, which was the turning point in Asoka's career, thus became one of the decisive events in the history of the world. The miseries of the campaign, the sufferings of the prisoners, and the wailings for the dead were soon forgotten by the vanquished, as they have been forgotten by other conquered nations after thousands of war; but the effect which they produced upon the conscience of the victor is still traceable in the world of the twentieth century.

Asoka himself tells us in the striking language of his longest Rock Edict (No. XIII) how he was haunted by remorse for the acclaims caused by his ambition, and was driven to take refuge in the Law of Piety or Duty, which he identifies elsewhere with the doctrine of the Buddha.

The royal author proceeds to develop in detail the sentiment above expressed in general terms, and continues:

 p96  True conquest. Asoka goes on to explain that true conquest consists in the conquest of men's hearts by the Law of Duty or Piety,JJJ and to relate that he had already won such real victories, not only in his own dominions, but in kingdoms six hundred leagues away, including the realm of the Greek king Antiochos, and the dominions of the four kings severally named Ptolemy, Antigonos, Magas, and Alexander, who dwell beyond (or 'to the north of') 'that Antiochos'; and likewise to the south, in the kingdoms of the cholas and the Pāndyas, as far as the Tāmraparni river; and also in the king's dominions among the various tribes or nations called Yonas, Kāmbojas, Nabhapamtis of Nābhaka, Bhojas, and Pitinikas, as well as among the Āndhras and PulindasJJJ — in fact, 'everywhere', he says, 'men hearing His Sacred majesty's ordinance based on the Law of Piety and his instruction in that Law, practise and will practise the Law'.

The royal preacher then extols the true conquest wrought by the Law as being full, not only of transitory delight, but of precious fruit which remains sound in the next world. He concludes by exhorting his sons and grandsons to pursue the path of true conquest; and, if perchance they should become involved in a conquest by force of arms (or 'from self-will', as Hultzsch), to take their pleasure in patience and gentleness, so that they may by effort attain that joy of spirit which avails both for this world and the next.

Special Kalinga edicts. The subject is continued in the two special edicts which the victor composed a little later for the benefit of the conquered provinces, one being addressed to the high officers of a town named Samāpā, and the other to those of a second town called Tosali. A postscript enjoins the viceroys of Taxila and Ujjain, the governments which Asoka himself had held as Prince, to apply the principles enunciated, and to take effectual steps by means of periodical tours and public proclamations on certain holidays to see that the imperial commands were translated into practice.

The emperor starts by affirming that 'all men are my children', echoing a saying attributed to Buddha. He then seeks to win the confidence of the unsubdued border tribes, and announces that specially trained officers will be sent to look after their interests. He laments that some servants of the state, failing to realize his  p97 paternal sentiments, had at times gone so far as to inflict unjust imprisonment or toy.He warns his officers that they must beware of yielding to the vices of 'envy, lack of perseverance, harshness, impatience, want of application, laziness, and indolence', threatening them with his displeasure is they should fail in their duty.

Those admirable instructions, which could not be bettered to‑day, show how Asoka's remorse for the horrors of his one aggressive war bore fruit in the practical administration of his frontier provinces.

Contemporary powers. The references in the edict first quoted to other potentates, nations, and tribes obviously have much historical importance. When duly interpreted they prove that Asoka was contemporary with Antiochos Theos, grandson of Seleukos Nikator, the foe and afterwards the ally of Asoka's grandfather; with Ptolemy Philadelphos of Egypt;JJJ with Magas, the ruler of Cyrene to the west of Egypt; and with an Alexander, probably King of Epirus. Chronologists show that the last year in which those four princes were alive together appears to have been 258 B.C., and that the edict consequently cannot be much later in date. It is actually dated in either the thirteenth or fourteenth regnal year, equivalent to 257 or 256 B.C. The document further proves that the emperor of India enjoyed the privilege of friendly intercourse with the Hellenistic kings named, that he was at liberty to conduct Buddhist propaganda in their dominions, and that he succeeded in gaining attention to his teaching. We also learn that the Tamil kingdoms of the cholas and Pāndyas were then in existence, the Maurya emissaries penetrating as far as the Tāmraparni river in Tinnevelly, the seat of the pearl and conch-shell trade, chiefly conducted at the now vanished port of Korkai. Another edict mentions two more Tamil kingdoms, namely that of Keralaputra, or the Malabar coast, and that of Satiyaputra, probably equivalent to the Satyamangalam province of the later kingdom of Madura. That province skirted the borders of Mysore, Malabar, Coimbatore, and Madura, along the line of the western Ghāts. We thus obtain a welcome glimpse of the history of the Far South at a definite date; the first, and for a long time the only chronological foothold in the story of the Tamil kingdoms.

We are further informed concerning the names of sundry  p98 considerable tribes or nations who were included more or less completely in Asoka's dominions or had been brought under his influence.

The accuracy of the Greek accounts concerning the relations between Seleukos Nikator and Chandragupta is confirmed by the edicts, which disclose the friendship of the grandson of Seleukos with the grandson of Chandragupta.JJJ

Foreign Buddhist missions. The surprising intimation that Buddhist missions were dispatched in the middle of the third century B.C. to distant Hellenistic kingdoms in Asia and Africa, and perhaps in Europe, opens up a wide field for reflection and speculation.

While the primary authority for the history of Asoka must always be his inscriptions, much valuable supplementary information is obtained from other sources. One of those sources is to be found in the chronicles of Ceylon called the Mahāvamsa and Dīpavamsa. The latter, the older of the two, seems to have been composed in the fourth or fifth century A.C. The statements of the edicts concerning the imperial Buddhist propaganda are amplified by the Ceylonese chroniclers, who describe nine distinct missions, which embraced seven Indian countries lying between the Himalayas and Peshāwar in the north and a region called Mahishamandala in the south, usually identified with the southern portion of the Mysore state. Two other missions are said to have been dispatched to countries outside India proper, namely, Suvarnabhu̅mi, or Lower Burma, and Lankā, or Ceylon. The chronicler gives the names of the missionaries employed in each case, and some of those names are also recorded in inscriptions from the Bhīlsā topes. The list may be accepted as correct, subject to the remark that the propaganda in Lower Burma seems to have had little effect. The earliest form of Buddhism in that country, so far as definite evidence goes, was of the Mahāyāna kind,  p99 different from the Buddhism of Asoka, and apparently imported from northern India.

Mission to Ceylon. The mission to Ceylon was a complete success, although the conversion of the island was not suddenly effected by a series of astounding miracles as related in the monkish stories. It was, no doubt, a gradual, although tolerably rapid process, aided materially by powerful royal encouragement.JJJ The mission came in 251 or 250 B.C. on the initiative of King Tissa, who ascended the throne about that time, and reigned, like his friend Asoka, for forty years. During his rule he expended most of his energy in measures for the propagation of the Buddhist religion, and in erecting splendid buildings for its service. The leading missionary was Mahendra or Mahinda, Asoka's younger brother, who settled down in the island and died there about 204 B.C. His memory is perpetuated by monuments which bear his name. He was aided by his sister, who is remembered by her title Sanghamitrā, 'Friend of the Church', or 'Order', and was as successful among the women as Mahendra was among the men. The Indian tradition which represents Mahendra as the younger brother of Asoka is of greater authority than the island legends which describe him as a son of the emperor.

Buddhism won a decisive victory in Ceylon during the long reign of Tissa, and has never lost its hold on the island, where its influence,  p100 on the whole, has been for good. A well-informed and sympathetic writer observes that:

Anurādhapura or Anurājapura, the Buddhist Rome, may serve as the measure and symbol of Asoka's influence on the world.

Council of Pātaliputra. But the monkish authors of Ceylon, whom many European writers on Buddhism have been too ready to accept as primary authorities, give none of the credit to the emperor. According to them, the conversion of the island and other lands was the work of the saint or thera named Tissa, who convoked a church council at Pātaliputra and then sent out his emissaries. The Ceylonese stories, written many centuries after the events described, have no just claim to be regarded as authorities superior to the words of Asoka, who never mentions either the saint or the  p101 Council, while emphatically presenting all the measures taken for the furtherance of religion as having been initiated by himself. I believe Asoka's word. The Council of Pātaliputra may be accepted as a fact, because it is vouched for by Indian as well as Ceylonese tradition. But, in my opinion, the monks have dated it wrongly. The probability is that it was convoked towards the close of the reign of Asoka, after the publication of his principal sets of inscriptions, the Fourteen Rock Edicts, and the Seven Pillar Edicts. It may have been the occasion for the promulgation of his latest known records, the Minor Pillar Edicts, which deal specially with the deadly sin of schism, although those documents do not refer expressly to the Council.

Upagupta and Thera Tissa. Northern tradition, which was much more likely to be well founded than the tales composed by the Ceylon monks and distorted by theological bias, testifies that the instructor of Asoka in Buddhism was Upagupta of Mathurā, son of Gupta the perfumer of Benares. A monastery bearing his name still existed in the seventh century A.C. at Mathurā. No doubt is possible that Upagupta was a real historical person, the fourth patriarch of the Buddhist church. The incidents of his story have been transferred by the Ceylon chroniclers to the Thera Tissa, the son of Moggali. The proof that the two names refer to the same person is absolutely conclusive.

Asoka a monk. The admonitions of Upagupta produced many effects besides the dispatch of missionaries. He took his imperial pupil in 249 B.C. on a tour round the principal holy places of the faith,JJJ beginning with the Lumbini Garden, the modern Rummindēī in the Nepalese Tarāi, where the perfect inscription on a pillar still standing commemorates the emperor's visit. Asoka also gave up hunting and the practice of eating meat, in which he had previously indulged. All slaughter of animals for the royal kitchen was prohibited. Asoka at least once temporarily assumed the garb of a monk. Long afterwards the Chinese pilgrim I‑tsing saw a statue representing him as so robed. Buddhist 'orders' not being irrevocable, it is open to any layman to become a monk for a short time and then to return to the world. In fact, every male Burmese at the present day is expected to make a stay, long or short, in a monastery.

Imperial review of policy. In 242 B.C., Asoka, who was then growing old, and had been on the throne for over thirty years, undertook to review the measures taken during his reign for the promotion of religion, the teaching of moral duty, and the welfare of his subjects. That review was embodied in a series of edicts inscribed on pillars, and hence called the Seven Pillar Edicts, which must be read as an appendix or supplement to the earlier  p102 proclamations engraved on rocks. The foreign missions are not mentioned; I do not know why.

Ahimsā. The fifth Pillar Edict expresses the emperor's matured views on the subject of ahimsā, or abstention from injury to or slaughter of animals. He indicates his disapproval of the practice of castration or caponing, and publishes many rules for the protection of living creatures. It is a surprising fact that horned cattle are not included in the list of animals the slaughter of which was forbidden; whereas the Arthasāstra (Book II, chap. 26) contains the clause:

We have seen that the government of Taxila had felt no scruple in presenting Alexander with thousands of cattle fatted for slaughter. That Taxilan sentiment probably explains Asoka's  p103 abstention from forbidding a practice which his old subjects in the north-west would not readily abandon. It is unlikely that the feelings of the public of Taxila had changed materially during the seventy-four years which had elapsed since the Macedonian visit to their city. The facts thus noted throw light on the obscure problem of the development of the passionate feeling in favour of the sanctity of the cow, which is now one of the most conspicuous outward marks of Hinduism. It is clear that the feeling in anything like its present vehemence was not fully developed in the days of either Alexander or Asoka.

The prohibitions against animal slaughter in Pillar Edict V coincide to a considerable extent with those recorded in the Arthasāstra. Both documents, for instance, forbid the killing of parrots, starlings, and 'Brahminy' ducks.

Asoka's last years. The publication of the Seven Pillar Edicts in 242 B.C. is the last event in Asoka's reign which can be precisely dated. The Council of Pātaliputra may be placed, as already observed, a little later, somewhere about 240 B.C., and I would assign the same date approximately to the Minor Pillar Edicts which denounce the sin of schism. The Council is said to have been convoked in order to repress heresy, and the publication of the special edicts directed against divisions in the church may be reasonably regarded as a result of the deliberations of the Council. Some traditions represent Asoka as having become in his old age a doting devotee, who wasted the resources of the empire in indiscriminate charity to monks and monasteries. It has also been asserted that he abdicated. His authentic records give no support to such legends or notions. They exhibit him to the last as a masterful autocrat ruling Church and State alike with a strong hand, as Charlemagne did in Europe more than a thousand years later. It is possible, of course, that Asoka may have descended from the throne towards the close of his life and devoted the short remainder of his days to religious exercises, but there is no good evidence that he actually did so.

Classes of inscriptions. It will be convenient at this point to explain briefly the nature and distribution of the remarkable inscriptions so often cited. They fall naturally into two main classes, those inscribed on rocks in situ or on detached boulders, and those inscribed on highly finished monolithic columns or pillars. The rock edicts, which are the earlier in date, occur mostly in the more distant and out-of‑the‑way localities. The columns or pillars are found in the home provinces, where the fine sandstone needed for their construction was procurable.

The records, of which many are substantially and some absolutely perfect, may be arranged in eight groups in chronological order as follows:

(i) The Minor Rock Edicts; two documents dating from about 258 or 257 B.C. No. 1 is found in variant recensions at seven localities; but No. 2 is known at one only.

(ii) The Bhābru̅ Edict, on a detached boulder, now in Calcutta.  p104 The purport of the record is unique. The date probably is the same as that of the Minor Rock Edicts.

(iii) The Fourteen Rock Edicts, in seven more or less complete recensions, varying considerably, and dating after 257 and 256 B.C.

(iv) The Kalinga Edicts, in two recensions, referring only to the conquered province, and substituted for certain of the Fourteen Rock Edicts; they may be dated in 256 B.C.

(v) The Cave Inscriptions, being records of dedications inscribed on the walls of three caves hewn in the rock of the Barābar hills near Gayā, in 257 and 250 B.C.

(vi) The Tarāi Pillar Inscriptions, being two commemorative records on columns in the Nepalese Tarāi, erected in 249 B.C.

(vii) The Seven Pillar Edicts in six recensions (excepting Edict 7), which is found at one place only), dating from 243 and 242 B.C.

(viii) The Minor Pillar Edicts, four in number, dating between 242 and 232 B.C. Two documents, one at Sārnāth, and the other at Sānchī, are inscribed on separate columns; the others are postscripts to the Pillar Edicts at Allahabad.

Distribution of the inscriptions. The distribution of the inscriptions is indicated on the map of Asoka's empire. The Rock Edicts, including the Minor Rock Edicts, the Bhābru̅ Edict, and the Cave Inscriptions, are widely distributed from the extreme north-western corner of the Panjāb to the northern districts of Mysore. They are found on the coasts of both the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, so that they may be said to cover an area extending from 34°20′ to 14°49′ N. lat., and from about 72°15′ to 85°50′ E. long., that is to say, twenty degrees of latitude and thirteen of longitude. Additions to the list probably will be discovered when Afghanistan and certain other frontier regions shall be open to research. The Maski inscription in the Nizām's Dominions was not noticed until 1915. It is particularly precious because it is the only record which specifies the emperor's personal name Asoka.JJJ All the other documents describe him by his titles only. It is not unlikely that more records may be found within the limits of India. Although some of the sites of the Rock edicts are now in the wilderness, every one of the localities in Asoka's time was frequented either as a place of pilgrimage or for other good reason.

The positions of more than thirty monolithic columns or pillars of Asoka are recorded. Ten of those now visible are inscribed. The area of their distribution is not so large as that of the rock inscriptions, probably owing to the difficulty of obtaining suitable blocks of stone. One, which formerly stood at a village in the Ambāla (Umballa) District, Panjāb, is now at Delhi. Others still exist at Sānchī in the Bhopāl State, Central India. Those two localities are the remote from Pātaliputra the capital.

Extent of the empire. The extent of Asoka's empire is known with sufficient precision from the details of the distribution of  p105 MAP  p106 his monuments, from the internal testimony of his inscriptions, and from various forms of literary historical tradition.

The empire comprised the countries now known as Afghanistan, as far as the Hindu Kush; Balo̅chistan and Makrān, Sind, Cutch (Kachchh); the Swāt (Suwāt) Valley, with adjoining tribal territories, Kashmīr, Nepāl, and the whole of India proper, closing Assam, as far south as the northern districts of Mysore. The Tamil states of the extreme south were independent. It is possible, but not clearly proved, or perhaps probable, that the emperor also exercised jurisdiction in Khotan, now in Chinese Turkestan.

The reader, of course, will understand that the empire thus defined was not all under the direct imperial rule. It necessarily comprehended numerous autonomous states, owing more or less obedience or paying some sort of homage to the sovereign power. It also included many wild or half-wild tribes in the hills and forests who cared little for any government, and ordinarily lived their own life in their own way.

Viceroys. But the area actually governed by imperial officers was enormous. We hear of four Viceroys, who seem to have been usually, if not always, princes of the imperial family.

The viceroy of the north-west, whose capital was Taxila, controlled the Panjāb, and his jurisdiction may have extended over Sind, Balo̅chistan, Makrān, and Afghanistan, to use modern names.

An eastern viceroy resided at a town called Tosali, probably in Kalinga. The western provinces were administered from Ujjain; and the capital of the Deccan was Suvarnagiri ('Golden hill'), probably situated somewhere in one of the ancient gold-fields.JJJ It is possible that there may have been other viceroys, but only four happen to be mentioned. The reader may remember that the Arthasāstra recommends that a kingdom should be divided into four provinces.

Censors. Asoka inherited from his predecessors a good bureaucratic organization. The higher officials or ministers were called mahāmātras, as in the Arthasāstra, and a regular gradation of official ranks existed. About this time of the promulgation of the Fourteen Rock Edicts the emperor created a new class of ministers called Dharma-mahāmātras, whose title may be rendered by the term Censors. They round instructions to enforce the Law of Duty or Piety (dharma) among people of all religions and ranks, including even members of the royal family. Similar officials have been appointed in several Hindu states in modern times.JJJ

The moral principles and rules of conduct enjoined in the Edicts, although expressly associated with Buddhist doctrine in some of  p107 the documents, were suitable to a large extent for the adherents of any denomination. The stringency of the regulations prohibiting the slaughter or mutilation of animals, increasing with Asoka's years, no doubt pressed hardly on many classes. The imperial legislation, which directly affected the Brahmanical custom of bloody sacrifices, hampered the activities of hunters, fishermen, and many other poor people. It is likely that the discontent which must have been caused by the strict enforcement may have had much to do with the break up of the empire which ensued on Asoka' decease. It was the business of the Censors to see that the imperial commands were obeyed. It is easy to imagine the many openings which were offered for vexatious interference with private life, for malicious accusations, and for bribery to secure immunity from penalties. If we may judge from the history of later Hindu and Jain kings who pursued the same ideals and issued similar regulations, it may be assumed that offenders were liable even to capital punishment.

Summary of moral code. Asoka's moral code is most concisely formulated in the second Minor Rock Edict recorded on a rock in the north of the Mysore state and there only.

The three obligations — of showing reverence, respecting animal life, and telling the truth — are inculcated over and over again in the edicts. In the summary quoted above reverence is placed first, but the general tenor of the teaching is to lay stress primarily on the respect for animal life.

Sundry virtues taught. The imperial moralist did not limit his catalogue of indispensable virtues to the three named in the summary. He took much pains to inculcate the duties of compassion to all, kind treatment of slaves and hired servants, almsgiving and toleration for the creeds of other people. Moreover, he displayed anxious solicitude for the bodily well-being of his subjects. Special attention was paid to the comfort of travellers by the provision of wells, rest-houses, and trees planted along the roads to supply both shade and fruit. Arrangements for the healing man and beast alike were made, not only within the limits of the empire, but also in the territories of friendly independent kingdoms.

Extracts from the edicts. A few brief extracts from the edicts serve better than any paraphrase to enable the student to apare their spirit.

It would be easy to illustrate in detail every one of Asoka's precepts from Buddhist books, as well as from the existing practice in countries where Buddhism now prevails. Jain and Brahmanical writings also might be quoted to show that the morality inculcated was, on the whole, common to all the Indian religions. The Jains, however, go even farther than the Buddhists in applying the principle of ahimsā, or non‑injury to living creatures, while those Brahmanical Hindus who considered bloody sacrifices indispensable necessarily were unable to give complete assent to the imperial doctrine. The gradual growth of a feeling of distaste for animal sacrifices discussed in an earlier chapter of this work undoubtedly was stimulated by the action of Asoka continued for many years and supported by all the power of an efficient imperial organization. The Buddhist teaching was superior to that of the rival religions in the prominence it gave to the 'happiness of all creatures' as the main object of morality. Buddhism, in spite of its agnostic,  p109 pessimistic philosophy, is in practice a creed which tends to chieftain; a fact apparent to all observers in Burma.

Asoka an ardent Buddhist. Asoka, although tolerant of competing creeds, and even willing to pursue the policy of concur endowment, as proved by his costly gifts to the Ajīvikā ascetics, an order closely akin to the Digambara or nude Jains, was personally an ardent Buddhist. His zeal for the teaching of Gautama Buddha is expressed emphatically in the unique Bhābru̅ Edict of early date, inscribed on a boulder in Eastern Rājputanā and addressed to the Church.

He then proceeds to enumerate seven passages or texts from the Sacred Law, which he commends to the study of monks and nuns, as well as of the laity, male and female. All of those passages have been identified in the Canon. They begin with the well-known First Sermon, and end with the remarkable admonition by Buddha to his son Rahula on the necessity of speaking the exact truth.JJJ

Three of the Minor Pillar Edicts (Sārnāth, Sānchī, and Kausāmbī), which prescribe the penalty of excommunication for schism, and the two Tarāi Pillar Edicts are equally Buddhist.

Asoka's hard work. Asoka worked hard, very hard; carrying out conscientiously the instructions of his grandfather's preceptor.

Asiatic idea of kingship. The Asiatic idea of kingship has ordinarily required that the monarch should hear personally as many causes and complaints as possible, should dispose of them on  p110 the spot by final orders untrammelled by legal formalities, and that he should be easily accessible to the meanest of his subjects, even at the cost of much personal inconvenience. Long after Asoka's time the Timu̅rid emperors of India acted on those principles, and made the daily public audiences an essential feature of their policy. Even Jāhangīr, who sometimes failed in the higher duties of his station, was extremely particular to do justice as he conceived it in person, and to appear in public three times a day.

A saying of Akbar that 'divine worship in monarchs consists in their justice and good administration' reproduces one of the sentiments quoted above from Kautilya.

Asoka on himself. Asoka expressed similar ideas with all possible emphasis:

It is easy to criticize such regulations from the point of view of an official in Europe and to prove that the orderly dispatch of business would be hindered and obstructed by constant interruptions. The criticism would be sound whether in Europe or Asia, but the extreme importance attached by the eastern nations to the personal intervention and the accessibility of their rulers wins so much popularity for a sovereign who satisfies the sentiment of his people that a king may find it worth his while to submit to the inconveniences which necessarily result from regulations such as those laid down by Asoka.

Maurya art. When writing on another occasion about the art of the Gupta period, I recorded an observation which is equally applicable to the Maurya age, especially to the reign of Asoka and may be repeated here, as I cannot express my meaning better.

 p111  The reign of Asoka presents in perfection all the conditions enumerated in that extract as being favourable to the development of notable schools of art and literature. It may be that art had flourished almost in equal measure under the rule of his father Bindusāra and his grandfather Chandragupta. In fact, there are substantial grounds for believing that buildings of exceptional magnificence were erected in the time of the first Maurya emperor. Splendid architecture necessarily involves the successful cultivation of sculpture, painting, and all the decorative arts. Greek testimony, as already mentioned, declares that the palace of Chandragupta surpassed the royal abodes of Persia, and records some details of the rich ornament of the building. But the whole has vanished, and there is little reason to expect or hope that the excavations at Taxila and Pātaliputra begun in 1913 will reveal much art work of the time of the early Maurya kings preserved well enough to furnish material for satisfactory aesthetic criticism. The principal reason is that, so far as our present knowledge extends, the great edifices built by Asoka's predecessors were constructed mainly of perishable wood, just as the magnificent structures at Mandalay were constructed by the latest Burmese sovereigns. In the time of Chandragupta Maurya and his son brick and stone seem to have been used chiefly for the foundations and plinths of timber superstructures. Wood architecture implies the execution of most of CHECK:the discover features in material equally perishable. Unless the progress of exploration should disclose an unexpected treasure of early Maurya sculpture in stone or terra-cotta, materials for the history of art during the reigns of Chandragupta and Bindusāra must continue to be scanty. The general use of stone in northern India for building, sculpture, and decoration certainly dates from the reign of Asoka, who was influenced by Persian and Greek example. I do not either assert or believe that prior to the days of Asoka the art of building in stone was absolutely unknown in India, or that all artistic work was executed in perishable material; but the ascertained facts indicate that previous to his reign permanent materials were used rarely and sparingly either for architecture or for ornament. When Megasthenes was at Pātaliputra the city was defended by a wooden palisade. The walls, the stone palace within the city, and many sacred edifices are ascribed to Asoka.JJJ

The definite history of Indian art, therefore, still begins with Asoka. At present it is impossible to write any earlier chapter.

Asokan sculpture. No building of Asoka's age is standing, unless some of the stu̅pas near Bhīlsā may have been built by him. An early stu̅pa, being merely a domical mound of masonry, does  p112 not offer much scope for architectural design. We can judge of Asokan art better from sculpture than from architecture. The noble sculpture of Asoka's age exhibits a mature form of art, the evolution of which through earlier attempts is hidden from our eyes for the reasons explained above. Many details indicate that the artist in stone closely followed the example set by his fellow craftsmen in wood and ivory. Indeed, ordinary Indian usage seems to have favoured the exercise of his skill by a carver in any material that came to his hand. If Asoka insisted, as he did, on his statuary and reliefs being executed in enduring stone, he was able to utilize the services of skilled Indian workmen accustomed to work in more perishable materials, who were clever enough to adapt their technique to the permanent medium. The art of his time, although obviously affected by Persian and Hellenistic influences, is mainly Indian in both spirit and execution. Take, for instance, the celebrated Sārnāth capital. Much of the design was suggested by Persia. But even the lions in the round are wholly different from and far superior to their Persian proto­types in pose and style, while the bas‑reliefs of the guardian animals of the four quarters on the sides of the abacus are purely Indian. It is improbable that they could have been executed by any sculptor who had not been soaked in ancient Indian tradition, although his previous practical experience might have been gained by working in wood or ivory.

Perfect execution. The perfection of the execution of the best examples of Asokan sculpture is astonishing. Sir John Marshall, who has had wide experience of Greek art, praises the Sārnāth capital in the following terms:

The same expert critic elsewhere comments on 'the extraordinary precision and accuracy which characterizes all Maurya work, and which has never, we venture to say, been surpassed even by the finest workman­ship on Athenian buildings'.

The skill of the stone-cutters of the age could not be surpassed. The monolithic columns of fine-grained sandstone, some of which exceed •forty feet in height, exclusive of the separate capital, are marvels of technical execution.JJJ The art of polishing hard stone was carried to such perfection that it is said to have become a lost art beyond modern powers. The sides of the Barābar caves excavated in most refractory gneiss rock are polished like glass mirrors. The burnishing of Firo̅z Shāh's Lāt, the column from Topra, now at Delhi, is so exquisite that several observers have believed the column to be metallic. Quaint Tom Coryate in the seventeenth century described the monument as 'a brazen pillar'; and even Bishop Heber, early in the nineteenth century, received the impression that it was 'a high black pillar of cast metal'; The stonework of Asoka's time is equally well finished in all other respects. Most of the inscriptions are incised with extreme  p114 accuracy in beautifully cut letters. Dr. Spooner notes similar 'absolute perfection' in the carpentry of the mysterious wooden platforms at Kumrahār, probably dating from the reign of Chandragupta.

Skill in all arts. The engineering ability displayed in the handling and transport of huge monolithic columns conveyed over immense distances is remarkable. When the excavations in progress at Taxila and Pātaliputra shall be more advanced, additional evidence of the skill of the Maurya engineers may be expected. Some has been disclosed already. The combined testimony of books, material remains, and pictorial relief sculpture proves that in the fourth and third centuries B.C. the command of the Maurya monarchs over luxuries of all kinds and skilled craftsman­ship in all the manual arts was not inferior to that enjoyed by the Mogul emperors eighteen centuries later. Some fine jewellery, dating from 250 B.C. and associated with a gold coin of Diodotos and debased silver punch-marked coins, has been found in the Bir mound, the oldest part of the Taxila site.JJJ The relief sculptures at Bharhut (Barhut) and Sānchī, some of which are little if at all later than the time of Asoka, and may be regarded as pictures executed in stone, exhibit most vividly all the details of the life of the age. It was a bustling, cheerful life, full of wholesome activity and movement. The artists delighted in representing it with frank realism, and in decorating their panels with ornaments of charming design treated with good taste.

Education. Asoka's decision to publish his views on Buddhist doctrine and the moral code deemed suitable for 'all sort and conditions of men' in documents composed in vernacular dialects and inscribed in two distinct scripts implies a comparatively wide diffusion of education in his empire. The sites of all the inscriptions were carefully chosen at places where crowds of people either passed or congregated for one reason or another. The heavy cost of publication in such an enduring form would have been wasted if people could not read the edicts. Probably the numerous Buddhist monasteries served the purpose of schools, as they do now in Burma, and so produced a higher general percentage of literacy among the population than that existing at present. Most of the records are incised in the Brāhmī script, the ancient form of the modern contrast used in writing Sanskrit and the allied languages of northern and western India; but two sets of the Fourteen Rock Edicts placed near the north-western frontier were engraved in the Kharoshthī script, a form of Aramaic writing used in that region. The language of the records exhibits several dialectic varieties, suitable for the different provinces.

Literature. The style of the Asoka inscriptions is not wanting in force and dignity. It recalls in some cases that of certain Upanishads. The most interesting of the documents present unmistakable internal evidence of both essentially the composition of the emperor himself. The edicts undoubtedly are closely  p115 related as literature to the Arthasāstra of Kautilya or Chānakya, who devotes a chapter to the subject of the drafting of royal orders and correspondence. A famous collection of moral aphorisms (Chānakya Çataka attributed to Chandragupta's minister has been printed and may have been arranged by him. The chronology of ancient Indian literature is so ill defined that it would be difficult to name any other literary work as dating from the Maurya age. Professor Rhys Davids's belief that the Kathāvatthu, an important Buddhist treatise in Pāli, was actually composed in the time of Asoka is not shared by all scholars. But it is certain that the reigns of three emperors covering ninety years, during which magnificent courts were maintained and every form of art and luxury was cultivated with success, cannot have been unadorned by the works of eminent authors. It is clear that in the fourth century B.C. Indian literature could look back on a long past extending over many generations. Its history cannot have been interrupted intention third century at a time when the Indian empire had attained its widest extent and was in close touch with the civilizations of western Asia and northern Africa.

Asoka and Akbar. Few if any students of Indian history will be disposed to dispute the proposition that the most conspicuous and interesting names in the long roll of Indian monarchs are those of Asoka and Akbar. It so happens, as already observed, that both are better known to us than any others. Although it is impossible to draw a portrait of Asoka, he has disclosed so much of his character in his edicts that he seems to me at all events, after many years of special study, a very real and familiar figure. His remorse for the sufferings caused by the Kalinga war would have amused Akbar, who was one of the most ambitious of men and eager for the fame of a successful warrior, gloriae percupidus, as the Jesuit says.a Akbar never was disturbed because his numerous aggressive wars caused infinite suffering. In that respect he resembled the most ambitious kings. The attitude of Asoka was peculiar and obviously sincere. He has his reward in the vast diffusion of Buddhism, which constitutes his special work in the world, and may be counted to his credit as that 'true conquest' which was his ideal.

Asoka, though devout and zealous in the cause of his religion, was equally energetic in performing his clergy duties. There is no occasion for doubting that he did his best to live up to the admirable principles which he took so much pains to inculcate. Nothing could be better than the instructions addressed to his officers in the newly conquered province of Kalinga, which have been quoted.

A proclamation issued by Mr. Robert Cust to the Sikhs in the year 1848, between the first and second Sikh wars, under instructions from John Lawrence, is strangely similar in both sentiment and expression:

I think that Asoka, who was a capable man of affairs, as well as a pious devotee, always kept an iron hand within the velvet glove, like John Lawrence, who was equally pious and equally practical.

The excellence of the art of Asoka's reign indicates that the Maurya emperor resembled Akbar in being a man of good taste. He spared no cost or pains, and knew how to employ people who used sound materials and did honest work. The administration of the Mauryas strikes me as having been singularly efficient all round in peace and war. The 'extraordinary precision and accuracy' noted by Sir John Marshall as characteristic of Maurya work in stone are the outward expression of similar accuracy and precision in the working of the government machine. Living under the eyes of the innumerable spies employed by the Maurya kings must have been dangerous and unpleasant for individuals at times; but the espionage system, worked as Chānakya describes it, was an instrument of extraordinary power in the hands of a strong, capable sovereign. If Asoka had not been capable he could not have ruled his huge empire with success for forty years, and left behind a name which is still fresh in the memory of men after the lapse of more than two millenniums.

Asoka's sons. We do not know how or where Asoka passed away from the scene of his strenuous labours. A Tibetan tradition is said to affirm that he died at Taxila, and if that should be true it is possible that the researches in progress at that site so full of surprises may throw some light on the last days of the great Buddhist emperor. The names of several of his sons are on record. One, named Tīvara, is mentioned in an inscription. Another, called Kunāla and by other names, is the centre of a cycle of wild legends of the folklore type. A third, named Jalauka, the subject of a long passage in the Kashmīr chronicle, clearly was a real personage, although certain fabulous stories are associated with his memory. He did not share his father's devotion to Buddhism, but on the contrary was an art worshipper of Siva, as was his consort Isānādēvī. He is also credited with the expulsion from the valley of certain unnamed non‑Hindu foreigners (mlēchchhas) He may have been the viceroy of his father and become independent after the death of Asoka. The chronicler includes both Asoka and Jalauka in the list of the kings of Kashmīr.

Asoka's grandsons. Asoka seems to have been succeeded  p117 directly by two grandsons, Dasaratha in the eastern, and Samprati, son of Kunāla, in the western provinces. The real existence of the former is vouched for by brief dedicatory inscriptions in caves granted to the Ajīvikā ascetics, and not far from the similar caves bestowed on the same order by Asoka. The inscriptions, which were recorded immediately after the accession of Dasaratha, are conclusive evidence of that prince's rule in Magadha.

The existence of the other grandson named Samprati has not yet been verified by any early inscription. But there is no reason to doubt that he actually ruled the western provinces after his grandfather's death. According to Jain authorities Ujjain was his capital. His name has been handed down by numerous local traditions extending from Ajmēr in Rājputanā to Satrunjaya in Kāthiāwār, where the most ancient of the crowd of Jain temples is said to have been founded by him. He is also credited with the erection of a temple at Nādlai in Jodhpur, now represented by a more modern building on the site; and with the foundation of the fortress of Jahāzpur, which guarded the pass leading from Mewār to Bundi. He is reputed to have been as zealous in promoting the cause of Jainism as Asoka had been in propagating the religion of Gautama.JJJ

It seems reasonable to assume that Asoka's empire was divided in the first instance between his two grandsons; but no decisive proof of the supposed fact has been discovered, and nothing is known about that further history of either Dasaratha or Samprati.

The last Maurya. The Purānas record the names of several others successors of Asoka, with various readings, which need not  p118 be recited, as nothing material is known about the princes named. It is impossible to determine the extent of the dominions ruled by those later Mauryas. Brihadratha, the last prince of the dynasty, was slain about 185 B.C. by his commander-in‑chief, Pushyamitra (or Pushpamitra) Sunga.

The Sunga dynasty. The usurper established a new dynasty known as that of the Sungas, which is said to have lasted for 112 years until 73 B.C. Their dominions apparently included Magadha and certain neighbouring provinces, extending southwards as far as the Narbadā. The names of the founder of the dynasty and some of his descendants ending in mitra have suggested the hypothesis that Pushyamitra may have been an Iranian, a worshipper of the sun (Mithra).JJJ He celebrated the asvamedha or horse sacrifice, a rite certainly associated with sun‑worship. It marked the successful assertion by the prince performing it of a claim to have vanquished all his neighbours.

Menander's invasion. Pushyamitra was defeated by Khāravela of Kalinga, but repelled the invasion of a Greek king, apparently Menander, the Milinda of Buddhist tradition, king of Kābul and the Panjāb. He advanced (about 175 B.C.) with a strong force into the interior of India; annexed the Indus delta, with the peninsula of Surāshtra (Kāthiāwār), and some other territories on the western coast; occupied Mathurā on the Jumna; besieged Madhyamikā, now Nagarī near Chito̅r in Rājputanā; invested Sākēta in southern Oudh; and threatened, or perhaps took Pātaliputra, the Sunga capital.

Madhyamikā, then the chief town of a branch of the Sibi people, who seems to have emigrated from the Panjāb, was in those days a place of much importance, which an invader could not safely pass by. Although the ruins have supplied much more material for the building of Chito̅r, traces of a Maurya edifice can still be discerned, and two inscriptions of the Sunga period have been found, which record the performance of asvamedha and vājapeya sacrifices.

Brahmanical reaction. Pushyamitra, whatever his origin may have been, was reckoned to be a Hindu. Sun‑worship is consistent with Hinduism, and even at this day sects of Sauras or sun‑worshippers exist. Good reasons warrant the belief that in ancient times the cult of the sun in north-w9nn India, Surāshtra, and Rājputanā, was much more prominent than it is now. Tradition represents the first Sunga king as a fierce enemy of Buddhism and relates that he burnt a multitude of monasteries, carrying his ravages as far north as Jālandhar. The reign of Pushyamitra appears to mark a violent Brahmanical reaction against Buddhism, which had enjoyed so much favour in the time of Asoka. It is possible that the Hinduism of the sungas may have been coloured by Magian practices. They were followers of the sacrificial Sāmaveda.JJJ

The celebrated grammarian Patanjali was a contemporary of Pushyamitra, whose story is partly told in 'Mālavikā and Agnimitra'  p119 (Mālavikāgnimitra), a play by Kālidāsa, composed probably in the fifth century B.C.

The Kānva dynasty. Devabhu̅ti, or Devabhu̅mi, the last of the Sungas, a man of licentious habits, lost his life while engaged in a scandalous intrigue. His death was contrived by his Brahman minister, Vāsudeva, who seated himself on the vacant throne, and so founded a short-lived dynasty of four kings, whose reigns collectively occupied only forty-five years. The brevity of the rule of each indicates a period of disturbance. Nothing is known about the doings of the Brahman kings, whose dynasty is called Kānva or Kānvāyana. The last of them was killed, about 28 B.C., by an Āndhra king whose identity is doubtful.

The Āndhras. It will be convenient to give in this place a brief notice of the Āndhra dynasty comprising thirty kings, whose rule endured for the exceptionally long period of four centuries and a half in round numbers. The details of their history are too obscure and controverted for discussion in this work. The original kingdom of the Āndhras, the Telugu speaking people of the country afterwards called Telingāna, was situated in the deltas of the Godāvarī and Krishnā. It was reckoned powerful even in the time of Megasthenes, but nothing is known about its rulers at that date. The historical dynasty seems to have been established about the time of Asoka's death. His inscriptions mention the Āndhras in terms which apparently imply that their Rājā was in some measure subordinate to the emperor. It may be assumed that his decease enabled the Āndhras, like many other people, to assert their complete independence. After a short interval we find the kings exercising authority in the region of the western Ghāts, so that their dominion stretched right across the Deccan from sea to sea. They engaged in wars with both the dynasties of western Satraps, namely, the early Kshaharata line which had its capital in the western Ghāts, and the somewhat later family which ruled at Ujjain. Both of the Satrap dynasties were of foreign origin, and associated with the Sakas. The Āndhra kings assumed the position of protectors of Hinduism and the caste institution. The most powerful of the later Āndhras was Gautamīputra Yajna Srī, who reigned for thirty years, from about A.D. 166 to 196, or possibly a little earlier. The story of the decline and fall of the dynasty has not been fully recovered. The end of it may be placed somewhere about A.D. 225. Although the Āndhras may at some time or other have controlled Magadha and the ancient imperial capital, Pātaliputra, clear evidence that they did so has not yet come to light.

 p120  Chronology

(Dates nearly correct, but the Indian ones not guaranteed exact)

Maurya Dynasty

 p121  Sunga Dynasty

Āndhra Dynasty

---

Thayer's Note:

a The Jesuit is Antonio Monserrate, who in 1582 wrote a report on his embassy Mongolicae Legationis Commentarius, which languished in a Calcutta library before being published in the early 20C. (Hosten, Memoirs, A. S. B., 1914). Our author summarizes the Jesuit's Indian career in another book of his (Vincent A. Smith, Akbar the Great Mogul, 1542‑1605, pp171 ff.):

On p204 our author writes that Akbar talked with the Jesuit mission about possibly sending an embassy to the King of Spain; Smith says "He seems to have been largely influenced by a desire to communicate the news of his own conquests to the European powers", footnoting this

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