Editing Ashoka (section)

=== Viceroy of Ujjain ===
According to the ''Mahavamsa'', Bindusara appointed Ashoka as the [[Uparaja|Viceroy]] of [[Avantirastra]] (present day [[Ujjain district]]),{{sfn|Thapar|1961|p=21}} which was an important administrative and commercial province in central India.{{sfn|Lahiri|2015|pp=89–90}} This tradition is corroborated by the [[Saru Maru]] inscription discovered in central India; this inscription states that he visited the place as a prince.{{sfn|Allen|2012|p=154}} Ashoka's own [[Major Rock Edicts#First Separate Major Rock Edict|rock edict]] mentions the presence of a prince viceroy at Ujjain during his reign,{{sfn|Guruge|1993|p=28}} which further supports the tradition that he himself served as a viceroy at Ujjain.{{sfn|Lahiri|2015|p=98}}

[[File:Panguraria Top View Closeup detail.jpg|thumb|The [[Saru Maru|Saru Maru commemorative inscription]] seems to mention the presence of Ashoka in the area of Ujjain as he was still a Prince.]]
Pataliputra was connected to Ujjain by multiple routes in Ashoka's time, and on the way, Ashoka entourage may have encamped at Rupnath, where his inscription has been found.{{sfn|Lahiri|2015|pp=94–95}}

According to the Sri Lankan tradition, Ashoka visited [[Vidisha]], where he fell in love with a beautiful woman on his way to Ujjain. According to the ''Dipamvamsa'' and ''Mahamvamsa'', the woman was [[Devi (Ashoka's wife)|Devi]] – the daughter of a merchant. According to the ''Mahabodhi-vamsa'', she was Vidisha-Mahadevi and belonged to the [[Shakya]] clan of [[Gautama Buddha]]. The Buddhist chroniclers may have fabricated the Shakya connection to connect Ashoka's family to Buddha.{{sfn|Thapar|1961|pp=22–23}} The Buddhist texts allude to her being a Buddhist in her later years but do not describe her conversion to Buddhism. Therefore, it is likely that she was already a Buddhist when she met Ashoka.{{sfn|Lahiri|2015|p=101}}

The ''Mahavamsa'' states that Devi gave birth to Ashoka's son [[Mahinda (Buddhist monk)|Mahinda]] in Ujjain, and two years later, to a daughter named [[Sanghamitta]].{{sfn|Lahiri|2015|p=97}} According to the ''Mahavamsa'', Ashoka's son Mahinda was ordained at the age of 20 years, during the sixth year of Ashoka's reign. That means Mahinda must have been 14 years old when Ashoka ascended the throne. Even if Mahinda was born when Ashoka was as young as 20 years old, Ashoka must have ascended the throne at 34 years, which means he must have served as a viceroy for several years.{{sfn|Thapar|1961|pp=24–25}}