Maurya and Shunga Art c6.5

c6.5

The internal evidence of the inscriptions themselves helps us to arrive at a rough chronological sequence of the columns. The Rummindei pillar was raised in the 20th year of the great monarch's reign while the Rampurva column with the lion capital in the 26th year, followed a year later by the Lauriya-Nandangarh column bearing the six pillar edicts dated in the 27th year. The Sarnath pillar could not have been raised before the 28th year; it bears edicts that do not find place in other columns. In any case, all scholars agree that this column belongs to the last years of Aśoka's reign.