Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c11.s28.4

c11.s28.4

The *Dīpavaṃsa* mentions that besides Majjhima, the mission to the Himalayas included Kassapagotta, Dundubhissara, Sahadeva and Mūlakadeva. Some of these names figure in inscriptions on relic caskets from Sāñchī and its neighbourhood. But Mogaliputa of these inscriptions could not be Moggaliputa Tissa ,as was thought at one time, because he was the pupil of Gotiputa, the heir of Dundubhisara who may well be identical with the missionary of the Himalayan region just mentioned. The names Kassapagotta and Majjhima are also found on the caskets, and the former is styled 'Sava-Hemavata-ācāriya' ; there was a Hemavata school among the Theravādins, and it might have had its origin in the Himalayan region converted by Kassapagotta, whose name is placed first in *Dīpavaṃsa* in the list of missionaries to the Yakkhas of Himavanta. The inscriptions are clearly later than the age of Aśoka, but this may be due to a redistribution of the relics undertaken some time subsequent to the death of the *theras*¹. It is worthy of note that the name of a Yona (foreigner, Greek or Persian) *thera* is included among these early missionaries of the faith.