Indian Epigraphy c17.25

c17.25

Another point to be remembered is that, if Brāhmī is difficult for a non-palaeographist to copy, Kharoṣṭhī writing is far more difficult, and the facsimile of the Shahbazgarhi version of Rock Edict VII is not likely to help even an ordinary student of palaeography. One may therefore wonder how the Prince of Wales Museum inscription could be forged, apparently by non-palaeographists, without help. But such help was provided by us in our small work entitled *Inscriptions of Aśoka*, published in 1957 by the Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. In this book, meant for ordinary readers, an eye-copy of the Shahbazgarhi version of Rock Edict VII, prepared by us, was inserted for the purpose of illustrating Kharoṣṭhī writing just as the Rummindei edict was reproduced for illustrating Early Brāhmī. It will be seen that lines 2-5 have been copied in the Prince of Wales inscription, the first line consisting of 18 syllables being omitted. It is significant that the inscription was secured by the Prince of Wales Museum after the publication of the above work in 1957. There is hardly any doubt that the Prince of Wales Museum inscription was forged in the period between 1957 and 1963.