The Mauryan Polity c6.s2.1

c6.s2.1

It is thus definite that all South India beyond the Vindhyas, barring of course the Tamil kingdoms, was included in the Mauryan empire under Aśoka. It would be equally interesting to know whether there is evidence to show that all Hindustan was under the Magadhan sway. Among the places mentioned under his dominion are Pāṭaliputra, Khalatika parvata,¹ Kośāmbi, Lumminigrāma, Ujjain, Takkhasilā, Suvarṇagiri and Kaliṅga. The records of Hiuen Tsiang bear out the fact that Kashmir was also a member of the Empire.² That the Empire extended in the north as far as the Himālayan region is also seen from the Rock Edict XIII where there is a reference to the Nābhapantis or Nabhakas. That the Tarai and Nepal were also part and parcel of the Empire is obvious from the Rummindēi and Niglīva Pillars and from the monuments at Lalitapaṭan respectively. That Bengal and possibly Assam were included in the Magadhan Empire is evident from different sources. Though there is not any definite testimony to include Assam, there is no denying the fact that Bengal formed an integral part of the Empire. The *Divyāvadāna* and the records of Hiuen Tsiang who noticed the monuments of Aśoka at Tāmralipti, Karṇasuvarṇa, Samataṭa and other places, all in Bengal, are the evidence.¹ This is further attested by the Greek writers, according to whom Bengal (Gangaridæ) was one among the divisions of the king of the Prasii² (sans. prāchya) or Magadha, even during the time of Agrammes (also Xandrames) identified with the Dhana-Nanda, the last of the Nanda line.³ From the mention of the state of Surāṣṭra, in the west, it is reasonable to suppose that the Empire extended as far as the Arabian Sea. Thus from Kashmir to Assam in the east, and the Arabian Sea in the west, all the country was under the direct rule of the Emperor Aśoka, besides that portion of South India of which mention has already been made.⁴