The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c21.13

c21.13

Inasmuch as the reign of Asoka lasted for fully forty years, he must have been a young man when, in or about the year 273 B. C., he undertook the government of the vast empire which had been won and kept by his grandfather and father. Nothing is recorded concerning the first eleven or twelve years of his rule, which presumably were spent in the current work of administration. His solemn coronation did not take place before the year 269 B. C., about four years after his accession, and this fact is almost the only circumstance which supports the notion that his succession was disputed. The anniversary of his coronation was always celebrated with ceremony, and specially marked by the pardon and release of prisoners.²