Editing Ashoka (section)

=== Rebellion at Taxila ===
[[File:Aramaic_inscription_at_Taxila_Museum.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Aramaic Inscription of Taxila]] probably mentions Ashoka.]]
According to the ''Ashokavadana'', Bindusara dispatched prince Ashoka to suppress a rebellion in the city of Takshashila{{sfn|Strong|1989|p=208}} (present-day [[Bhir Mound]]{{sfn|Lahiri|2015|p=66}} in Pakistan). This episode is not mentioned in the Sri Lankan tradition, which instead states that Bindusara sent Ashoka to govern Ujjain. Two other Buddhist texts – ''Ashoka-sutra'' and ''Kunala-sutra'' – state that Bindusara appointed Ashoka as a [[Uparaja|viceroy]] in [[Gandhara]] (where Takshashila was located), not Ujjain.{{sfn|Thapar|1961|p=21}}

The ''Ashokavadana'' states that Bindusara provided Ashoka with a fourfold-army (comprising cavalry, [[War elephant|elephants]], [[Ratha|chariots]] and infantry) but refused to provide any weapons for this army. Ashoka declared that weapons would appear before him if he was worthy of being an emperor, and then, the deities emerged from the earth and provided weapons to the army. When Ashoka reached Takshashila, the citizens welcomed him and told him that their rebellion was only against the evil ministers, not the emperor. Sometime later, Ashoka was similarly welcomed in the [[Khasas|Khasa]] territory and the gods declared that he would go on to conquer the whole earth.{{sfn|Strong|1989|p=208}}

Takshashila was a prosperous and geopolitically influential city, and historical evidence proves that by Ashoka's time, it was well-connected to the Mauryan capital Pataliputra by the ''Uttarapatha'' trade route.{{sfn|Lahiri|2015|p=70}} However, no extant contemporary source mentions the Takshashila rebellion, and none of Ashoka's records states that he ever visited the city.{{sfn|Lahiri|2015|p=66-67}} That said, the historicity of the legend about Ashoka's involvement in the Takshashila rebellion may be corroborated by [[Aramaic Inscription of Taxila|an Aramaic-language inscription]] discovered at [[Sirkap]] near Taxila. The inscription includes a name that begins with the letters "prydr", and most scholars restore it as "Priyadarshi", which was the title of Ashoka.{{sfn|Thapar|1961|p=21}} Another evidence of Ashoka's connection to the city may be the name of the [[Dharmarajika Stupa]] near Taxila; the name suggests that it was built by Ashoka ("Dharma-raja").{{sfn|Lahiri|2015|p=68}}

The story about the deities miraculously bringing weapons to Ashoka may be the text's way of deifying Ashoka; or indicating that Bindusara – who disliked Ashoka – wanted him to fail in Takshashila.{{sfn|Lahiri|2015|p=67}}