or a Bihar) was the CapHal ofthis, formed past of the Magacihan ae hen the Marys. Chandagupn (21 “iy ng, was probably responsible joy y the creation of a empire exten,” "Set of the subcontinent 10 the ao A Tale of Teo Pillars (Pes koown to have lucie on bring hls entire carcer-opasa, 3 : F i“Ancient Delhi " A Tale of Tes Pitan The Mayan period riche eseThere ts thus « pany ; are andthe Maryan y Hare hasbeen fund a soy see have detailed Information aul elp in reconsivcting eye " rth NBPW levels atthe Purans Olay, this phase, made of both mutl-briek an ‘wed in pe ' er found Hoses had drains made of oth Feelanpug Dicks, Terracotta ring wells (roughly 75" Se apilcin inde0he NEW oy these wells, which may have function re vater, was as flows: tan obo kv anarrow rounded e188 J hyp then fitted into tt, one 09 Lop Ofte iy ‘othe brim with rubble ancl ea, ns and animals the fr ated with the worship of the mot cling a horse and armoured cide, ings and an agate vc were sls ¢ of the NBPW dishes bore on » ‘an elephant. Punch marke si nco. A terracot ‘emperor Ashoka had a series of edicts on dhamme arma) engraved on roxks ite, This dhamma consis ‘but not kent 6, hose | by early Buddhian 9s nseriptions are writen in the Pabst language tand regarded as closer tothe everyday speech of script ov the oor western par of hs rp, ‘Kharoshuht script to spread his sesage, Certain Anweriptlans, sore tiingual ane bi scrip ound in these pats, Asoka’ arith have &Ancient Delhi A Tale of Teo Piter Ipecsuse of heir remarkabie retains tw Jjons inthe Indian subcoriny 9S : Bee lization and the Many. renting found 90 fa a India» wrote on perishable material sich, ay me 2 i Pee gar sach pecens Eg have in bak ‘ime. When Ashoka Maurya deciiey of the raged on durable material—stonc—he 5 acs ead his message. Heals leis “ is le bis sgrag b ee See places that formed pan of toon the script of the Ashokan inscription, time = Pa per n 1657 by 2 schol aed Jame. ‘twas deciphered ‘Today, there are three places in Delhi where Asha.” ipa ween" A version of Minor Rock Edict ing Hecke stated a Baap, 10 the 20 of Sin plan wo Adbokan pln 5 ws the Delhi-Meerut pillat) on the Delhi Ridge foams to Bara Hindu Rao hospital, near the Vane, srampus, and the second (known a the Dei-Tip Delhi campus, emote Indian 18192830 ae cnet cet neers Sie Piatra Scoeay othe Asai Soccy m Co pee rl crc en ‘ena jocy ann Pee tect ete ian tay ent of Aaa Bean 157 no techn Chace Wiis fa ome eee at | hard «div mmc Fe ratscton wc tes vtec Peso ISKCON templeca RasAncient Delhi A Tale of Tao Pillars s 8 aq Faor Sbah Kod. The ples are tall shafts sculpted ou modern one, but iit posible (this is pore speculation! that or dae, The Deli-Meert pla stands ust over 32 feet jy, ® a marks the ste of an older shrine? If s, there may have nile te heght ofthe Delhi-Topra pillar i 42 feet inches Judging ae ym adcitional pont in Ashoka having his dhenma teachings fom the capitals of Ashokan pillars found elsewhere, these typ ve ti emphass on vrs such as abinsa (aonijuy) ised pula wee inal iethood once surmounted by an inverted oy vara pace where bloody sacrifices may have been performed to fnpporing one or more asimals sculpted Inthe round, inte a fice and powerful goddess™ "There isan important diference between the edict bearing rocky Pr fenions of Ashoka's Minor Rock Edict I have been found at and he bo pir edict. The rock edits situ 5. in the original several places in northern, central, and southera India” In the place where Aahoks had itinsrbed, while the tvo pills are no SuhapurSrinivarpurt version of the edit (which i shorter than th were brought to Delhi, one from near Meerut (in Uitar the other versions), Ashoka tells us that he became a lay devotee Pradesh) and the other from Topra (near Ambala in Haryana) af Buddhism (he word used is ypasaka) twoandshalf years ago, due tothe enthusiasm of a medieval Sultan of Deb, Fr Shab tt dat fora year he did not make much progress. Afr thi, he ‘Toghlug (1351-88 0). ~ tod dawn closer tothe Buddhist monaséc order (rangh). Ashoka ‘The sites selected for the inseribing of Ashoka’s edicts were in boasts that due to his efforts and exertions, gods and men had some eases important places on the trade routes ofthe time, ia ‘ome to mingle in India (tie word wsed for India ts Jamdudspa). cers places that had some connection with the Buddha or | 42 poins out that anybody, whether gret aid ich or humble Buddhiam. Some ses combined both these features. The rock |'/J 24 poor could follow dBanima and atain heaven. The edi le ‘edit at Bahapur seems to be connected with the Utiarapatha—the ‘us that this proclamation was being made so that the high and peat ranssegional trade route ofnorth India. The northem artery | ' yy, ich and poor, could exert themclves in following dhamma Of this route which swept across the Gangetic plains, linking the ‘and in order that people living beyond the king's borders could ‘northe:tem part ofthe subcontinent tothe Gangetic deta, passed is itars Sheet ikth weer, through De, It is an important fact that a Mughal kor mitar (similar to modem milestones on highways) was located at Bahapur, confirming that in medieval times a major trade route passed this way. The fact that Ashoka's rock edict is found esr is spot suggests that this was an important route in ancient ies "Fy any coc sheer esl ver Be ro i ano gl ed Se aswell. ‘ree map fr pect sd he pac dw ied ned ees 7 Seen Te tate mer ti sent en { ‘another poshblity that would explain the location si ee ic igen eg meh Tmt ee | pf the rock edicts stiahapurSrinivaspuri) The rocks on which aqhtey i etn sae tah Onno cs go 7 Mola eda sincere ie athe base of a rocky stretch elo "Cpecesae a eeu cine, | “L © tothetemple ofthe goddess Kalka Devt (Kali). The present temple me Brakmagi, Gavirmath, Mask, Paligundy Seapur, Neo 0 iBs Ancient Drihi ‘Translation of Ashoka’, LB Pdict at Bahang, The Beloved of the Gods (Devanampiya) More than two-and athalf years have passed since jj, a Buddhist layman. But no Eres effort fin prom, cause of Dhamma) was made by mo. iy nen 'S ne hg yeacsince Thave drawn close the Bude oy jo have exeied mye zealous. Those men when gt did not mingle with the gods in Jumbucvipa hay. ., mingle with them. This isthe resul of my exer, A is not one to be attained only by ss this (goal) isnot asned only by the great. yen ‘shumble man who exerts himsel Of dhamme an fan heaven, This proclamation is made ga flows rrp: Let be hone an hee" a Ahemaelves (inthe pursuit of denna) An let co Peace Acer people ving Beyond the borders of my kingdom. Aout this. And Tet extion (in the cause of dhens endure forever, And this cause (0f dhamma) wit | | farkered grelly among the people; ill intoar saalf old i - ‘The Ashokan pillars generally cary sx ees, a ode theDelsi Meerut pillars hoeeverthe Deihi-Toprs pla. Their contents are related to the theme that Ashoka n.g, have been obsessed withdhamma.® The insertions ¢ Pies eo tw ees ively wed by Ao isin he Freda oh septs en) siamo Sess Teens “Adba! ccs yin ow sensors ncvhactang | st Cr degli nd Niu ad woe ce a eres sad tanto ol he vars Asan nse, ese cin a ria ndaren le by Bch 0 hago an ae Be found tn DIC: Sees Zepto 4 ota rt 10 The Deh 197) Ramla Tapas ad th Dn ey ac Delhi Topra pillar | Forde rake text andas Englsh tansaion ofthe Snasagpa hdige Photograph: ¥. Tanks Jor and BM Pande, "A newly covered capac eeDelhi-Mecrit pillar Rom te A Tale of Te» Pitan as consining of the following viet sky (200 njary ruthless, and reading dhemme aed als of the beings), ood deeds, merey, char =e king boasts of his exersons in spn bis satsGction at the results He Mg cai knows 0 thereat ant dhamme mahamati,- ag eae pf inl he crested for he epren porn . hate. He expres hs wish a hee hay a: dic procedure allover is mp many : respite that he had granted to thse win hed tase eed 0 death nd periodic reeset prone on human Pe ds: Ashok also refers in the predicts his pub wears mesures Uke plang tee, sing wel, and bing es for the benefit of men and animals He deta ge os the killing of which he had banned inthe wren carbs consecration (abhisheka), Ashoka alv talks .. for all religous sects. He admis inte seventh pil a duties of that is dificult to promote dhamma though legation, ial persuasion i the most effective way So achieve his goal Gece yand all men would follow dharma for as iong asthe sun and ‘moon endure. Sof Ashoka’s subjects would have been able to read bis tions in stone, and the king reached out toa much jence by ensuring that his message was spread far and Dby an army of officials and by himself personally. This [est massive state-supported propaganda campaign in = i ie of One an 9, p08 din D..Se, Nee De ln oSA Tale of Tien Pitore a hen heaved onto several boats ied as ver tows new perme in Delhi. At en 3 eters and labour, Galthe Ashokan ples couhl no longer be read by pase. ASE tells ur tha some Brahmins gave the pe that the Inecripbon on One of chem contaiacd x % Beep were ofa great king oamed Sultan Fin, The ee a peau ‘been amazed (or m, ee So “The first refers to a person named ViA Tale of Tee Filters = LOver a8 memUmEnts HERUfyIng his owe power and in their newer medievalAncient Delhi j @ orazen pillar erected by the Macedonian king Alexa ler ty hae wtetory over bi arch Indian adversary Porus.” Co, on similar incorrect information to Chaplain Edware ie wrote in his journal that Coryat had told him that he pillar of marble with a Greek inscription. Coryat probap), : to the conclusion that the pillar bore a Greek inscription fs of the similarity between certain Greek and Brahm, ee However, his claims about the contents of the inscription ters obviously quite fanciful. Itis also interesting to note that he ij, Were that the pillar was made of either brass or marble perc contemporary traveller, Bishop Heber, described the pillar i high black pillar of cast metal’ and likened it to the iron vil a the Qutb complex. Such mistakes about the material of which fe Delhi-Topra pillar was made may have been in part due jy i‘ unusual, fustrous surface. The redefinition of the meaning of historical remains of th e Pay ry ad ten Cates pastis an ongoing process. We can end this account of the Ashokan pillars by taking note of the fact that there are places where Ashokan pillars or fragments of such pillars are today being worshipped x Shiva Jingas. What an amazing transformation of meaning! The adventurous and eccentric Thomas Coryat was aman who devoted his life to wave!log ‘and writing about his travels. He called himself “the Odeombian GalloSelx x stretcher,’ alluding to his birthyplace and his extensive travels on foot His book on hi ‘continental walking tour through parts of France, Italy, ‘Switzerland, and Germany wi entitled Coryat's Cruditis, hastily gobled in five months travells. Walking actos Ss be tumed up in the court of the Mughal emperor Jahangir, and appears to tive ss" speech in Persian to the emaperor in which he gave four reasons for his comits tolsds ‘to see the great Mughal emperor, the emperor's elephants and the Gang add et the emperor's permission to visit Timuss tomb in Samarkand Coryat Jos may of ‘notes on his Asiailc journeys. One set was published during his lite ume, while ene "othe ober appeared mpi pothumonsiy, Coyat ced in Surat DS" - 1617, He hes buried somewhere on the banks of the Tapti river a