Ashoka: The Search for India's Lost Emperor

by Charles Allen

India's lost emperor Ashoka Maurya has a special place in history. In a wide-ranging, multi-layered journey of discovery that is as much about Britain's entanglement with India as it as about India's distant past, Charles Allen tells the story of the man who was arguably the greatest ruler India has ever known.

Genres: History, India, Nonfiction, Buddhism, Biography, Religion, Archaeology

460 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2014

About the author

Charles Allen is a British writer and historian. He was born in India, where several generations of his family served under the British Raj. His work focuses on India and South Asia in general. Allen's most notable work is Kipling Sahib, a biography of Rudyard Kipling. His most recent work, Ashoka: the Search for India's Lost Emperor, was published in February 2012.

Selected works:

Plain Tales from the Raj: Images of British India in the Twentieth Century (1975)
Raj: A Scrapbook of British India 1877–1947 (1977)
Tales from the Dark Continent: Images of British Colonial Africa in the Twentieth Century (1979)
A Mountain in Tibet: The Search for Mount Kailas and the Sources of the Great Rivers of India (1982)
Tales from the South China Seas: Images of the British in South-East Asia in the Twentieth Century (1983)
Lives of the Indian Princes, with co-author Sharada Dwivedi (1984)
Kipling's Kingdom: His Best Indian Stories (1987)
A Glimpse of the Burning Plain: Leaves from the Journals of Charlotte Canning (1986)
A Soldier of the Company: Life of an Indian Ensign 1833–43 (1988)
Architecture of the British Empire, Ed. R. Fermor-Hesketh (1989)
The Savage Wars of Peace: Soldiers' Voices 1945–1989 (1990)
Thunder and Lightning: The RAF in the Gulf War (1991)
The Search for Shangri-La: A Journey into Tibetan History (1999)
India Through the Lens: Photography 1840–1911, Ed. Vidya Dehejia (2000)
Soldier Sahibs: The Men who Made the North-west Frontier (2000)
The Buddha and the Sahibs: The Men who Discovered India's Lost Religion (2002)
Duel in the Snows: The True Story of the Younghusband Mission to Lhasa (2004)
Maharajas: Resonance from the Past (2005)
God's Terrorists: The Wahhabi Cult and the Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad (2006)
Kipling Sahib: India and the Making of Rudyard Kipling (2007)
The Buddha and Dr Führer: An Archaeological Scandal (2008)
The Taj at Apollo Bunder: The History of the Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai, with co-author Sharada Dwivedi (2011)
Ashoka: The Search for India's Lost Emperor (2012)

Reviews

[Abhay Bora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing read. The history that had been dead and buried by human and natural forces was revealed due to the efforts of so many people for so long a time. East India company and the British Raj is often blamed, often rightly, for the excesses and the economic exploitation of India but not credited enough for the painstaking restoration of Indian history and creation of institutions that stand to this day that ensure the same.
Buddhism flourished in India and abroad because of the patronage and the sustained royal patronage. What to me seems ironic that the very state patronage and more particularly King Ashoka that allowed buddhism to flourish became the cause of its obliteration in the land of the Buddha. Later rulers, Brahmins and the Muslim invaders saw Buddhism as a symbol of the state rather than a religion and hence destroyed and persecuted both relics and followers. Compare this with religion of Mahavira - Jainism. Jainism was never patronised by the state (However, Chandragupta abdigated his kingdom to become a Jain Monk). It was never seen as a threat and its temples never destroyed. The reason being it was not seen to challenge the Hindu belief system overtly(though it did).
Another interesting question that arises in my mind, is that while certain individuals value knowledge and history, others seek to destroy it. Whereas the Greek king Alexander, although he was ruthless as a king, he had been tutored to love and seek out knowledge. We never heard of him destroying libraries or persecuting sages or scientists. Whereas invaders like Mahmud of Ghazni etc, destroyed temples, burnt Nalanda and Taxila universities which were known as the repository of knowledge in the ancient worlds. It is said that the university at Nalanda was burning for 3 continuous months. The British, comtemptuous as they were of Indian history (the majority were), did not seek to destroy the cultural history and in fact played a big hand in revealing it. Why is that?. Is it in the methodology of education that respect for knowledge is born or is it in the nature of the individual?. Can such a love of learning/knowledge be inculcated or is it inborn?.
Also, we see for the first time a kingdom which is based on Principles rather than individual ambition / religious fervour. Although he promoted Buddhism, he never sought to proselytize the population as evidenced by his edicts. A kingdom based on Dharma . Maybe the first welfare state in the world. The first kingdom to recognize animal rights and which set up hospitals for injured animals. Maybe the first kingdom to use soft power (dharma) and non violence to spread his influence rather than military power. It is very sad to see that Indians have all but forgotten this great emperor who hold relevance even today.

All in all a wonderful book.

[Yash E · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've bought this book with an immense curiosity to know about the greatest emperor and empire India has ever seen since the time of Mahabharata. I ended up with exactly the opposite feeling by the time I completed it! The author's writing style, though, is very interesting.

First and foremost, this book isn't a historical biography of Ashoka Vardhana Maurya. Though it does tell the author's version of Ashoka, his family and empire, it's more a chronological order of the discoveries of ancient sites and historical references that lead to rediscovering the Emperor. A thriller genre meets history!

The book is from the author,who is pro supporter of Aryan Invasion theory (which was proved baseless and orientalist non-sense), who leaves no stone unturned in discrediting anything good to the Indian heritage. The author very selectively took his source before arriving to any conclusion and hides nothing about his pro orientalist attitude, striking out any other source thats contradicts his ideas. He at times even sounds perverted!

At many places he fails to explain why or how could such a thing be possible, but concludes that it is what would have happened! His theories about certain events are so baseless yet shocking!! All this is covered up stating the limited scope of this book but is conveniently repetitive about things. The Aryan invasion theory and its off shoots were put to test(most of them clearly failed) before 2012 i.e., the year this book was published. How could the other turn a blind eye on all those archaeological advances, is the the question only he can answer!? And to cover things up, he states Indians are "Nationalists" who cannot accept the truth !!

This book was every bit excruciating and I was eagerly waiting for it to end. Its a series of hypothetical theories that has been conveniently mixed up with some truth and all lies.

Here below are few points, I felt which were made me feel all those things I stated above.
SPOILERS AHEAD!

1. "Puranas are religious texts chiefly concerned about the creational myths[sic]".
On what basis did he conclude on that? Why were the other literary sources from Tibet and Sri Lanka and other Buddhist texts never questioned on this regard ?

2. Every single time he describes a sculpture, he doesn't forget to describe the as "buxom", "beer bellied", "unrealistic", "unnatural dimensions". Clearly shows he has his own standards in beauty and doesn't respect any others'.

3. Doesn't consider Sanskrit as an ancient language predating Bramhi but considers the vice-versa. Despite the religious history and mantras were transmitted through oral tradition Sanskrit before being penned down, he never cares to explain why he felt so?

4. The entire life and lifestyle of Mauryans, as supposed by the author, is inspired by the Greeks! Their clothing, sculpting, coinage, war strategies, etc. were all supposed to be gotten from Bactrian Greeks. The sculpting prowess of India before the arrival of Graeco-Bactrian neighbours is described as "clumsy"! From where did the magnificence of Somnath came from, which predates even the Bactrian Greeks?

5. He even credits the Greeks to put the Mauryans in power and brands Chandragupta Maurya as a mercenary for Alexander!

6. His interpretation of the Vedas is somehow bizarre and states that by the duties of kingship stated in Vedas is against Dharma, when the very concept of Dharma originates from Vedas!

7. There is continuous Bramhan bashing throughout the book, stating that Buddhism challenged their status quo in the court of Ashoka. No other substantial evidence! Every single historical uprising and revolt was ascribed to Bramhans directly or indirectly generalising them over all.

8. Panini is known to simplify the Vedic Sanskrit, write grammar rules and form whats known as Classic Sanskrit. But the author has formulated a beautiful theory where Taxsila(or Takshasila), which had grown into a advanced knowledge centre under the Persian rule, is where the foundations of Sanskrit had its foundations from the "ancient" Aramaic language. Chanakya, the colleague of Panini, mysteriously took it upon him to spread this new found language to spread across India and to some extent saw Chandragupta Maurya as a platform to carry out this!

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ashoka was an emperor of India who, for around two thousand years, was virtually unknown. After war-like beginnings, he became a Buddhist and began to spread Buddhist values throughout his kingdom, with the hope of conquering neighbouring territories with moral force rather than military force. There’s a certain amount of idealism about this emperor and the good works he may or may not have done, but Allen’s book does show that he seems to have been dedicated to his vision.

However, this book is less about Ashoka himself and more about the search for him — the India enthusiasts, often British people coming over to run the colonies, who hunted down the references, visited the ancient sites, and began to put things together. He’s relatively sympathetic toward those endeavours, with the attitude that if Britain did no other good for India, well, we had these clever people who helped them figure out their own history. I don’t have anything to set against that (although he does often mention local experts in languages and religion), but if you’re sceptical of a colonial narrative, I would say this verges on that territory.

It is a fascinating story, though, and doubly so to me because I know so little of India in either time period. I did sometimes wish I was better at geography, so I could draw more of it together on a mental map, but alas, I couldn’t even sketch the shape of India. Ashoka’s story is definitely worth telling, and so too that of the people who reinstated his legacy, I think.

Originally posted here.

[Priyanka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Patience and concentration was what I was lacking when I started reading this book. And that's why it took me so long to finish it. I didn't take so long because I wasn't liking, but because there was a lot to take in. Even if it had taken me another month to finish I would still have loved it. It would be a happy pun to call this book 'enlightening'.
The mammoth research, rich detail and simple language blows you away. I would recommend it to not just every Indian but everyone.

[Vivek KuRa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book of Charles Allen for me. Before this, I read his “Coromandel: A personal History of South India” and enjoyed his writing style and depth of his scholarship immensely. I was eyeing this book of his for quite some time and finally bought a used copy from ebay. I always wanted to learn more about Ashoka than what was taught to us in schools and beyond the common Myths and folklores surrounding him. I was hoping that Allen will layout the life story of Ashoka for us in this book. Boy, was I in for a surprise.

Instead, this book is the story of how the story was rediscovered. The book is the history of how the lost story of Ashoka was rediscovered and reconstructed after almost a millennia by several people (mostly foreign Orientalists and Indologists) using linguistics , Archeology and alternate documented history by his enemies and later foreign travelers. After the decline of Buddhism in India in 9th century, Askhoka’s story was deliberately and conveniently forgotten in the Mainland India. But, the scattered clues survived in Srilanka and Tibet which got gathered by British orientalists. The clues were preserved by both Northern and Southern schools of Buddhism’s scriptures outside of India and through the Greek historian’s books and Chinese travellers like Faxian and Xuanxang’s travelogues also.

Also, the biggest Archaeological evidences come from numerous Rock Edicts, Minor Rock Edicts and Pillar Edicts of Ashoka the is scattered across India and Afghanistan. Apparently these REs were preserved by some of the Muslim rulers of Delhi also.Book is full of unknown facts about, Alexander the great, the Maurya dynasty, Rise and ebb of Buddhism in India, Evolution of languages such as Kharosti, Askhoka Brahmi, Prakrit , Pali and Sanskrit, other Sramana religions including Ajivijas and Jainism and finally the India-Sri Lanka Buddhist connection. Also, Allen has compiled all the sincere effort of British Orientalists and local linguists in unearthing the story of Ashoka.

This book is a real treat for any ancient Indian or Mauryan or Buddhist history enthusiasts. I found this book extremely engrossing and interesting. I highly recommend to this book.

Link to my review of this book in tamil --> https://youtu.be/Lje26xddux0?si=Gi0KR...

[Vishvapani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable and informative. This isn't a biography of Ashoka: not enough is known for that. It's an account of his gradual discovery of by scholars and archaeologists during the Raja and pre-Raj periods. This the territory Allen has explored in The Buddha and the Sahibs and other books, and pretty well made his own. If that sounds dull, think of 'Longitude' - the bestselling account of ... horology. Allen is unfashionably sympathetic to the 'orientalist' project: a relief if you have read much Edward Said inspired polemic. However, I think there is more to say about why these men were so fascinated by Ashoka and India's Buddhist past, and how their work fitted in with the demands of the Empire and British rule.
The figure of Ashoka emerges slowly as the scholars discover the pillars and rocks on which his words were recorded. That's the real interest of the book for me, and I felt that through this oblique account I met him more fully than I had before as well as getting to know the sources.

[Kirti Upreti · Rating 5 out of 5]

That most people do not read, hear or look beyond one book, is the greatest cause of all problems.

What a beautiful Saturday! You wake up early, make tea just the way you like it, open the book that lies next to your pillow and then forget everything else. Rarely does one book pulls you so thoroughly that you lament upon the evolutionary need to eat for sustenance. What a waste of time! Why can't books be enough to nourish your body just the way they nourish your metaphorical soul? Catch up, cybernetics!

This is not a book about Ashoka. It's a book about curiosity, passion and perseverance. William Jones, James Prinsep, George Turnour, Brian Hodgson, Alexander Burnes aren't just some names in the annals of the British East India Company; their endeavours at unearthing a lost history tempered by an eternally unquenched thirst for knowledge instill inspiration beyond measure.

I am wretchedly bored by the jokes and insinuations aimed at the British museums, of them unjustly hoarding the heritage of other countries. Before our nationalist pride starts clamouring, may be we should take a good look at our own habits that haven't subdued a bit even after centuries. A Bakhtiyar Khilji burns libraries at Nalanda, an Aurangzeb destroys temples and then a mob stands on the top of a 400-year old mosque to destroy it to reclaim their pride. And if those examples are too glaring and are simply outliers in our long glorious tradition, we can easily find the edicts of young love professing itself with hearts plucked by an arrow on the walls of several UNESCO-recognised world heritage sites. Let's not play the us vs them game. We as a whole have been and continue to be a bunch of uncouth imbeciles who do not have the eye to see the vast treasures of knowledge locked in these relics. There is no place for scientific enquiry where religious fervour blinds the people and blocks the path of those who want to step towards the horizon.

So let these relics stay safe with those who treasure them not for their monetary value but as the only surviving witnesses of the past long gone. Let this heritage speak to those who have the ability to listen to it. We better stay away and continue to rejoice in the pride of our ignorance.

[Sridevi Bp · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the title should be modified to the Englishman's search for Ashoka. Given that Buddhism was flourishing in a number of countries, though lost in India, the search for Ashoka and Buddha appears contrived and extremely insular. While the efforts of the people who discovered the actual sites are laudable, the biographies of the discoverers lean towards hagiography. And, though informative, there is precious little of Ashoka, most of it repetitive. John Keay does a much better job in this genre.

[S Ashok · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ashoka the great king is hailed in our history books as the greatest king to have ruled India . People who feel that history is boring , usually refer that what is the purpose of knowing that King Ashoka planted trees.
Its one of the many malice affecting or education system , lack of rigor in understanding our history . We just come to know about Ashoka through our books but rarely they say 'how' did we arrive at this point.

Indian history is very tough landscape to traverse through because of two reasons , we had a gap of hundred years after the muslim invasion there had been tremendous damages suffered by the monuments , then next is the concept of writing authentic histories were very new our history was written in the puranic style .

This lead to a curious phenomenon where the time of flourishing Budhdhism in India was all but lost to the memory of the people . But world over India had been the beacon of Budhdism , it is from here the religion has spread to different parts . This nations greatness was recorded in many travelogues importantly by Megsathenes , by Budhdhist monks coming to India from China .

This book deals with how British Orientalists step by step uncovered the history of Ashoka from various sources . The British orientalists studied Hindu puranas which gives rough timeline of Indian kings including the Mauryan clan . The other sources being greek record of Alexander invasion of India which has a reference to Chandrakoptos(Chandragupta Maurya) , this lead to the establishment of a rough timeline of the start of Mauryan dynasty .

As the British officers explored the Indian mainland finding curious structures which we call as Stupas today containing Pali inscriptions of the reign of Ashoka and his endeavor of spreading Budhdhism .

This book is an amazing record of how we can analyse history based on various sources . It was fascinating as the riddle was solved step by step and how the historians travelled through various questions and arrived at amazing conclusions .

I was wondering why could have Budhdhism declined so rapidly in India , after its spectacular rise under the reign of Ashoka . I feel that religions are patronised by Kings during feudal times hence once Budhdhism lost its man Ashoka the subsequent dynasty were not so enthusiastic about supporting it .

Shankaracharya and the bhakthi movement gave a flip to Hinduisms revival . The Gupta period the next big kingdom after Mauryas were more supportive of Hinduism's revival.

But the great heritage of Bhuddhism also got amalgamated into Hinduisms philosophical core Advaita vedhanta . These could be some reasons why Bhudhdism lost its sheen in India .

The author is very much passionate about the heritage of Ashoka , how much of less information is known and how rarely he is appreciated .

The fundamental aspect which inspires me of Ashoka is how much he is ahead of his time . Around 2300 years ago he was man who cared for his people , setting up a kind of a welfare state then . There were brutal wars fought between rival clans to capture power . Most of the kings including Ashoka were involved in terrible sibling rivalry killing their own brothers to capture power . For someone who is born in the twenty first century may fail to understand the greatness of the Rock Edicts that Ashoka placed in various places in and around India . It promotes equality of religions , welfare of people as the fundamental tenant of his rule .

His last years we see an Ashoka obsessed with donations to the Budhdist Sangha . After his death there was again sibling rivalry , and violence among brothers . But after his legacy more and more kings were seen to be more welfare oriented . This was one of his enduring legacies in Indian history .

[Tushar · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book should be named as White Mughals 2 instead of Ashoka. The leads provided by this book are good and are easily available online in the internet archives. I tried this book for the 2nd time but end it disappointed.

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book: Ashoka: the Search for India's Lost Emperor
Author: Charles Allen
Publisher: ‎ Little, Brown Book Group (21 February 2012)
Language: ‎ English
Hardcover: ‎ 480 pages
Item Weight: ‎ 910 g
Dimensions: ‎ 15.9 x 3.9 x 24 cm
Price: 460/-

সময়ের উপর সময়ের প্রলেপ পড়তে পড়তে মানুষের স্মৃতি থেকে হারিয়ে গিয়েছিল অশোকের নাম। তার সাম্রাজ্যের শেষতম পদাঙ্ক হারিয়ে গিয়েছিল তারও আগে।

উত্তর ভারতে বৌদ্ধধর্মের কফিনে শেষ পেরেক ঠোকার গল্প দিয়ে আখ্যানের সূত্রপাত।

বর্তমান বিহারের নালন্দা জেলায় অবস্থিত, প্রাচীন মগধের দুই প্রধান নগর রাজগৃহ ও পাটলিপুত্রকে সংযোগকারী রাজপথের ধারে অবস্থিত নালন্দার বৌদ্ধ মহাবিহারের গৌরবের ইতিহাস বিগত কয়েক দশক যাবৎ আমাদের জানা।

কিভাবে পঞ্চম শতকের শুরুতে গুপ্ত বংশের সম্রাটদের পৃষ্ঠপোষকতায় স্থাপিত পূর্ব ভারতের বৌদ্ধশাস্ত্রের, বিশেষতঃ মহাযান ধর্মশাস্ত্র ও বৌদ্ধ মূর্তিনির্মাণশাস্ত্র চর্চার এই মহান বিদ্যাপীঠের পঠন-পাঠনের সমাপ্তি ঘটল, এই প্রশ্নের উত্তরও অজানা নয়। কুতুবুদ্দিন আইবকের সবচেয়ে চোস্ত কমান্ডার যাকে বলা হতো 'Jahanzos' বা ‘World-Burner' (ভুবন-পাবক) সেই ইখতিয়ারউদ্দিন বিন বখতিয়ার খিলজির হাতে ধ্বংস হলো নালন্দা। এরপর একে একে পুড়লো ওদন্তপুরী , বিক্রমশীলা , সোমপুর ও জগদ্দল।

চার্লস অ্যালেন লিখছেন: Muhammad Bakhtiyar was afterwards assassinated in his bed, but he lived to see Muslim dominion extended over Bihar and Bengal. The destruction he wrought at Nalanda and the other great Buddhist libraries has a superficial parallel in the burning of the great royal library at Alexandria – but there is a crucial difference in that what was lost at Alexandria occurred by stages over many centuries.5 What Muhammad Bakhtiyar did at Nalanda and the other Great Monasteries in Bihar and Bengal was once and for all. For Buddhism in northern India it was the final coup de grâce and its consequences were catastrophic: the virtual obliteration of every page of a thousand years of Buddhist history on the subcontinent.

Thus India’s Buddhist past was all but lost – and very soon forgotten.

বিস্মৃতির কুয়াশা ঘিরে রইলো প্রায় দু হাজার বছর। হারানো মুখের মিছিল মুখোশ হতে হতে ঝাপসা বিবর্ণ হয়ে গেলো। শেষে বিলীন হলো। ইতিহাসের এই misplaced puzzle ডিকোড করলেন কিন্তু কোনো ঐতিহাসিক নন , এক বৈজ্ঞানিক, নাম জেমস প্রিন্সেপ।

তারিখটা ১৮৩৭ খ্রিস্টাব্দের ৭ জুন। কলকাতায় এশিয়াটিক সোসাইটির মাসিক সভায় যখন বলতে উঠেছিলেন সম্পাদক জেমস প্রিন্সেপ, তখনও তিনি সেই হারিয়ে যাওয়া সম্রাটের রহস্যের ধারেকাছে পৌঁছতে পারেননি। সাঁচি স্তূপের অনেক জায়গায় খোদাই করা ছোট ছোট লিপি থেকে প্রিন্সেপ সদ্য ব্রাহ্মী লিপির জট খুলেছেন প্রিন্সেপ। চিনতে পারছেন ব্রাহ্মীর বর্ণমালা।

সেই গল্পই তিনি সে দিন শুনিয়েছিলেন সোসাইটির সদস্যদের।

কিন্তু লিপির প্রাথমিক জট খুললেই তো হবে না, ঠিক মতো পড়তে হবে দিল্লি, ইলাহাবাদ, বেতিয়া-য় পাথরের স্তম্ভে, কিংবা গিরনার আর ধৌলি-র পাথরের গায়ে এই লিপিতে কী লেখা আছে! তার পরে তো দেবানাম্পিয় পিয়দসি রাজার পরিচয় জানার প্রশ্ন।

বেশ অনেক দিন ধরেই দিল্লি থেকে মধ্যভারত হয়ে বিহার পর্যন্ত নানা জায়গায় পর্যটকদের চোখ পড়ছিল বিস্ময়কর সব পাথরের স্তম্ভের উপর। তিরিশ থেকে পঞ্চাশ ফিট উঁচু, পঁচিশ থেকে পঞ্চাশ টন ওজনের এই সব স্তম্ভ একটাই পাথর কেটে তৈরি, গায়ে অসম্ভব ঝকঝকে পালিশ, কোনও কোনওটার মাথায় আলাদা ভাবে সিংহ, হাতি, ষাঁড় ইত্যাদির মূর্তি বসানো। কোনও স্তম্ভের গায়ে অপরিচিত লিপিতে খোদাই করা দীর্ঘ বক্তব্য। প্রায় সব জায়গায় স্থানীয় কিংবদন্তি ! কেউ কেউ বলেন, এ সবই নাকি মধ্যম পাণ্ডব ভীমের লাঠি!

চতুর্দশ শতকে দিল্লির সুলতান ফিরোজ শাহ তুঘলক টোপরা (আজকের হরিয়ানা) এবং মেরঠ-এ এ রকম দুটো স্তম্ভ দেখতে পেয়ে খুবই অবাক হন। একটা তো সোনার মতো ঝকঝকে, ফিরোজ নামই দিয়ে দেন ‘মিনার-ই-জরিন’। ঠিক করে ফেলেন, দিল্লিতে তাঁর তৈরি নতুন রাজধানী সাজাতে দুটো স্তম্ভই তুলে নিয়ে আসবেন। করাও হল তাই।

দেখা গেল, দুটোরই গায়ে কিছু লেখা আছে। এই দেখে ফিরোজ নানা পণ্ডিতকে ডেকেছিলেন, কিন্তু কেউই কিছু বলতে পারেননি।

ব্���িটিশ পর্যটক উইলিয়াম ফিঞ্চ জাহাঙ্গিরের সঙ্গে গিয়ে ইলাহাবাদে এমন একটি স্তম্ভ দেখেছিলেন। ১৬৭০-এ ইস্ট ইন্ডিয়া কোম্পানির কর্মচারী জন মার্শাল উত্তর বিহারে বেতিয়ার উত্তরে এ রকম আর একটি ‘ভীমের লাঠি’র খোঁজ পান, আজ জায়গাটি লৌরিয়া-নন্দনগড় নামে পরিচিত।

এশিয়াটিক সোসাইটির প্রথম দিকের এক সভায় শখের প্রত্নানুসন্ধানী টমাস ল বেতিয়ার দক্ষিণে লৌরিয়া অররাজ-এ আর একটি স্তম্ভের কথা জানান। ইয়োরোপীয়দের মনে হয়েছিল, এত চমৎকার সব স্তম্ভ ভারতীয়দের বানানো হতেই পারে না। এ নিশ্চয়ই গ্রিকদের কীর্তি। তবে এর সঙ্গে সম্রাট অশোকের সম্পর্কের কথা সে দিন কেউ স্বপ্নেও ভাবেননি।

এশিয়াটিক সোসাইটির প্রতিষ্ঠাতা, ভাষাতাত্ত্বিক উইলিয়াম জোন্স ভারতবিদ্যা চর্চায় নতুন দিগন্ত এনে দিলেন। তিনি অবশ্য ফিরোজ শাহের স্তম্ভে কী লেখা আছে পড়তে পারেননি। তার আগেই ভারতের প্রাচীন ইতিহাস উদ্ধার করতে গিয়ে তিনি পড়েছিলেন গভীর সমস্যায়।

মুসলমান ঐতিহাসিকরা তাঁদের কালের খুঁটিনাটি সব লিখে গিয়েছেন, কিন্তু তাঁরা আসার আগে এ দেশের ইতিহাস কী ছিল কোথায় জানা যাবে? তেমন তো কোনও বইপত্র নেই।

জোন্সের সহকারী ব্রাহ্মণ পণ্ডিতরা আঠারোটা পুরাণ ছাড়া আর কিছুই তাঁকে দেখাতে পারেননি। এই সব পুরাণ থেকে একটা ভাসা ভাসা ছবি মিলল ঠিকই, কিন্তু কার পর কোন রাজবংশ, কিংবা কার পর কোন রাজা কত দিন রাজত্ব করেন, তা নিয়ে দেখা গেল নানা মুনির নানা মত।

তবে এটুকু জানা গেল, মগধে মৌর্য বংশে অশোক নামে এক রাজা ছিলেন, যদিও ব্রাহ্মণদের লেখা এই ইতিবৃত্তে অশোক আর পাঁচটা রাজার মতোই, তাঁকে আলাদা কোনও গুরুত্ব দেওয়া হয়নি।

অন্য দিকে, ইতালীয় পর্যটক মার্কো পোলো ভারত ঘুরে যাওয়ার পর ইয়োরোপে এটুকু প্রচারিত হয় যে বুদ্ধ নামের কোনও ধর্মগুরু বা দার্শনিকের সঙ্গে জড়িত কোনও ধর্ম এ অঞ্চলে প্রচলিত ছিল। কিন্তু ভারতে, জোন্সের সময়, বুদ্ধের উপাসনার কোনও প্রমাণ কেউ জানত না। হিন্দু ধর্মগ্রন্থে কোথাও কোথাও বুদ্ধের নাম থাকলেও ভারতে সে সময় কোনও বৌদ্ধ ধর্মাবলম্বী, বৌদ্ধ ধর্মগ্রন্থ, কিংবা কোনও বৌদ্ধ স্থাপত্যের কথা জানা ছিল না।

বৌদ্ধধর্মের ইতিহাসই যেখানে হারিয়ে গিয়েছিল, সেখানে সেই ধর্মের সব থেকে বড় পৃষ্ঠপোষকের কথা যে লোকে ভুলে যাবে সেটাই তো স্বাভাবিক!

জোন্স দেখেছিলেন বুদ্ধ সম্পর্কে তাঁর পণ্ডিতদের ধারণা রীতিমতো খারাপ। হিন্দু শাস্ত্রে বুদ্ধ বিষ্ণুর নবম অবতার, অথচ ব্রাহ্মণরা তাঁকে এক ধর্মদ্রোহী গোষ্ঠীর নেতা হিসেবেই ভাবেন। আবুল ফজল তাঁর আইন-ই-আকবরি-তে ঠিক এই কথাই লিখেছিলেন। এই বৈপরীত্য কেন, জোন্স তা বুঝতে পারেননি।

পেঁয়াজের খোল ছাড়ানোর মতো এক এক করে ঘটনাবলী বলেছেন চার্লস চার্লস অ্যালেন। লেখক, সর্বমোট ষোলোটি অধ্যায়ে বিভক্ত করেছেন বইটিকে :

১) The Breaking of Idols
২) The Golden Column of Firoz Shah
৩) Objects of Enquiry
৪) Enter Alexander
৫) Furious Orientalists
৬) The Long Shadow of Horace Hayman Wilson
৭) Prinsep’s Ghat
৮) Thus Spake King Piyadasi
৯) Brian Hodgson’s Gift
১০) Records of the Western Regions
১১) Alexander Cunningham the Great
১২) Sir Alexander in Excelsis
১৩) Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum
১৪) India after Cunningham
১৫) Ashoka in the Twentieth Century
১৬) The Rise and Fall of Ashokadharma

১৮৩২-এ এশিয়াটিক সোসাইটির দায়িত্বে এলেন এক তরুণ প্রতিভা, জেমস প্রিন্সেপ। প্রিন্সেপ দেখলেন, ইলাহাবাদ, দিল্লি আর বিহারের স্তম্ভগুলির গায়ে যা খোদিত আছে, তা একই রকম দেখতে। কী লেখা থাকতে পারে দেশের বিভিন্ন প্রান্তের এই সব লিপিতে? কোনও রাজার বিজয়বার্তা? ভারতজোড়া কোনও সাম্রাজ্যের সীমানাচিহ্ন? নাকি কোনও ধর্মীয় বাণী?

এই সময়েই শ্রীলঙ্কা থেকে জর্জ টার্নার দেখালেন, বৌদ্ধ পুথি দ্বীপবংশ-মহাবংশে গৌতম বুদ্ধের জীবনী এবং পরে বৌদ্ধধর্মের বিপুল সমৃদ্ধির পিছনে সম্রাট অশোকের ভূমিকা বিস্তারিত ভাবেই বর্ণনা করা হয়েছে। আস্তে আস্তে স্পষ্ট হয়ে উঠল পৌরাণিক বিবরণে সম্পূর্ণ অবহেলিত অশোকের ছবিটা। বৌদ্ধবিরোধী ব্রাহ্মণরা কেন পুরাণে অশোককে আদৌ গুরুত্ব দেননি, এ বার বোঝা গেল সেটাও।

ইতিমধ্যে প্রিন্সেপের হাতে এল ভুবনেশ্বরের ধৌলি লিপি, লেফটেনান্ট মার্কহ্যাম কিটো জঙ্গলের মধ্যে ঢুকে ভাল্লুকের তাড়া খেয়েও কোনও রকমে যেটার কপি করে পাঠিয়েছিলেন। সাঁচি থেকেও এল বেশ কিছু লিপির কপি।

সাঁচির লেখাগুলো পরপর সাজাতে গিয়ে প্রিন্সেপের মনে হল, প্রায় সবগুলোই দুটো একই অক্ষরে শেষ হচ্ছে। তার আগের অক্ষরটাও অনেক ক্ষেত্রেই এক। তা হলে কি এটা সাঁচির বৌদ্ধস্তূপে ভক্তদের কিছু দান বা উৎসর্গের কথা বোঝাচ্ছে? শব্দটা ‘দানম্’হতে পারে কি?

এর পর ব্রাহ্মী লিপির বাকি অক্ষর খুঁজে বার করতে প্রাচীন মুদ্রা বিশেষজ্ঞ প্রিন্সেপের খুব অসুবিধে হয়নি।

অক্ষর তো চেনা গেল। এ বার লিপিগুলো পড়া শুরু করা যাক। দেখা গেল, সব কটিরই শুরু ‘দেবানাম্পিয় পিয়দসি লাজ হেবাম্ অহা...’ দিয়ে। কোন রাজা এমন ভাবে প্রজাদের উদ্দেশে বলছেন?

দেশের সব প্রান্তে তাঁর লিপি, কত বড় ছিল তাঁর সাম্রাজ্য? টার্নারের অনুবাদে যাঁর কথা ছিল, প্রিন্সেপ ভেবেছিলেন, ইনি বোধহয় সেই শ্রীলঙ্কার রাজা দেবানামপিয়তিস্স।

তবে টার্নারই ফের আসল হদিশ দিলেন। শ্যামদেশ থেকে পাওয়া দ্বীপবংশ-এর আরও পুরনো এক পুথি থেকে জানা গেল, স্তম্ভলিপির প্রিয়দর্শীই অশোক মৌর্য। ভারত-ইতিহাসের বোধহয় সবথেকে বড় জট খুলে গেল এ ভাবেই।

মানুষ জানতে পারলেন অশোকের সম্পর্কে।

স্ত্রী দুর্ধরার গর্ভে জন্ম নেয়া চন্দ্রগুপ্ত মৌর্যের একমাত্র ছেলে বিন্দুসারের মোট একশো জন সন্তান ছিলো। এর মধ্যে বিন্দুসারের সবচেয়ে প্রিয় ছিলো তার বড় ছেলে সুসীম এবং সবচেয়ে অপ্রিয় ছিলো আজীবিক দার্শনিক মতবাদে বিশ্বাসী জনপদকল্যাণী ব্রাহ্মণ বংশের নারী সুভদ্রাঙ্গীর গর্ভে জন্ম নেয়া তার এক ছেলে, যার নাম রাখা হয় অশোক।

অশোক ছি্লেন রুক্ষ ত্বকের অধিকারী, আর রুক্ষ ত্বক বিন্দুসারের চরম অপছন্দ। এ ছাড়াও অশোক ছোটবেলা থেকেই জেদী ও নিষ্ঠুর প্রকৃতির ছিলেন, আর তার পছন্দের কাজ ছিলো প্রাণী শিকার। তিনি এতোটাই নিষ্ঠুর ছিলেন যে একটি সিংহকে লাঠি দিয়ে পিটিয়ে মেরে ফেলেছিলেন। তবুও কোনো বিচিত্র কারণে এই অশোকই ছিলেন চন্দ্রগুপ্ত মৌর্যের সবচেয়ে প্রিয় পৌত্র।

১৮৩৮-এর মধ্যে প্রিন্সেপ অশোকের বেশ কিছু লিপি অনুবাদ করে ফেললেন। বোঝা গেল, ভারতজোড়া সাম্রাজ্য স্থাপন শুধু নয়, বৌদ্ধধর্মকে পরের প্রায় দেড় হাজার বছর টিকে থাকার শক্তি দিয়ে গিয়েছিলেন অশোক, যে শক্তির জোরে দেশের মাটি থেকে মুছে যাওয়ার পরও তা এশিয়ার সবথেকে গুরুত্বপূর্ণ ধর্ম হয়ে উঠতে পেরেছিল। পাশাপাশি রাজধর্মকে তিনি দিয়েছিলেন নতুন মাত্রা, যা তাঁকে প্রতিষ্ঠা দিয়েছিল আদর্শ রাজা হিসেবে।

উপস্থাপনার সারল্যে এই বইটি হয়ে উঠেছে অনবদ্য।

নিরপেক্ষ দৃষ্টিভঙ্গি রেখে যদিও অশোক সংক্রান্ত একটি কথা বলার লোভ সামলাতে পারছি না, অতএব বলছি : কলিঙ্গ যুদ্ধের পর অশোকের সহনশীল হওয়ার কারণ অনুতাপ নয়, বরং তার সহনশীলতা ও ধার্মিক মনোভাব ছিলো কূটনীতিরই একটি অংশ। কারণ জীবনের দ্বিতীয় পর্যায়েও তার নির্দেশ অমান্যকারী কিংবা তার অপছন্দের ব্যক্তিকে বিভিন্ন অজুহাতে বা নামমাত্র কারণে তিনি কঠোর হাতে দমন করেছেন।

একই সাথে এও চরম বাস্তব যে অশোক ধর্মীয় স্বাধীনতার ঘোষণা দিয়েছিলেন ঠিকই, কিন্তু প্রাণী বলি নিষিদ্ধ করার জন্য ব্রাহ্মণ সমাজ তথা বনজীবী ও মৎস্যজীবীরা তাঁর প্রতি সদর্থক মনোভাব পোষণ করতেন না। বহু ঐতিহাসিকের মতানুযায়ী ঠিক এই কারণেই ব্রাহ্মণদের বৃহদাংশের লেখাপত্রে অশোকের বিশেষ জায়গা হয় নি এবং সম্রাট অশোকের গুরুত্বপূর্ণ ইতিহাসের বিলুপ্তি এত সহজে সম্ভব হয়েছিল।

তৎসত্বেও, ইতিহাস যেহেতু নিরন্তর বহমান এক প্রবাহ, তার কোনো অংশেরই সম্পূর্ণ হারিয়ে যাওয়া কাম্য নয়। এও পাপেরই নামান্তর। অশোকের হারানো ইতিহাস বিস্তৃতভাবে জানা সম্ভব হয়েছে প্রথমে উইলিয়াম জোনসের উদ্যোগ ও জেমস প্রিন্সেপের নিরলস পরিশ্রমের ফলে ও পরবর্তীকালে ফাহিয়ান এবং হিউয়েন সাং-এর বদান্যতায়।

এই অনুসন্ধানের গল্পই পাঠক পাবেন চার্লস অ্যালেন সাহেবের বইয়ে।

দুর্ভাগা পাঠক আমি। বৃথা কাজেই আমার জনম গেল, সময়ের অপচয় হলো কত শত নিম্নগোত্রের বইয়ের সাথে সময় কাটিয়ে। চার্লস অ্যালেন নামক ঐন্দ্রজালিক গল্পকারের এহেন কাজ আমার লাইব্রেরির একাংশে পড়ে ছিল, দেখাও হয়নি।

[Jay Vardhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charles Allen, in this book, narrates how from various inscriptions scholars were able to discover the history of the Great Mauryan King Ashoka. Before scholars like William Jones, James Princep, Alexander Cunningham, etc. unearthed the history of Ashoka, he was a name among hundred of other kings in the Puranas. This book provides a good overview of the ancient Indian past before it was retrieved. But if you are looking for a comprehensive narration of how these Orientalist were able to draw a detailed history of Ancient India, then The Buddha and Sahib by the same author is an excellent read. The Buddha and Sahib not only covers the quest to discover Ashoka but also gives a broad understanding of various other endeavours in the discovery of India's ancient past.

This book is filled with great information about the history of various Ashokan inscriptions and provide a detailed account of what happened to them before Historians and Archaeologists brought to light the historical importance of these inscriptions. But one thing which I find very irritating about this book is that there are instances where his facts are wrong. And I am not talking about minor facts here. He writes that it was Jahangir who renamed the city of Prayag to Allahabad (it was Akbar). We are told that Jamdudvipa means Blackberry Island (a simple google search would have told him that Jambu means Rose apple). His most astounding claim is that Harshavardhana was a Rajput ruler (NO, HE WAS NOT). Apart from these "small" mistakes, this book does have some interesting information, but I would have to double-check them considering that the author and the editor didn't put any effort to check the facts which were thrown in this book. But, alas, who cares about Facts anyways.

[Akshay Hajare · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish Charles Allen was my history teacher!
A history book presented as a suspense thriller, if you will. A very gripping account of the events, thoughtful researches, patient excavations by British Orientalists and Archeologists during British Raj. Their zeal to uncover and protect something that is so important and part of our culture is inimitable in India today. The book itself proceeds to solve a jigsaw puzzle, using account from various sources including from the ancient Chinese travelers to India, and brings back to life one of India's greatest emperor - Ashoka.

[Roopkumar Balachandran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ashoka The Search For India's Lost Emperor by Charles Allen
Charles Allen one of the great chroniclers of India, a traveller, and a historian his book Ashoka The Search for India's Lost Emperor is a discovery of the Great Indian King who patronised Buddhism and showed religious tolerance.

The above book has 16 chapters, The Breaking of Idols, The Golden Column of Firoz Shah, Objects of Enquiry, Enter Alexander, Furious Orientalists, The Long Shadow of Horace Hayman Wilson, Prinsep's Ghat, Thus Spake King Piyadasi, Brian Hodgson's Gift, Records of the Western Regions, Alexander Cunningham the Great, Sir Alexander is Excelsis, Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, India after Cunningham, Ashoka in the Twentieth Century and The Rise and Fall of Ashokadharma.

This book is not about the life history of Ashoka, as many may feel, it is about how the great king and his work once again brought to the general public.

The entrance of British colonial rule in India paved the way in finding out the lost and forgotten period of ancient India. The laborious work carried out by John Marshall (1670), Jesuit priest Joseph Tiefenthaler (during the 1750s), jurist, scholar, philologist and a child prodigy able to speak fluently in thirteen languages William 'Oriental' Jones (1770s), James Prinsep (1830s) followed by Alexander Cunningham and John Marshall the man behind the discovery of Indus Valley Civilization and finally the Asiatic Society re-discovered Ashoka.

Not only the above mentioned the early writings such as Vishnu Purana, Mahavamsa and the travel accounts of Xuangzang helped to shed light on the subject.

The book further delves into how the Brahmi script was deciphered, the findings of Rock Edicts, Pillar Edicts and stupas. The author also gives us the facts about the burning down the Buddhist library by a warlord Muhammed Bakhtiyar, removal of the golden pillar by Firoz Shah, the brahmans who tried to suppress the records and some kings after the Mauryan dynasty defaced most of the structures erected by King Ashoka.
The general consensus on the date of Ashoka.
(1) 302 BCE - Birth of Ashoka.
(2) 285 BCE - Birth of Ashoka's eldest son Mahinda
(3) 282 BCE - Birth of Ashoka's eldest daughter Sangamitta.
(4) 274 BCE - Death of Bindusara.
(5) 270 BCE - Ashoka anointed as the King by the help of Chanakya's grandson.
(6) 265 BCE - Ashoka's conversion to lay Buddhist.
(7) 261 BCE - Conquest of Kalinga.
(8) 260 BCE - Ashoka issues first Minor Rock Edicts and also starts his stupa building programme.
(9) 259 BCE - Ashoka issues Kalinga Rock Edicts.
(10) 253 BCE - Ashoka inaugurates Third Buddhist council.
(11) 252 BCE - Ashoka sends his eldest son Mahinda to Lanka to institute missionary programmes.
(12) 243 to 242 BCE - Ashoka issues Pillar Edicts.
(13) 240 BCE - King Ashoka celebrates the five-year festival.
(14) 239 BCE - Death of Ashoka's Queen.
(15) 235 BCE - Ashoka's marries Tishyarakshita. And also Ashoka celebrates the five-year festival.
(16) 234 BCE - Queen Tishyarkshita leads Anti-Buddhist faction and is executed. Followed by Ashoka's grandson and son of Kunala, Samprati becomes the heir apparent.
(17) 233 BCE - King Ashoka dies in Cock Monastery.

The Rock and Pillar edicts of King Ashoka is given as an appendix. The narration in the book takes us to the 3rd century BCE, for the past one month I have been living in that century, enjoying every page of the book. A collectors edition for history buffs especially Indian history.

Complete book review with images, copy-paste the link below.

http://www.chromaring.com/2019/09/ash...

[Suman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Growing up in India during the 80s our introduction to Ashoka was textbook brief - he was a ruler who was transformed by the sight of bloody war whose symbols were on our flag and on our currency and who was a Buddhist. From time to time we had some reminders of this enigmatic king - in the form of that not so great movie or in reference to a TV Series - but nothing added to our knowledge of the man.

So when I picked up the book and read in the introduction what appeared to be an apology for orientalism I was disappointed, perhaps this was a book that wanted to highlight the contributions of the British to Indian history. Frankly, if there was a story in this I was not ready to hear it. I was here to know the story of Ashoka and not that of his discovery by a few British men! Apprehensive, I started reading this 400 page book slowly. It was not a simplified narrative. It spoke of people like James Prinsep, Alexander Cunningham and John Marshall and through their contributions Charles Allen manages to take us on a tour of the expanse of geographical India (Ashoka's empire), its sources (Ashoka's mythology) and its relics (Ashoka's pillars and edicts). The Ashoka who emerged was a complex man - a man who lived more than 2300 years ago, who spoke only edicts and who was represented in stone by people who knew him less directly than indirectly. But in every discovery and every source there is an aspect of him that makes him human - the prince with bad skin, the young man who loved a merchant's daughter, a brother who killed for power, first a conquering ruler and then a humanist ruler who presides over religous schism.

Allen's decision to not use a straight forward biographical narrative to explain these contradictions in Ashoka was working. Instead the use of the process of Ashoka's rediscovery as the thread that strings aspects of the king together made him emerge intact as a character. So by the time I got to the last chapter that finally gave biographical detail - I felt like I had discovered Ashoka together with everyone else in the preceding pages. This book is also a narrative of collective forgetfulness, of the sustained effort at discovery and the gradual illumination of aspects of Ashoka - itself a reflection of the individuals involved and their times. It is a wonderful way of telling a story - one that requires the reader to imagine on his own and respects his/her intelligence. For just that - this was a book well worth the time.

[Sajith Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ashoka is India’s greatest monarch, ever. He unified India by integrating the numerous petty kingdoms in the post–Vedic period. Stung with remorse after a cruel battle against Kalingas, he followed the precepts of Buddhist Dharma (moral law) and renounced needless violence. His example continued to simulate great minds in conquering contemporary issues. Ahimsa (non–violence) carried forward by him helped mould the mode of protest of the Mahatma against the British. He presided over the seeding of a written script for Indian languages for the first time. The Brahmi script, in which Ashoka caused rock and pillar edicts to be written, developed into modern Indian scripts. In short, in whichever way you look towards him, the mark of nobility and greatness adorns the person of Emperor Ashoka. Curious it may seem that knowledge of this great emperor not at all existed in this country just 250 years before. Devastated by 700 years of Islamic rule, all traces of the country’s past had been obliterated in a tirade of destructive jihads. Charles Allen describes the thrilling story of tracing Ashoka and his legend through rocks, boulders and monastic remains scattered over jungle and country. It is also a tribute to those scholars in the British raj who maintained a benevolent and even admiring outlook towards the nation they were called upon to administer. The history of Ashoka was unearthed by these untiring savants who fought all odds – manmade as well as natural – to make the flower of knowledge blossom. Charles Allen is the right person to narrate this tale; in the delightful fashion of his many other books like Soldier Sahibs (reviewed earlier in this blog) and God’s Terrorists. With this book, Allen has proved that he is as responsive to Indian tastes and as enjoyable to read as William Dalrymple.

[Kevin Kizer · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are many mysteries about this ancient Indian emperor who helped transform Buddhism from a minor sect to a major world religion. Ashoka Maurya (Ashoka the Great) reigned around 250 BCE and his kingdom extended across the Indian continent reaching northwards through the Himalayas and westward towards Kandahar. His rise to power was filled with war and violence (as most rises to power tended to be back in the day). However, at what proved to be his last conquest he was overwhelmed by the loss of life and turned to Buddhism. As a result he sought to govern by moral force alone and he had an indelible impact on the Indian subcontinent.

So why then is so little known about this great emperor? The primary reason is that those who came after him strove to erase his memory – and for the most part they did an admirable job. But many centuries later, archaeologists and curious locals began discovering mysterious lettering on large stones throughout the region from coast to coast, some hidden in plain sight while others were hidden in mountain passes; some have even been found in the last couple of years just off the roadside near Kandahar.
What was first thought to be Greek or Aramaic turned out to be Magadhi, the language on which Sanskrit was founded. Once the language was deciphered it re-revealed the story of the life and rein of Ashoka, who became emperor 118 years after the death of Gotama Buddha. One of the inscriptions reads:
And these are my instructions
To protect with Dharma
To make happiness through Dharma
And to guard with Dharma.

Thanks to these discoveries, Charles Allen was able recreate the life and times of arguably the greatest emperor of the Indian subcontinent.

[Rajendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

So little is known about India's early history, and so divided are the historians about it and that any book that deals with it with even a semblance of objectivity is welcome. Ashoka by Mr. Charles Allen comes quite close to it, though the author's prejudice especially against anything Hindu does show up occasionally, so Bhima is "accursed" and Kautilya always means "cow-like".

As is the case with Mr. Allen's earlier book The Buddha and Dr Fuhrer, The Ashoka is a history of exploration of Indian pre-Islamic history by author's favorite "orientalist" gentlemen from England- Indian archeologists play only a minor role- as much as the history of emperor Ashoka. The author writes fascinating account of both with his characteristic thoroughness.

But then the author attempts to place emperor Ashoka in the context of modern India. This is where his limited understanding of Indian complexities fails him. Hence his interpretation of Gandhi's Ram Rajya in therms of Hinduism and some such assertions including his implied claim that all of India's Dalits are Buddhists! As journalist Gillian Wright has rightly written in her review of the book , this kind of strange comments, are unnecessary accretions to an otherwise informative and well-written book.

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's some great research here and a nice detective story, but Allen sometimes digresses for little reason, and there's a fascination with the ancient Greeks of the region which added lines where they should have been cut. It does help you understand the distinction between the Northern and Southern schools of Buddhism because the source material on Ashoka varies so much between the manuscripts. Reasonable conjecture based on existing sources make the last chapter particularly fascinating, but unless you're a devotee of the British in Indian, the sections that are dedicated to the history of the rediscovery of Ashoka will seem long.

[Nikhil Gulati · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the better history books I've read. Not only does the book talk about who Ashoka was but it also chronicles the process of discovery historians undertook in the 19th and 20th centuries to find out all that we know about him. The finding of ancient sculptures and ruins to the translation of many ancient texts which provided pieces to the jigsaw puzzle to the deciphering of the Brahmi script etc are all interwoven to tell the story of Ashoka and his empire.

[Subhadip · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very nicely told story of how the West discovered Ashoka. the usual story of how we Indians have little regard for our history. I read the edicts for the first time. These make fascinating reading for anyone in administration.
also didn't realize that ashoka is the first Indian writing more or less. how little our school history books state in order to avoid controversy

[Dhruv Banerjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good histography of Ashoka without too much of a bias. The author does exactly what he tells us in the beginning and takes us through a journey of discovery, chronologically. Sometimes you just want to jump ahead, like a thriller. Things slowly unravel and you get to know possibly more about Ashoka than what you knew from standard history books.

[Sujit Choudhury · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best historical books I have read. There are a few minor errors, which no doubt will be corrected in the next edition. This book is like a detective story: once you start, you cannot put it down. It also shows the work of the European Orientalists to uncover the lost history of India, and they should be applauded for their work.

[Chetan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Never let westerners especially Britishers tell you your history, applicable more so for Indians. These people do not have the depth to understand Hinduism or Indian antiquity. It's like monkeys trying to build a rocket.

[Advay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice to know the KING whose symbols we use as national symbols.
Sometimes the book get monotonous with similar information being communicated.

Overall a very nice read.

[Kavitha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished reading this book. I was impatient while reading the first few chapters because there was not much in them about Ashoka himself. My impatience grew so much after reading the chapter about Alexander that I decided to skip to the last chapter at once. So, I went straight to the final chapter of the book which has what I was looking for - Ashoka's story. My curiosity satisfied to some extent, I then came back to the chapter that I was reading and slowly/patiently finished the whole book including appendix and other interesting notes at the end of the book. I even went back and read a few pages for the second time.

This book is filled with knowledge. Although I was impatient in the beginning, after having finished the entire book, now I realize that I learned more about Ashoka by reading about the efforts put in by people like Alexander Cunningham, James Princep and such to discover him than I would ever have learned by reading that final chapter alone. Chapter by chapter, the author reveals details related to the Ashokan era in a fascinating way until a full picture of Ashoka emerges in the end. The writing was very simple and to the point which I really liked. There are so many historical details in this book that I found myself reading the same paragraphs multiple times. This is not an easy read by any means. It required lot of patience and most importantly a keen interest in the subject.

Among the many fascinating things that I learned from this book were a few facts about ancient Indian languages. Prakrit is an ancestor of Sanskrit and Brahmi is the Magadhan script for Prakrit. Kharoshti was another language that was spoken during the Mauryan rule in parts of Afghanistan. It was developed by the Gandharans and has links to Aramaic. Both Sanskrit and Pali were derived from Prakrit. Sanskrit became the root of all Indian languages and Pali became the root of Sinhalese which is spoken in SriLanka. It was interesting to read about the origins of these languages. It was exciting to see Brahmi letters and their translations on a few random pages.

I also found the travel accounts of Chinese travelers quite fascinating. Xuanzang and Faxian traveled to India at separate times in search of authentic Buddhist artifacts as Buddhism started growing in China in the Fourth century B.C. They were not the first Chinese travelers who visited India but they were the first to record their travels. Their travel accounts proved very useful in later years to find the Ashokan rock and pillar edicts, stupas, etc. We all know that travel has great benefits. It opens up our minds to another culture, another way of living and helps us gain a valuable perspective on our ways of life. The fact that quite a few people in those ancient times traveled to unknown territories in pursuit of knowledge knowing very well that travel was risky in those days goes to say that a few great minds have an insatiable hunger for knowledge. These great minds existed for ever, helping civilizations to move forward.

The author mentions Gandhi briefly in the final chapters of the book. He says that a couple of centuries after Ashoka, Gandhi used the same principles of morality and non violence to get independence for India from the British. However I see a stark contrast between these two popular leaders. Ashoka established a welfare state, built hospitals for people and animals, encouraged religious tolerance and employed Rajukkas and Mahamatras to ensure that his principles of Dharma and non violence are being followed everywhere in his kingdom. Ashokan edicts themselves did not reference any particular religion, except the first couple of them which were probably written when Ashoka did not gain all the wisdom that he seemed to have gained in his later years. Instead, they focused solely on the principles of morality. Gandhi (per this book) propagated the notion of a Rama Rajya rooted in tradition but devoid of caste and gender oppression. He envisioned a local council of elders for governance and a benevolent but distant government. I don't have much knowledge of Gandhi's ideas about governance but if what is said about them in this book is true, then Ashoka seems to have had more progressive and practical views on this matter even though his time was a couple of centuries before Gandhi's time. Gandhi, on the other hand, seemed to have regressive and idealistic views on this matter.

They say pictures speak a thousand words. The pictures in this book certainly speak volumes about the times of Ashoka. The sculptures on the stupas reveal a lot of interesting details when observed closely. Finally about Ashoka himself - what a great man he was! His story needs to be told again and again. He truly grasped the meaning of religion. The fact that he was ruthless in the beginning, feels deep remorse after killing 100,000 people in the Kalinga war and turns to Buddhism to rule the kingdom with principles of morality and non violence makes him very human and very real. Despite being a devout Buddhist he did not use his power to enforce Buddhism on his people. He promoted religious tolerance in his edicts. The fact that he had the courage to carve his own ways of working at a time when kings were ruthless and often barbaric speaks volumes about his strength of character, integrity and overall personality. He single handedly revived a dying religion which later went on to become one of the largest religions in the world. He was also the first emperor to unify India and rule it all the way from north to south (leaving out parts of Tamilnadu and Kerala). It is a shame that he is not as widely acknowledged within India as he deserves to be.

[Kuldeep Dhankar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the way this book has been written. Each chapter only focusing on the understanding of Indian History at different time periods, as told by the archeological evidence. Almost reads like a puzzle unravelling.

My understanding of Indian history and Hinduism has been redefined in the reading of this book. I highly recommend this to anyone trying to understand India. I also recommend it to all my fellow Indians cause it is us who need to understand our history better.

[Abhay Nanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is an account of how Britishers unearthed edicts that related to Mauryan era thus finding Ashoka. Only the last chapter is a brief story of Ashoka. Rest of the book is only about how Britishers and a few Indians, through Asiatic Society of Bengal and ASI, found clues which led them to find Ashoka.

If you want to read more about Ashoka this is not for you since I too picked up this book hoping the same.

[Michael Siddhi]

If you are a history freak, a keen antiquarian, love epigraphy or simply an orientalist, you cannot miss this book.

Especially for those who incessantly spitball the political rhetoric of Buddha's birth will appreciate how Buddhism & Buddha shaped in to what it is today.

If Buddha could look back, he would have been delighted by what Asoka did. It was Asoka who transformed a minor sect into a world religion. When Buddhism came under tha attack of Huna kings, Brahman worshipping rulers like Sassanka, Simhavarma and surrendered to the fatal embrace of Brahminism & forces of Adi Sankaracharya, it found refugee in Lanka, Nepal, China. This was possible only because Asoka had laid the path for safe pasaage of the Dhamma.

[Kiran Kumili · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charles Allen was born in present-day Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India, where six generations of his family served under the British Raj. Though his formal education was in England and Italy, he was more of an Anglo-Indian after he came back to India with his parents later. He was more of a travel writer in his early days of writing and took affiliation to Buddhism when he was in Nepal. He turned into a fulltime historian later with his interest in Indian history. He was an ardent supporter of Dalit rights in India and an opposer of Brahminism. He wrote more than a dozen books about India and its historical past. Died in 2020 after finishing his last book ‘Aryans’.

StoryLine:
Ashoka (Without Sorrow) the Great or Ashokavardhana, was the son of Bindusara and grandson of Chandragupta Maurya. Ashoka was the true emperor of India as his kingdom extended from Eastern Persia on the north-west to Bengal in the north-east and from Kashmir in the North to Karnataka in the South. The book speaks about his greatness in managing such a huge territory comprising of several vassal princely states single handedly through his weapon of “Dharma”, also called as Moral Law. Though he was a ruthless and cruel king in his early stages of usurping the throne of Magadha by killing his half-brother Sumana, he later converted to Buddhism under the influence of one of his cousins, Nigrodha, and adopted a policy of non-violence and good governance through moral laws of teachings of Lord Buddha. Though not much of his rule is mentioned in this book, the importance of Dharma in his rule had been spread across the country and neighboring countries like Nepal, Afghanistan, Persia, Tibet and South East Asian countries through his Rock Edicts, Minor Rock Edicts and Pillar Edicts. The author is of the strong opinion that many of the present popular Hindu temples are built upon Buddhist structures. He is also of the opinion that the Brahmanical Hinduism has suppressed the voice and spread of Buddhism which is much older and thus the greatness of Ashoka erased from history, since he challenged the caste based Brahmanical order.
Many interesting facts about Ashoka’s times were described in detail. One such fact is about destruction of the world famous Nalanda University and its exquisite library by the ruthless Muslim invader Mohammad Bhaktiyar, just because he didn’t find a copy of Quran in its collection. The library is said to have burnt for months. The book also elicits the fact about how a standardized script called Brahmi has been carved out of ancient Indian scripts Pali, Prakrit and Sanskrit and the same inscribed on to Edicts of Ashoka across the length and breadth of his Empire. The author has meticulously brought out the facts and figures related to the origin of Buddhism in fourth century BC and its spread across the subcontinent in the later periods through Ashoka the Great. Lots of information is brought regarding how Ashoka’s grandfather Chandragupta usurped the throne of Magadha from the Nanda kings, with clever plotting of his mentor Chanakya (Brahmin author of Arthashastra) and with the help of associates of Alexander the Great of Greece. Though Ashoka was also called as Chandashoka (The Angry Ashoka) though his terrible deeds in suppressing his opponents, he is said to have become a pious and ardent follower of non-violence taught by Sakhyamuni Buddha, after his conversion to Buddhism from Hinduism.
Almost each and every surviving ancient historic sites (stupas), manuscripts, edicts and sculptures of Ashoka’s period were deeply studied and analyzed to the core by various British archeologists and historians like Sir William Jones, Horace Hayman Wilson, Buchanan, Colin Mackenzie, James Princep, Markam Kittoe, Brian Hodgson, Dr Fuhrer etc during in the 19th century, through their prestigious research organizations Asiatic Society of Bengal and Archeological Survey of India. Such interpretations have been beautifully presented in the book with corresponding illustrations. It was from these findings that it is established that Ashoka could take Buddhism to as far as Greece, Persia, Afghanistan, Tibet, Bhutan, China, Burma, Combodia etc through his appointed special classes of religious officers called “Dharma Mahamatras”. The author even took account of the recordings of Chinese travelers HuenTsang and Fa-hein to confirm the exact dates of Ashoka’s reign. It was observed that almost all the Ashokan edicts were located at remotest and isolated places away from big towns as a precaution from being destroyed by the forthcoming dynasties who might act against Buddhism or be pro-Brahmin. The wonderful idea of carving his doctrines on to rock instead of cloth or leaves in those days, should be given credit as the former would last for ages compared to the latter.
The death of Ashoka in final days was said to be very pitiful as he lost all his personal wealth due to countless donations and gifts in gold, silver and copperware to Buddhist monks for their welfare and construction of Buddhist monasteries, stupas, edicts and other welfare measures of his kingdom. Thus, Mauryan empire under Ashoka the Great is said to be the first Welfare State of the then known civilized world of ancient eras. Eventually, the great Ashokan dynasty came to a sad end after Pushyamitra Shunga from the Shunga dynasty killed last of the Mauryan ruler Brihadrata and destroyed most of the Buddhist monuments and edicts in order to erase the religion from history.
Ashoka the Great would be remembered as the man who first forged India into a single nation state, and thus has a real claim to be its founding father; the first Indian ruler with a distinctive, identifiable voice; the pioneer of non-violence, the first proponent of conquest by moral force alone, whose words remain absolutely, unequivocally, unique among rulers as a statement of governing principles. Hence, the twenty-four-spoked wheel known as the chakra, or ‘Wheel of Law’, which was set at the centre of the Indian tricolour; and, for its national emblem, the Ashokan capital excavated at Sarnath in 1904– 5 showing four lions standing guard over four chakras, representing the ‘lion’s roar of the Buddha’ spreading to the cardinal directions. These symbols were expressly chosen to represent the new, secular India, free of any specific religious affiliation, to create a country governed by righteousness. Ashoka’s doctrine of governance had three main goals: non-violence as a means of achieving ends, allowing conquest by Dharma only; freedom of religious expression with respect for the views of others; and the promotion of the ‘essentials of all religions’ based on proper behaviour, consisting of purity of heart, self-control, firm devotion, respect for each other, generosity, good deeds, gratitude, restraint, impartiality, not injuring or harming others, and forgiving those who do wrong ‘where forgiveness is possible’.

My favourite Rock Edict no 13: Truly, Beloved-of-the-Gods (Ashoka) desires non-injury, restraint and impartiality to all beings, even where wrong has been done. Now it is conquest by Dharma that Beloved-of-the-Gods considers to be the best conquest … I have had this Dharma edict written so that my sons and great-grandsons may not consider making new conquests, or that if military conquests are made, that they be done with forbearance and light punishment, or better still, that they consider making conquest by Dharma only, for that bears fruit in this world and the next.

Pros: This book is an extensive research-based historic template of the life of King Ashoka, his predecessors and successors with almost accurate timelines. Credit should be given to the author for reviving the lost memories of the great Emperor of India who had given a uniform civil code in the 3rd century BC itself when rest of the western world was still in its nascent stages of good governance. Illustrations of rock edicts, pillar edicts, archaeological sites, monuments, souvenirs, coins belonging to Ashokan period at right parts of the book, excites the reader to dig deeper into the book without wink of an eye.

Cons: The author seemed to be strongly anti-Brahman and seemed to have a strong opinion that the fall of Buddhism in India is mainly due to the tyranny of pro-Brahmanical rulers after Ashoka, which might not be true. His opinion of Buddhist temples being converted into Hindu temples is also not proved with evidences anywhere in the book. His final linking of Dalit icon Dr. B R Ambedkar’s conversion to Buddhism with his opinion seemed out of context and immaterial.

My rating : 4.5 out 5