The History of Buddhist Thought c20.5

c20.5

From this we see that Asoka’s empire extended to the extreme north of India, where it included part of what is now Afghanistan and Baluchistan, and bordered on the Syrian Empire of Antiochus; to the south the bounds of his empire are shown by the mention of the Cholas and Pāṇḍyas at the end of the peninsula, and also Tambapaṃni. But where is Tambapaṃni? It is a well-known name of Ceylon, which the Greeks spoke of as Taprobane. But Hultzsch records the fact that it is also the name of a small river in the Tinnevelly District. This inscription hardly allows us to decide which of the two was meant, but the name also occurs in Rock Edict II, among the names of peoples, the Cholas, Pāṇḍyas and others, where it cannot be taken as indicating a boundary.¹ It is thus more likely that the name refers to Ceylon, but these two references are all the information that we get from the inscriptions about Asoka’s relation with the Sinhalese. The story of the introduction of Buddhism into Ceylon by Asoka’s son Mahinda belongs only to the Chronicles, and does not really add to our historical information. Asoka’s own account of his missionary efforts in so many directions makes it probable that he did not omit Ceylon, but what form the Scriptures had when they were introduced into the island is not known. Those now existing in Ceylon belong to a recension which was probably edited in the west of India, and there is nothing to connect them directly with Asoka’s mission.