Chandragupta Maurya and His Times c5.99

c5.99

We have other data to confirm this date. If we believe in the reckonings of reigns given in the *Purāṇas*, we shall see that Chandragupta's reign was one of 24 years and hence ended in 298 B.C., and that his son, Bindusāra, reigned for 25 years, i.e., up to 273 B.C. The date of Asoka's accession to sovereignty is thus to be taken as 273 B.C., a date which is supported by the unimpeachable data of Asoka's inscriptions. The *Mahāvaṁsa* distinguishes between Asoka's accession to throne and his coronation, and places an interval of 4 years between them [V. 22]. This makes 269 B.C. as the date of his coronation. His inscriptions again date from his coronation. His Rock Edict XIII is dated 13 years after his coronation. So its date should be 256 B.C. if the date 269 B.C. of his coronation is correct. It is correct, because it is proved by the well-known chronological data of Rock Edict XIII itself. Rock Edict XIII is a document of unique chronological importance in Indian History. Asoka in this Edict mentions the five most important Greek kings with all of whom he had friendly dealings through his Welfare Missions. The date of his references to them must, therefore, be at the latest the date up to which they were all alive and were known to be so to Asoka, and may be taken one year earlier, when all were hale and hearty.