A History of Indian Literature v2.c23.2

v2.c23.2

The small boulder which contains the inscription of Bairat, is now preserved in Calcutta in the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and for this reason the inscription is described by *E. Hultzsch* (Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Vol. I, Inscriptions of Asoka, New Edition, p. xxv) as "Calcutta-Bairat Rock-Inscription," as there is also another rock inscription of Bairat. The boulder was discovered in 1840 on an eminence in the neighbourhood of Bairat. As the discoverer stated that Bairat was not far from "Bhabra," the inscription was also called the "Bhabra edict." Bhabra is, however, only an erroneous name for Bhābrū, which is, as a matter of fact, 12 miles from Bairat. Many scholars have devoted themselves to identifying the texts mentioned in the inscription, in the Canon, and appreciating their historical significance. *Cf. E. Hultzsch*, l. c., pp. xliii f., 172ff.; *Senart* in JA 1884, s. 8, t. III, p. 478ff.; 1885, t. V, p. 391ff.; and 1887, t. IX, p. 498ff. with an excellent facsimile of the inscription; *H. Oldenberg*, Vinaya Piṭakam Ed., Vol. I, p. xl note; *K. E. Neumann*, Reden Gotamo Buddhos I, pp. 135, 324, 567 and WZKM 11, 1897, p. 159f.; *T. W. Rhys Davids* in JPTS 1896, p. 93ff.; JRAS 1898, p. 639f.; Buddhist India, p. 169f.; Dialogues of the Buddha, SBB II, 1899, Preface, p. xiii f.; *S. Lévi* in JA 1896, s. 9, t. VII, p. 475ff.; *E. Hardy* in JRAS 1901, p. 311ff. and Asoka, p. 58ff. and *V. A. Smith* in JRAS 1901, p. 574; Asoka, 3rd Ed., p. 157; *Kern*, Manual, pp. 2 and 113; *Pischel* in SBA 1904, p. 807f., *A. J. Edmunds* in JRAS 1913, 385ff.; *Kosambi* in Ind. Ant. 41, 40; *Barua* in JRAS 1915, p. 805; Ind. Ant. 48, 8ff.; *Eliot* I, 290f.; *F. Weller* in Asia Major 5, 1930, p. 166.