Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c14.s3.43

c14.s3.43

The inclusion of **Kaśmīra** within Aśoka’s empire is proved by the testimony of Hiuen Tsang's *Records*⁴ and Kalhaṇa’s *Rājataranginī*.⁵ Kalhaṇa says: “The faithful Aśoka reigned over the earth. This king who had freed himself from sins and had embraced the doctrine of the *Jina* covered Sushkaletra and Vitastātra with numerous *Stūpas*. At the town of Vitastātra there stood within the precincts of the *Dharmāraṇya Vihāra* a *Chaitya* built by him, the height of which could not be reached by the eye. That illustrious king built the town of Śrīnagarī. This sinless prince after removing the old stuccoed enclosure of the shrine of *Vijayeśvara* built in its stead a new one of stone. He…erected within the enclosure of *Vijayeśa*, and near it, two temples which were called *Aśokeśvara*.” The description of Aśoka as a follower of the *Jina*, *i.e.*, *Buddha*, and the builder of numerous *stūpas* leaves no room for doubt that the great Maurya monarch is meant. We are told by Kalhaṇa himself that he is indebted for much of the above account to an earlier chronicler named Chhavillākara.