Editing Ashoka (section)

== As a prince ==
Ashoka's own inscriptions do not describe his early life, and much of the information on this topic comes from apocryphal legends written hundreds of years after him.{{sfn|Lahiri|2015|p=27}} While these legends include obviously fictitious details such as narratives of Ashoka's past lives, they have some plausible historical information about Ashoka's period.{{sfn|Lahiri|2015|p=27}}{{sfn|Singh|2008|p=332}}

According to the ''[[Ashokavadana]]'', when Ashoka was young, his father hated him for his rough and unappealing skin. One day, Bindusara, his father, asked the ascetic Pingala-vatsajiva to determine which of his sons was worthy of being his successor. He asked all the princes to assemble at the Garden of the Golden Pavilion on the ascetic's advice. Ashoka was reluctant to go because his father disliked him, but his mother convinced him to do so. When minister Radhagupta saw Ashoka leaving the capital for the Garden, he offered to provide the prince with an imperial elephant for the travel.{{sfn|Strong|1989|p=206}} At the Garden, Pingala-vatsajiva examined the princes and realised that Ashoka would be the next emperor. To avoid annoying Bindusara, the ascetic refused to name the successor. Instead, he said that one who had the best mount, seat, drink, vessel and food would be the next king; each time, Ashoka declared that he met the criterion. Later, he told Ashoka's mother that her son would be the next emperor, and on her advice, left the empire to avoid Bindusara's wrath.{{sfn|Strong|1989|p=207}}

While legends suggest that Bindusara disliked Ashoka's ugly appearance, they also state that Bindusara gave him important responsibilities, such as suppressing a revolt in [[Taxila|Takshashila]] (according to north Indian tradition) and governing [[Ujjain]] (according to Sri Lankan tradition). This suggests that Bindusara was impressed by the other qualities of the prince.{{sfn|Thapar|1961|p=21}} Another possibility is that he sent Ashoka to distant regions to keep him away from the imperial capital.{{sfn|Lahiri|2015|p=65}}

=== 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}}

=== 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}}