The Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and Mediaeval India c5.s3.61

c5.s3.61

Dhavalagiri—The Dhauli hill in the sub-division of Khurda in Orissa, on which one of the Edicts of Asoka is inscribed. Dhavala or Dhavalî is five miles from the Khaṇḍa-giri range which is situated four or five miles to the west of Bhuvanesvara, containing many caves of the Buddhist period. But it is difficult to ascertain how the name of Dhauli has been derived by some authorities from Dhavalî. In the last tablet of the Dhauli inscriptions, it is mentioned that "the Dubalahi tupha," or in other words, the stûpas for the Durbala or weak, were founded for undisturbed meditation. Hence the name of Dhauli appears to have been derived from Durbala or Dublâ monastery of that place. The hill, as it appears from the inscription, was situated in Tosala (see the first tablet of the inscription), and Tosala has been identified with "Tosalâḥ-Kośalâḥ" of the Brahmâṇḍa Purâṇa (ch. 49) or simply Kośala of the Bṛihat Saṃhitâ (see Examination of the Inscription at Dhauli in Cuttack by J. Prinsep in the JASB., 1838, pp. 448-452). The Girnar and Dhauli inscriptions of Asoka are identical in substance: in fact the Dhauli inscription is the duplicate of the Girnar inscription in language and alphabet (see JASB., 1838, pp. 158, 160, 219, 276-279). For the inscriptions on the Khaṇḍagiri hill, see JASB., 1837, p. 1090.