The Mauryan Polity c7.s1.t2.6

c7.s1.t2.6

Though the succession was generally hereditary, one could not style himself Rāja or Mahārāja until he went through the time-honoured ceremony of *Abhiṣecanīya*. This was the anointing of the prince by the Purohita and other higher officers of the state. This institution is an ancient Vedic institution and is described in detail in the *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa*. It was an important occasion of feast and festivity. There was an age limit to this anointing ceremony³ and if the tradition that Aśoka was crowned four years after his accession to the throne has any meaning, it is that Aśoka had only a formal vesting of regal powers at his father's death and that he had the legal *abhiṣeka* in his twenty-fifth year.⁴