Page:Asoka - the Buddhist Emperor of India.djvu/190

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188
ASOKA

'Inasmuch as the Brahmans and ascetics…to these befalls.' The reading and interpretation have been corrected by Hultzsch (J. R. A. S., 1913, p. 655).

‘Because it never is the case,’ &c. M. supplies an interesting variant, ‘There is no country where these (two) classes, (viz.) the Brâhmaṇas and the Sramaṇas, do not exist, except among the Greeks (Yoneshu)' (Hultzsch, ibid.).

'Should any one do him wrong.' This remarkable sentiment recurs in the Kalinga Borderers' Edict. R. E. XIII was not published in Kalinga. For the 'true conquest' idea see comment on R. E. X.

Antiochos, scil. Theos (261–246 {{smallcaps|b.c.), has been already mentioned in R. E. II.

'The four (4) kings.' The numeral figure is in the text. Ptolemy (Turumaye), scilo. Philadelphos of Egypt (285–247 b.c.). Antigonos (Aṁtikini), scil. Gonatas of Macedonia (278 or 277–239 b.c.); Magas (Maka) of Cyrênê to the west of Egypt, half-brother of Ptolemy Philadelphos. He declared his independence of Egypt about 285 b.c., and died in 258 b.c. Alexander is usually identified with a king of Epirus (272–? 258 b.c.), who opposed Antigonos Gonatas, but Beloch prefers to see a reference to a certain Alexander of Corinth.

'In the south,' nicha (Senart). For the Cholas and Pâṇḍyas see comment on R.E. II. The Keralaputra and Satiyaputra are not mentioned in this edict. Tâmraparni (Taṁbapaṁni) here, as in R. E. II, means the river in Tinnevelly, and not Ceylon. Yonas (Yavanas) mean, as in R.E. II, the Greek or Hellenized people on the NW. frontier. We have already met the Kâmbojas and Pitinikas in R. E. V. The Bhojas occupied the Ilichpur (Ellichpur) region in Berar or Vidarbha (Collins, Geogr. Data of the Raghuvaṁśa, Leipzig, 1907, p. 37).

The 'Nabhapantis of Nâbhaka' (Nabhake Nabhitina, the 'Nâbhake Nabhapaṁitishu of K.) have not been identified. The Arthaśâstra (Bk. i, chap. 6) mentions an ancient king named Nâbhâga. The Ândhras are well known. They were a powerful nation mentioned by Pliny, and after Asoka's death established a great kingdom stretching across India, which lasted for over four centuries, with fluctuations of dominion. See