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Scrutinising the Asokan

approach: Review of ‘The Asoka
Inscriptions’ by Herman Tieken
Asoka’s humane administrative acumen is revealed in each and every
edict.

Published : Jul 27, 2023 11:00 IST - 9 MINS READ

R. MAHALAKSHMI

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Edicts of Asoka discovered in Nittur village, Karnataka.   | Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives
:
 “In the eighth year after his consecration the beloved of the gods, Piyadasi, the
king, conquered Kalinga. A hundred and fifty thousand people were deported
from there, hundreds of thousands were killed on the spot and almost as many
died. After that, now that Kalinga has been completely taken, Piyadasi devotes
himself to an intense study of the dhamma…. But Piyadasi is still haunted by
the thought of having conquered Kalinga. For the killing, slaying or deportation
that takes place when one conquers unconquered land is something highly
painful and unbearable... for this purpose this letter on the dhamma was
written, namely that my sons and grandsons will not consider any other new
conquests (of the type undertaken by me in Kalinga), that they prefer a
conquest as a result of which the people surrender of their own accord,
consisting of forgiveness and mildness in punishment, and that they hold this
dhamma conquest as the only true conquest.” (Rock Edict XIII, pp. 446-48)

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The Asoka Inscriptions: Analysing a Corpus

Herman Tieken

Primus Books
Pages: 504 
Price: Rs.1,595

These evocative lines draw attention to the extraordinary ruler who was
:
 wracked with guilt on witnessing the depredations of war after his conquest of
a region to the southeast of his dominions, and to his embracing the spiritual
path in his personal and political life. Rulers before and after Asoka in the pre-
modern world have celebrated their achievements in the form of conquests, and
inscribed their munificence for posterity. What is striking about Asoka is the
remorse that he openly demonstrates, and the keenness with which he
advocates a moral life through numerous records strewn across his vast
kingdom. Herman Tieken, a well-known Indologist with expertise in Sanskrit,
Tamil, Prakrit, and Apabhramsa draws our attention to their diverse
provenance to contextualize the content of the Asokan edicts, with a detailed
discussion of linguistic peculiarities and technical innovations that had a
bearing upon what Tieken calls “the inscription project” of the emperor.

Divided into two parts, the first seven articles are a close reading of texts of the
pillar, rock, and minor rock edicts, among others. The five articles in the second
part draw attention to the geographical spread of the inscriptions, and the
implication of the variation in specific media of communication—pillar/ rock
— for understanding this great ruler’s political control over a vast dominion in
the Indian subcontinent.

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Almost all the inscriptions name the king

as Devanampiya Piyadasi (“beloved of the
gods” (named) Piyadasi), and it is only in the
minor rock edicts that he is called Asoka (at
Maski: devanampiyasa asokasa; Nittur and
Udegolam: raja asoka) [pp. 413-21]. This
leads us to the question of how historians
have identified this ruler. The vast Buddhist
canonical tradition memorialised this ruler
The Asoka Inscriptions: Analysing a Corpus
as dedicated to spreading the three
sanctuaries (sarana) of Buddhism, namely, the Buddha, samgha, and dhamma,
and as convening the Third Buddhist Council at his capital in Pataliputra. In
the Puranas, Asoka is the grandson of Chandragupta, the founder of the Maurya
dynasty, and his father was Bindusara.

Focus on texts of inscriptions

Why did the king not see fit to name his ancestors in his inscriptions? Was this
because he was the first to innovate with recording his orders, and that
:
 genealogy was not yet understood as revealing the public image of the ruler?
The issue of the date of Asoka and the Buddha is also of importance here:
traditionally, a date 218 years prior to Asoka’s consecration for the Buddha’s
parinibbana (final release) had been accepted; more recently, scholars have
argued that the latter occurred 100 years before Asoka came to the throne. This
has led to the following dates being suggested for Asoka: 285-84 BCE and 268-67
BCE [pp. 421-24].

ALSO READ: ‘To bring Asoka back in public discourse was important’

The bulk of Tieken’s work focuses on the texts of the inscriptions, analysing
their content and intent. The pillar edicts comprise six separate imperial
declarations that were meant to make one set, and were found in six versions in
the Gangetic heartland of the empire: Araraj, Nandangarh, Rampurva,
Allahabad, Mirath, and Topra. The rock edicts comprise a set of 14 royal
proclamations found in the borderlands of the empire, namely, in the
northwest—Kandahar (in present-day Afghanistan), Shahbazgarhi and
Mansehra (in present-day Pakistan); the north—Kalsi (Uttarakhand); the east
—Dhauli and Jaugada (Odisha); the south—Erragudi (Andhra) and Sannati
(Karnataka); and the west—Sopara (Maharashtra) and Girnar (Gujarat).

The stylised public use of the Brahmi script may be attributed to Asoka, even if,
as has been argued on the basis of Brahmi letters and words found on pottery
sherds from Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka and the Tamil region, the script was
known prior to Asoka’s time (I am not convinced by the arguments of those who
date the existence of the script to the 6th century BCE in the south, as the
evidence cited is flimsy, to say the least). The use of the Kharoshti script in the
northwestern rock edicts is interesting; this script emerged in the northwestern
part of the Indian subcontinent possibly because of the influence of the
Aramaic script used by the Achaemenids (First Persian Empire) in the 4th
:
 century BCE. Tieken avoids the
controversial position of Harry Falk
—whose source book on Asokan
inscriptions has been invaluable to
researchers—that Brahmi is derived
from Greek (2006, p. 139). The
language of the inscriptions was
mostly Prakrit, with the “local”
elements visible (Gandhari dialect in
Girnar); in the northwest, Greek and
Aramaic languages were used.
Almost all the inscriptions name the king as
Devanampiya Piyadasi.  | Photo Credit: The Hindu
Highlights Archives

Herman Tieken, a well- What is striking about Those who advocate the
known Indologist with Asoka is the remorse “not-so-greatness” of
expertise in Sanskrit, that he openly Asoka cannot take away
Tamil, Prakrit, and demonstrates, and the the import of his rule,
Apabhramsa draws our keenness with which exemplified in his words
attention to their he advocates a moral immortalised in stone,
diverse provenance to life through numerous advocating peaceful
contextualize the records strewn across coexistence, respect for
content of the Asokan his vast kingdom. all religions and
edicts. communities.

The pillar edicts appear to be the reflections of a king, who, in his 26th regnal
year, was looking back at his long career, and recounting the various measures
he had taken for the welfare of the people. The rock edicts, similarly, according
to Tieken, presented a consolidated view of Asoka’s reign, although mentioning
specific years of his reign when momentous events occurred—viz. the Kalinga
war in the eighth year, his spiritual awakening in the tenth year, and so on.
Empathy for animals and ordinary folk, including slaves; the creation and
:
 maintenance of public works such as hospitals, rest houses, trees, and wells;
the opportunity for criminals and convicts to atone for their deeds; concerns
over the Buddhist samgha; moral precepts relating to respect and support for
the elderly, teachers, and religious persons; and directions to the rajukas,
mahamattas, and other officials—Asoka’s humane administrative acumen is
revealed in each and every edict.

ALSO READ: On rediscovering Asoka through his edicts

Compilation of separate epistles

Tieken suggests that the inscriptions were essentially the compilation of
separate epistles sent by the king to his officials in different parts of his empire;
they are a product of subsequent generations who sought legitimacy for
themselves by harking to the glorious rule of their ancestor, as seen from the
frequent references to sons and grandsons in the edicts (p. 412). Whether we
agree with Tieken that there was a royal chancery that directed an epistolary
system across the empire (the argumentation to support this is not wholly
convincing), and that the edicts may have been issued by Asoka’s immediate
successors (according to Tieken, they preferred to be anonymous to seek
legitimacy through Asoka; again, not very convincing), the rigorous cross-
examination of content and linguistic analysis he subjects these sources to,
including the grammatical intricacies, renders this book valuable for the
historian. I do feel that the graphic description of the orthography of the edicts
would have been better served with visual reinforcement. Appendix-I with the
flowing translations of all the inscriptions adds great value to Tieken’s book.

James Prinsep’s identification of Brahmi and analysis of the Asokan edicts in

the 1830s, and Alexander Cunningham’s publication of the edict corpus (1877),
paved the way for subsequent research on this important yet enigmatic figure
in Indian history. Generations of scholars like Vincent Smith, B.M. Barua,
:
 Radhakrishna Choudhary, Romila
Thapar, B.G. Gokhale, K.A. Nilakanta
Sastri, D.C. Sircar, Harry Falk,
Upinder Singh, Patrick Olivelle,
Nayanjot Lahiri, and H.P. Ray made
important contributions, drawing
attention to the historical context of
the development of empire during
the 3rd century BCE, marked by the
huge administrative apparatus
described by Asoka in his edicts.
A mural depicting the Third Buddhist Council at
Nava Jetavana in Shravasti, Uttar Pradesh.  | Photo
Credit: The Hindu Archives Upinder Singh (2016) declares, “The
ultimate declared aim of Asoka’s
political theory and practice was neither the expansion of territorial power nor
the maintenance of social order. Instead, it was an extremely radical and
intrusive aim: the moulding and transformation of the mental and emotional
dispositions, attitudes and behavior of all humankind.” In this sense, Asoka
seems relevant beyond his time, and it is not surprising that scholars and non-
academics have been drawn to this figure. Political scientist Rajeev Bhargava
(2023) uses the Gramscian concept of expansive hegemony to describe Asoka’s
“political ethic” that allowed for the development of a common ground across
regions and communities within his vast realm, and suggests its secular
resonance in modern India.

On the other hand, Sanjeev Sanyal (2016) pronounces “Asoka, the not so great”
as being a cruel and cunning ruler who promoted Buddhism at the expense of
the brahmanical tradition. While the first interpretation seems anachronistic,
the other reveals a lack of contextual understanding, a fundamental objective of
the historian’s craft, and the imperative for demolishing the idea of Asoka as
:
 great seems to be coming from
outside the domain of historical
scholarship. More covert, and more
intensely political, beneath the
recent “discovery” of the Sengol
(sceptre) as an “Indian” symbol of
power in modern democratic India,
the undercutting of the Asoka chakra
emblem adopted after Independence
is conspicuous.

The image of the only known sculpture depicting

For the historian of early India,
the figure of Emperor Asoka displayed at an ASI
characterisation of a period or figure exhibition in Mysore. | Photo Credit: The Hindu
Archives
as “great” or “glorious” are neither
essential nor do they add anything substantial to the understanding of history.
By the same logic, those who advocate the “not-so-greatness” of Asoka cannot
take away the import of his rule, exemplified in his words immortalised in
stone, advocating peaceful coexistence, respect for all religions and
communities, and the duty of the administrators to protect the people and
their culture. Herman Tieken’s scholarly effort brings out this aspect effectively.

Dr R. Mahalakshmi is Professor, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal

Nehru University.

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