Editing Ashoka (section)

===Other sources===

Numismatic, sculptural, and archaeological evidence supplements research on Ashoka.{{sfn|Thapar|1961|p=11}} Ashoka's name appears in the lists of Mauryan emperors in the various [[Puranas]]. However, these texts do not provide further details about him, as their [[Brahmanism|Brahmanical]] authors were not patronised by the Mauryans.{{sfn|Thapar|1995|p=15}} Other texts, such as the ''[[Arthashastra]]'' and [[Indica (Megasthenes)|''Indica'' of Megasthenes]], which provide general information about the Maurya period, can also be used to make inferences about Ashoka's reign.{{sfn|Thapar|1961|p=9}} However, the ''Arthashastra'' is a normative text that focuses on an ideal rather than a historical state, and its dating to the Mauryan period is a subject of debate. The ''Indica'' is a [[Lost literary work|lost work]], and only parts of it survive in the form of paraphrases in later writings.{{sfn|Singh|2012|p=132}}

The 12th-century text ''[[Rajatarangini]]'' mentions a [[Kashmiris|Kashmiri]] king [[Ashoka (Gonandiya)|Ashoka of Gonandiya dynasty]] who built several [[stupa]]s: some scholars, such as [[Aurel Stein]], have identified this king with the Maurya emperor Ashoka; others, such as [[Ananda W. P. Guruge]] dismiss this identification as inaccurate.{{sfn|Guruge|1995b|pp=185-188}}