Editing Ashoka (section)

== Modern scholarship ==

=== Rediscovery ===

Ashoka had almost been forgotten, but in the 19th century [[James Prinsep]] contributed in the revelation of historical sources. After deciphering the [[Brahmi script]], Prinsep had originally identified the "[[Priyadasi]]" of the inscriptions he found with the King of [[Anuradhapura Kingdom|Ceylon]] [[Devanampiya Tissa of Anuradhapura|Devanampiya Tissa]]. However, in 1837, [[George Turnour]] discovered an important Sri Lankan manuscript ([[Dipavamsa]], or "Island Chronicle" ) associating Piyadasi with Ashoka:

{{blockquote|Two hundred and eighteen years after the beatitude of the [[Buddha]], was the inauguration of Piyadassi, .... who, the grandson of Chandragupta, and the son of Bindusara, was at the time Governor of [[Ujain|Ujjayani]].|[[Dipavamsa]].{{sfn|Allen|2012|p=79}}}}

[[File:Rock_edict-_closer_look.JPG|thumb|The [[Minor Rock Edict]] of [[Maski]] mentions the author as "Devanampriya Asoka", definitively linking both names, and confirming Ashoka as the author of the famous [[Edicts of Ashoka|Edicts]].]]
Since then, the association of "Devanampriya Priyadarsin" with Ashoka was confirmed through various inscriptions, and especially confirmed in the [[Minor Rock Edict]] inscription discovered in [[Maski]], directly associating Ashoka with his regnal title Devanampriya ("Beloved-of-the-Gods"):<ref name=CSH>{{cite book |title=The Cambridge Shorter History of India |publisher=CUP Archive |page=42 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9_48AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA42 |language=en |access-date=13 July 2018 |archive-date=25 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225190721/https://books.google.com/books?id=9_48AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA42 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Gupta |first1=Subhadra Sen |title=Ashoka |date=2009 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=9788184758078 |page=13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L5ru08et_ZAC&pg=PT13 |language=en |access-date=13 July 2018 |archive-date=31 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231152002/https://books.google.com/books?id=L5ru08et_ZAC&pg=PT13 |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{poemquote|
[A proclamation] of Devanampriya Asoka.
Two and a half years [and somewhat more] (have passed) since I am a [[Buddha]]-[[Shakya|Sakya]].
[A year and] somewhat more (has passed) [since] I have visited the [[Samgha]] and have shown zeal.
Those gods who formerly had been unmingled (with men) in [[Jambudvipa]], have how become mingled (with them).
This object can be reached even by a lowly (person) who is devoted to morality.
One must not think thus, – (viz.) that only an exalted (person) may reach this.
Both the lowly and the exalted must be told : "If you act thus, this matter (will be) prosperous and of long duration, and will thus progress to one and a half.{{sfn|Hultzsch|1925|p=[https://archive.org/stream/InscriptionsOfAsoka.NewEditionByE.Hultzsch/HultzschCorpusAsokaSearchable#page/n353 174–175]}}|[[Maski]] [[Minor Rock Edict]] of Ashoka.
}}

Another important historian was British [[archaeologist]] [[John Hubert Marshall]], who was director-General of the [[Archaeological Survey of India]]. His main interests were [[Sanchi]] and [[Sarnath]], in addition to [[Harappa]] and [[Mohenjo-daro|Mohenjodaro]]. Sir [[Alexander Cunningham]], a British archaeologist and army engineer, and often known as the father of the [[Archaeological Survey of India]], unveiled heritage sites like the [[Bharhut]] Stupa, Sarnath, Sanchi, and the Mahabodhi Temple. [[Mortimer Wheeler]], a British archaeologist, also exposed Ashokan historical sources, especially the [[Taxila]].{{citation needed|date=June 2016}}

===Perceptions and historiography===

The use of Buddhist sources in reconstructing the life of Ashoka has had a strong influence on perceptions of Ashoka, as well as the interpretations of his Edicts. Building on traditional accounts, early scholars regarded Ashoka as a primarily Buddhist monarch who underwent a conversion from the Vedic religion to Buddhism and was actively engaged in sponsoring and supporting the Buddhist monastic institution. Some scholars have tended to question this assessment. Thapar writes about Ashoka that "We need to see him both as a statesman in the context of inheriting and sustaining an empire in a particular historical period, and as a person with a strong commitment to changing society through what might be called the propagation of social ethics."<ref name="Ashoka - A Retrospective">{{cite journal|last1=Thapar|first1=Romila|title=Ashoka – A Retrospective|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|date=13 November 2009|volume=44|issue=45|pages=31–37}}</ref> The only source of information not attributable to Buddhist sources are the Ashokan Edicts, and these do not explicitly state that Ashoka was a Buddhist. In his edicts, Ashoka expresses support for all the major religions of his time: [[Buddhism]], [[Vedic Brahmanism|Brahmanism]], [[Jainism]], and [[Ajivika]]ism, and his edicts addressed to the population at large (there are some addressed specifically to Buddhists; this is not the case for the other religions) generally focus on moral themes members of all the religions would accept. For example, Amartya Sen writes, "The Indian Emperor Ashoka in the third century BCE presented many political inscriptions in favor of tolerance and individual freedom, both as a part of state policy and in the relation of different people to each other".<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Sen|first1=Amartya|title=Universal Truths and the Westernizing Illusion|journal=Harvard International Review|date=Summer 1998|volume=20|issue=3|pages=40–43}}</ref>

However, the edicts alone strongly ''indicate'' that he was a Buddhist. In one edict he belittles rituals, and he banned Vedic animal sacrifices; these strongly suggest that he at least did not look to the Vedic tradition for guidance. Furthermore, many edicts are expressed to Buddhists alone; in one, Ashoka declares himself to be an "[[upasaka]]", and in another he demonstrates a close familiarity with Buddhist texts. He erected rock pillars at Buddhist holy sites, but did not do so for the sites of other religions. He also used the word [[Dharma (Buddhism)|"dhamma"]] to refer to qualities of the heart that underlie moral action; this was an exclusively Buddhist use of the word. However, he used the word more in the spirit than as a strict code of conduct. Thapar writes, "His dhamma did not derive from divine inspiration, even if its observance promised heaven. It was more in keeping with the ethic conditioned by the logic of given situations. His logic of Dhamma was intended to influence the conduct of categories of people, in relation to each other. Especially where they involved unequal relationships."<ref name="Ashoka - A Retrospective"/> Finally, he promotes ideals that correspond to the first three steps of the Buddha's graduated discourse.<ref>Richard Robinson, Willard Johnson, and Thanissaro Bhikkhu, ''Buddhist Religions'', fifth ed., Wadsworth 2005, page 59.</ref>

Much of the knowledge about Ashoka comes from the [[Edicts of Ashoka|several inscriptions]] that he had carved on pillars and rocks throughout the empire. All his inscriptions present him as compassionate and loving. In the Kalinga rock edits, he addresses his people as his "children" and mentions that as a father he desires their good.<ref name="VenSDhammika_1993">[https://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/ashoka.html The Edicts of King Ashoka] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328144411/http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/ashoka.html |date=28 March 2014 }}, English translation (1993) by Ven. S. Dhammika. {{ISBN|955-24-0104-6}}. Retrieved 21 February 2009</ref>

=== Impact of pacifism ===
After Ashoka's death, the [[Maurya dynasty#Decline|Maurya dynasty]] declined rapidly. The various Puranas provide different details about Ashoka's successors, but all agree that they had relatively short reigns. The empire seems to have weakened, fragmented, and suffered an invasion from the [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom|Bactrian Greeks]].{{sfn|Singh|2008|p=333}}

Some historians, such as [[H. C. Raychaudhuri]], have argued that Ashoka's pacifism undermined the "military backbone" of the Maurya empire. Others, such as [[Romila Thapar]], have suggested that the extent and impact of his pacifism have been "grossly exaggerated".{{sfn|Singh|2012|p=131, 143}}