The Mauryan Polity c6.s1.t3: The evidence of the Edicts
The Mauryan Polity c6.s1.t3
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The evidence of the Edicts
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The next remarkable circumstance in this connection is the fact that the Rock Edicts of Aśoka have been discovered in a number of places in South India such as Siddhapura, Brahmagiri, Jaṭinga Rāmeśvara hill in Mysore in 1892, in Maski in the Nizam's dominions¹ and lastly in a place near Gooty in the Kurnool District discovered by Anu Ghose, the well-known geologist of Calcutta, while directing mining operations in that district. The discovery of the Aśokan Edicts in these places is in itself a sufficient testimony to the extent of the empire during the time of Aśoka. In addition to this there is again evidence of rare value in the inscriptions themselves. Three inscriptions of Aśoka, Rock Edicts II, V and XIII make specific mention of the southern provinces describing them at the same time as either dependent on, or independent of, the Mauryan empire. In the Second Edict, mention is made of the neighbouring countries such as the Colas, the Pāṇḍyas, the Satyaputra, the Keralaputra and the Tāmbapanni. In the V Rock Edict the neighbours mentioned are the Yonas, Kambojas, Gāndhāras, Riṣṭikas, Pitinikas, etc. In the thirteenth Rock Edict the Colas, the Pāṇḍyas and the Tāmbapanni are mentioned in addition to the statement "likewise where the king dwells among the Viśas, Vajris, the Āndhras and Pulidas.”¹ From these it is quite safe to infer that the Mauryan empire must have had its southern limits extended up to the Tamil kingdoms before Aśoka’s time, or at any rate in Bindusāra’s reign.
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¹ For details, see Hyderabad Arch. Series, No. 1, 1915.
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¹ Bühler, *Ep. Ind.*, II, p. 471 and S. K. Aiyangar, *Beginnings of South Indian History*, pp. 69-70.