Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c11.s1.11

c11.s1.11

Bindusāra was fortunate in having in his sons, especially Aśoka, proconsuls of exceptional ability who did much to curb the impetuosity of some of his officials in the outlying provinces. With their help it was not difficult for him to maintain unimpaired the empire he had inherited from his father and even to extend its boundaries. The Divyāvadāna tells the story of a revolt in Taxila, the citizens of which complained of the high-handedness of certain amātyas. That there was a substratum of truth in the complaint appears not improbable in view of certain words of Aśoka himself in the Kaliṅga edicts that refer to the measures adopted by that great emperor to check ministerial oppression in the provinces. When Bindusāra was confronted with a difficult situation in Taxila, he is said to have commissioned Aśoka with the task of restoring order. This the prince accomplished without much difficulty as the people "were not opposed to the Kumāra or even to king Bindusāra" and had grievance only against the "wicked officials" (duṣṭāmātyāḥ). The Maurya prince is said to have pushed on to the Svaśa rājya, evidently a mislection for Khaśa rājya, the realm of the Khaśas, whose settlements extended, according to Stein, in a wide semicircle from Kastvar to the Vitasta (Jhelum) valley in the south and west of Kashmir.⁴