On the Origin of the Indian Brahma Alphabet c3.18

c3.18

221—191, M. Halévy collides with the clear epigraphic evidence, and commits a mistake which he might easily have avoided, if he had looked up the works on Sānchi. His attempt to drag down the age of the Bharahut Stūpa goes against the probability, as the inscriptions on the representations of the Jātakas show the same characters as the Aśoka edicts. All these representations thus give the reign of Aśoka as the *lower* limit for the *existence* of the Birth-stories. They teach nothing definite regarding the time of the composition of these fables, except in so far that they raise the presumption of their having been long current and generally known. For the archaeology of all nations proves that myths and scenes from religious legends are transferred to stone only when they have become thoroughly familiar to the people. Consequently, the assertion that the composition of the Jātakas must “necessarily” be placed between B. C. 221—191, is not warranted.