The Mauryan Polity c9.s2.t3.6

c9.s2.t3.6

It seems that Aśoka had unbroken friendly relations not only with the states within the country but also without. The Hellenistic kingdoms to which Aśoka sent his envoys were Syria under Antiochus Theos, Egypt under Ptolemy Philadelphus, Cyrene under Magas, Macedonia under Antigonus Gonatus, and Epirus under Alexander.² We do not hear of any foreign embassy in India during the reign of Aśoka, nor return embassies from India to foreign courts during the reigns of Candragupta and Bindusāra. It is however reasonable to assume that mutual and unbroken intercourse went on continuously under the first three Mauryan monarchs, if not later.